Seed Savers Exchange conference announces speakers

Seed Savers Exchange has announced its speakers for the 36th annual Seed Savers Exchange conference, scheduled for July 15th to 17th.

The keynote speaker will be Carol Deppe, an Oregon plant breeder and author. Deppe holds a Ph.D in genetics from Harvard and specializes in developing open source crops for organic growing conditions. Carol owns Fertile Valley seeds and is a member of the Open Source Seed Initiative board of directors. She has also authored several books including "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties."

Other speakers will include Southern heirloom experts Dr. David Shields and Glenn Roberts, The French Laundry garden chef Aaron Keefer; and community seed activist and founder of Sierra Seeds, Rowen White.

This conference is aimed at expanding the seed saving movement with how-to workshops on collecting and processing heirloom seed. Workshops will be led by members of Richmond Grows Seed Library and Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance.

To register for the conference, visit www.seedsavers.org/conference or call (563)-382-5990.