Southern Exposure Seed Cooperative Nurtures Community Gardeners

Acorn Community Farm is an intentional community a few miles from Twin Oaks in Mineral, Virginia. It was founded in 1993 as an egalitarian, secular, anarchist community that gets things done through clear communication and a sense of shared responsibility.

They were recently featured in a Washington Post news article about their cooperatively owned and operated business, Southern Exposure Seed Cooperative.

Writes the article, “Southern Exposure is in some respects a throwback to the 1970s, a commune for approximately 30 people, mostly young and all idealistic. The seed company they work for is an employee-owned cooperative that sources and sells annuals, vegetables and herbs that are open-pollinated — that is, they will produce genetically stable seed that anyone can save for use the following season, seed that has not been altered in a lab, patented or possessed.”

Acorn takes pride in their higher purpose of perpetuating unique seed genetics, including heirloom varieties that were passed down for generations without public exposure. To order their seeds, or to request a free catalog (pictured below), visit: http://www.southernexposure.com/

Ira Wallace, one of the founding members of Acorn and leaders of the Southern Exposure Seed Cooperative, has helped to grow the business, which the community purchased in the 90’s, to over 10 fold in sales. In addition to growing many of their seed varieties, they also work with about 70 other farmers in the Mid-Atlantic region.

To read the full article, and for photo credits, go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/southern-exposure-seed-exchange-nurtures-old-varieties-new-gardeners/2015/02/24/c860af86-b88e-11e4-9423-f3d0a1ec335c_story.html