Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Encyclopedia
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (SESE) is a cooperatively-owned seed company
and the principal industry of Acorn Community
, an intentional community
in central Virginia
. SESE is a source for heirloom seeds
and other open-pollinated
(non-hybrid) seeds with an emphasis on vegetables, flowers, and herbs that grow well in the Mid-Atlantic
region. SESE also supports seed saving
and traditional seed breeding through their product line and also through lectures and workshops.
The operational cycle for SESE runs from January to April principally filling seed orders. From March to August work is focused on the gardens, tending seed, and food crops. From August through October SESE harvests, cleans, and germination-tests seeds. In September specialty crops such as garlic, and onion bulbs are shipped, as are ginseng
and goldenseal
.
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange uses both USDA certified organic seed stock as well as non-certified ecologically grown seeds from trusted sources. It pledges not to knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered
seeds or plants. SESE has introduced heirloom varieties long absent from the marketplace, such as the Amish Moon & Stars watermelon and the Big Rainbow tomato.
SESE is partners with the Thomas Jefferson
Center for Historic Plants, putting on an annual "Heritage Harvest Festival". The Heritage Harvest Festival is a non-profit event designed to educate the public on the importance of organics and heritage varieties. SESE publishes a quarterly email newsletter for gardeners, as well as the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Catalog and Garden Guide.
Seed company
Seed companies produce and sell seeds for flowers, fruit and vegetables to theamateur gardener. The production of seed is a multi billion dollar business, which usesgrowing facilities and growing locations world wide. While most seed is produced by large...
and the principal industry of Acorn Community
Acorn Community
Acorn Community is a medium-sized egalitarian, intentional community located in rural Virginia, USA and is a member of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities. Acorn was started in 1993 as a daughter community of the older, larger Twin Oaks. For reasons not entirely clear, the early 1990s saw a...
, an intentional community
Intentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
in central Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. SESE is a source for heirloom seeds
Heirloom plant
An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, or heirloom vegetable is a cultivar that was commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but which is not used in modern large-scale agriculture...
and other open-pollinated
Open pollination
Open pollination is pollination by insects, birds, wind, or other natural mechanisms, and contrasts with cleistogamy, closed pollination, which is one of the many types of self pollination...
(non-hybrid) seeds with an emphasis on vegetables, flowers, and herbs that grow well in the Mid-Atlantic
Mid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
region. SESE also supports seed saving
Seed saving
In agriculture and gardening, seed saving is the practice of saving seeds or other reproductive material from open-pollinated vegetables, grain, herbs, and flowers for use from year to year for annuals and nuts, tree fruits, and berries for perennials and trees...
and traditional seed breeding through their product line and also through lectures and workshops.
The operational cycle for SESE runs from January to April principally filling seed orders. From March to August work is focused on the gardens, tending seed, and food crops. From August through October SESE harvests, cleans, and germination-tests seeds. In September specialty crops such as garlic, and onion bulbs are shipped, as are ginseng
Ginseng
Ginseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae....
and goldenseal
Goldenseal
Goldenseal is a perennial herb in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. It may be distinguished by its thick, yellow knotted rootstock. The stem is purplish and hairy above ground and yellow below ground where it connects to the...
.
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange uses both USDA certified organic seed stock as well as non-certified ecologically grown seeds from trusted sources. It pledges not to knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered
Genetically modified organism
A genetically modified organism or genetically engineered organism is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one...
seeds or plants. SESE has introduced heirloom varieties long absent from the marketplace, such as the Amish Moon & Stars watermelon and the Big Rainbow tomato.
SESE is partners with the Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
Center for Historic Plants, putting on an annual "Heritage Harvest Festival". The Heritage Harvest Festival is a non-profit event designed to educate the public on the importance of organics and heritage varieties. SESE publishes a quarterly email newsletter for gardeners, as well as the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Catalog and Garden Guide.