I would like to pay tribute to our dear Sébastien Wittevert and his Graines de Troc.
I have discovered.e.s in 2017 during a seed swap at a green event in Massy-Palaiseau.
I loved the idea of getting together with other plant lovers to exchange seeds and seedlings. I donated many seeds from India. I received a number of beneficiaries:
The book: The gardening soul, squash seeds from 91 and chillies from Portugal. Between gardeners, At the end of our summer holidays, we promised to write to each other to check on our seeds. We promised to exchange photos of our plants, like those of our growing children. I liked that idea.
Sébastien was discreet but active. It was only now that I realised that he was the founder of the association Graines de Troc. I rediscovered him in a different way when I interviewed him. At the time, he seemed discreet, but I didn't realise as I do now that he was as passionate, determined and visionary. He learnt permaculture at the Bec Hélouin farm 10 years ago with the eminent instructors of the time: Charles and Perrine Herve-gruyer, Pierre Rabhi, Marc Dufumier, Claude & Lydia Bourguignon and Philippe Desbrosses.
In 2012, he made a commitment to cultivated biodiversity by proposing a totally free online seed barter platform, where artisan seed growers and amateur enthusiasts meet to share seeds and the associated know-how. Sébastien founded the Graines de Troc association and now heads a team of 10 employees and civic service volunteers working in the Roche area.
Leaders, trainers, seed keepers, permaculturists... they all share their love of seeds and permaculture. In partnership with LEA Nature, they use permaculture to grow fruit and vegetables on 5,000 m2 of land.
Part of the crop is used to harvest seeds, which are then sold by the Graines de Troc association. This project enables certain rare varieties to survive, or to continue the dynamic conservation of seeds that exist in the gardening world.
He confessed to me that during seed exchanges, if he inadvertently discovered F1 Hybrids in the donations or exchanges, he sometimes offered them to certain local market gardeners, who unfortunately are still constrained by the demanding demands of consumers, and to those for whom this donation represents a godsend and a saving.
These market gardeners are not only constrained by consumers but also by the famous catalogue of species and varieties (created in 1932) that the System impose.
The F1 hybrids, These are seeds that are labelled organic, even though they are manipulated in the lab to make them non-reproducible from one year to the next and to force farmers to buy their seeds every year. The farming system has of course been infiltrated over time. It's an aberration not to use really good farmers' seeds that give life from generation to generation.
Organic since 2016, Graines de Troc produces only free, reproducible, organic, peasant seeds. I can only trust them, and in the same spirit, they in turn trust me with their donation of seeds so that I in turn can offer them to participants in my workshops and performances. A seed is precious and I'll let you know where you can get one via their website: www.grainesdetroc.fr
