This last week I was lucky enough to attend the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group conference (Southern SAWG for short) in Mobile, Alabama as a representative of Sow True Seed. My co-worker and I set up a booth to sell our awesome seeds, and I had a great time talking to growers, farmers, savvy business folk, and other like-minded people.
Thursday night there was a seed swap, which was less swap and more free-for-all. We’d taken with us a few big boxes of seed that had not passed its last germination testing for USDA standards but was still perfectly plantable, and a few hundred empty envelopes. People were so excited you’d think we were giving away gold bars. The swap was from 5 to 7 and we were out of envelopes by 5:30. Thankfully the two other seed companies present had brought lots of extras, but even with those added to the mix we were all out of envelopes by 6:30. Makes me happy though, I hope it all gets planted! (I’m in the green shirt all the way on the right near the window.)
They also had a pretty amazing jazz band, which I’m pretty sure was called The Excelsior Jazz Band.
My co-worker and I took turns working the booth and going to classes. The two standouts for me were Bramble Production in the South and taught by an Alabama Extension Agent Fruit and Nut Specialist, and Growing and Marketing Mushrooms by Tradd Cotter. Learning new things is the best. Next year the conference is in Lexington, KY, so that should be pretty great. It’ll be hard to beat this sunrise in Mobile though!
Happy Networking!
