Conferences and workshops

Lyne Bellemare _ semencière

Bring seed saving to your institution


Lyne Bellemare, the seedwoman

Since 2009, I’ve given over a hundred conferences across the province. I’ve visited libraries, universities, cegeps, as well as private companies, and participated in festivals, Seedy Saturdays, and agronomy, agriculture, horticulture and permaculture courses.

Discover conferences and training

L'art de cultiver ses semences (niveau 1)

In this workshop, you will discover ancient, unknown, or endangered garden plants and learn the basics of seed saving. You will notably learn about harvesting techniques, and how to dry and preserve different types of seeds. Bean, lettuce and tomato seeds, as well as many others won’t hold any secrets for you anymore!

Topics discussed: seed history, pollination, isolation distances, heirloom varieties, harvest, drying, storage, germination tests.

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L'art de cultiver ses semences (niveau 2)

This workshop is meant for people who already attended the Level 1 workshop, or those who already have good seed saving knowledge.

Topics discussed: Pollination, flower anatomy, hand pollination techniques, biennial winter storage, choice of seed crops, dormancy breakage techniques, how to breed new varieties.

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Permaculture at terre promise

Permaculture and agrology might be approaches that, in the upcoming years, might help solving pressing issues like climate change, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and many more.

This conference uses Terre Promise as a case example. It includes presentation of our no-till permanent bed technique, efforts to protect pollinators and beneficial insects, and the obstacles and challenging of non-mechanized/manual agriculture.

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Seed challenges and prospects

Within barely a decade, 75% of our garden varieties have gone extinct. They will never be back, and the few still in existence are poorly preserved, if at all. Many are kept dormant in seed banks, where they are not accessible to the public.

This workshop aims to highlight how crucial seed saving, especially for heritage varieties, is. We will discuss the questions of organic seeds, GMOs, hybrids, and the main seed world stakeholders.

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Forgotten vegetables and lost varieties

In Quebec, several varieties from our grandmas’ gardens have disappeared or are not accessible anymore. First Nations have also grown precious varieties; some of them have stood the test of time, but most of them have also gone extinct.

This conference discusses the richness of heirloom varieties and their importance for food security through the history of a few example cases. We will go through an overview of old gardens, looking at forgotten and Quebec historical varieties.

Topics discussed: Historically used varieties within their social contect, Canadien Blanc corn history, Tante Alice cucumber history, fibre flax use and disappearance, lost broad beans from Lac St-Jean and Charlevoix, First Nations and their beans.

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Custumized workshops

It is also possible to develop a workshop tailored specifically to your needs. To not hesitate to contact me to discuss options.

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