Preserving Seeds and Materials… Angela Adler of SeedGeeks and Jenny Murphy of Perennial

It really had them thinking about where their food came from, so the first year they were together they were growing a lot of their own food, converting their backyard into gardening space and that leading to chickens the following year, canning, and even getting bees. They started saving their seeds because there are many varieties out there and they wanted to preserve them and that blossomed into their company SeedGeek. They do all heirloom open pollinated seeds which means they are pollinated by wind or insects, naturally. With open-pollinated seeds you can save them and grow them again so they grow true to type the following season, so after 50 years of being passed down generation to generation that is what makes them heirlooms. In preserving the biodiversity of a lot of these different varieties, there used to be so many varieties but now you see a huge decline in biodiversity, so they are really encouraging people to not only grow your own food but to also save your seeds. There is no comparison in flavor when it comes to something you would get out of the store compared to what you would get straight from your backyard. SeedGeek people are also beekeepers, so they have an awesome line of raw honey, creamed honey, and flavored creamed honey. They also like to do body care stuff, handmade soaps, lip balm, lotion bars etc.

Jenny Murphy with Perennial. Perennial is a non-profit all about creative reuse, so teaching people preserving used materials and how to create new things out of old junk. They have a workshop in south St. Louis where they offer classes on how to make rag rugs, building furniture from pallets to natural textile dyeing. They also have outreach programs to women in transition, teaching people that their creativity is a powerful tool to live sustainably and resourcefully.