Sharon Rempel's voice was heard on the CBC in the late 1980s and early 1990s speaking about biodiversity conservation, the Zucca melon and heritage seeds especially tomatoes.
Sharon's researched, written about, practiced and taught heritage seed conservation and organic agriculture and garden management since the mid 1980s. She's worked with the Greek heritage seed movement since 1994.
As a pioneer in Canada's organic and heritage seed movements, Sharon offers some ideas to people on the journey to understanding how people, plant and place are linked in a dynamic process that's constantly changing and how food security issues are critical to discuss as part of climate change and green thinking.
"The hand that holds the seed controls the food supply. May seed always be in the hands of gardeners and farmers who will share the traditional knowledge about the seed and build community owned seed banks. Seed is the heart of food security."
- Sharon Rempel
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Sharon is not on Social media: Sharon does not Twitter, post on Facebook or use any other social media sites. Contact her through email (see contact for the address).
Sharon's Creations:
- Creator of "Seedy Saturday". The first event was in Vancouver 1990, at the VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver B.C.
Sharon has kept the name 'Seedy Saturday"in the public domain. Communities across Canada and the UK now use the name.
Sharon's hope in 1990 was to have agronomists work with gardeners to field trial and evaluate varieties, bulk up varieties and have large quanitites of quality local seed available in community seed banks.
Sharon hoped a database would be developed where climate and environment changes would be recorded with variety trial data.
Neither of these hopes have been achieved and sadly most local, regional and university agronomists no longer work 'in community' with the public.
-Founder of the 'Red Fife Wheat Revival'. Red Fife was Slow Food Canada's first nomination to the Ark and the world's first wheat on the Slow Food Ark.
In 1986 Sharon planted a "Living Museum of Wheat" at the Keremeos Grist Mill with Ladoga, Preston, Bishop, Stanley, Hard Red Calcutta, Marquis, Thatcher and Red Fife.
When old timers raved about the Red Fife she decided to create a story and demand for the old wheat. She began to bulk up the old wheat. Her goal was to recommercial the unregistered variety that had fed Canada as THE milling industry standard from 1860-1900.
Red Fife is a landrace. It's genetics are variable allowing it to adapt very quickly to a new and changing growing condition. That's the plant's choice, how to adapt year to year in the same field. Nature's wisdom sings in every cell; it's a plant cell's choice how to adapt, not a human plant breeder's choice.
And 'terroir' happens in every crop not just grapes. The interaction of the genetics and the environment affects the taste, gluten and other proteins in the wheat, year to year, same seed, same field.
So nutritional analysis for a 'wheat', even a variety and farmer identifed variety, will change year to year.
Sharon created and hosted Canada's First (and only) Bread and Wheat Festival in Victoria BC in 2008 (no website link here). It celebrated the return of Red Fife wheat in Canada plus what has become a national movement to use ancestral and heritage grains.
It started with that living museum of wheat and a few visionary farmers in Canada who had their family seed in a bag.
Sharon also helped bring the zucca melon back to Canada. The melon provided candied peel for the North American candied peel industry from 1930 to the mid 1950s.
If you check out the free booklet DIG - Diversity in Gardens, under books you can see pictures of the zucca.
Sharon's got three free booklets to download just go to the Books page. Heritage Gardens...Inspirations from our Past; DIG and On Farm Research Guide - a great reference for those interested in heritage wheat.
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