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Fast Five Char Beach: Swapping seeds, stories and song

Devin Weeks For Coeur Voice | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 5 months AGO
by Devin Weeks For Coeur Voice
| January 29, 2020 12:00 AM

Meet Char Beach, lover of the outdoors, the arts, music and books. She is an avid gardener and lives with her husband, David, and her dog, Baron. She is currently living her dream job at the Coeur d’Alene Public library. Born in rural New York, she has been a resident of Coeur d’Alene since 1987.

Generation:

“I am on the cusp of the baby boomers and Gen X. I can’t say that I relate to either. I grew up without the internet and my generation made the bridge between analog and digital - which gives me facility in both worlds, but I have absolutely no use for video games or MTV!”

Career and community involvement:

“I started out my career in environmental science and taught environmental education for a number of years. I later got a teaching credential through the University of Idaho, and I was an elementary school teacher for about 20 years.

“Community is very important to me. I volunteer for the Inland Northwest Food Network and organize an occasional contradance at the Meadowbrook Hall. I play in a Celtic band and we play for community dances in Coeur d’Alene, Spokane, Sandpoint and Moscow. I love the dances because it brings people of all generations together for fun that does not involve any special equipment or screens.”

1. What and when exactly

is the Seed Swap at the

Coeur d’Alene Library?

“The annual Seed Swap is usually on the last Saturday in January, which is National Seed Swap Day (this year January 25). From 1 to 3 p.m. you can bring your seeds and take home some new varieties to try out in your home garden. People can bring seeds that they have saved from home gardens, or ones that they have purchased. It is not necessary to bring any seeds at all to participate. The library has received a few donations from seed companies, and the ‘True to Seed’ seed library located in the Coeur d’Alene Library.

“One goal of the Seed Swap is to develop locally adapted varieties that do well in our area, especially facing the challenge of a changing climate. Another goal is to preserve the diversity of seed varieties. For example, only 12 varieties of corn remain on the USDA’s National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation today, as compared to 307 varieties at the turn of the century. Home growers are developing their own special varieties to share.”

2. Why is this something people might want to participate in?

“Gardeners know that certain varieties of plants do well in a given area. Most commercially available seed has been selected because it performs fairly well across the entire country if given synthetic fertilizers. But when you save seeds from your own best-performing plants, on your land and in your own ecosystem, you gradually develop varieties better adapted to your own soil, climate and growing conditions.

“Flavor is another good reason. Seeds that have been selected for performance have not necessarily been selected for the way they taste. Many heirloom and open-pollinated seeds produce vegetables bursting with flavor.

“It’s also fun to learn the stories behind heirloom seeds - the “Mortgage Lifter” tomato was developed by M.C. Byles of West Virginia in the 1940s. After crossing different tomato varieties for six years and selecting the best producers, he sold the resulting new variety of plants for $1 each and paid off the $6,000 mortgage on his house! We encourage everyone to share their local seed stories as well. The seed-saving movement is growing. Communities are banding together to save and share heirloom and open-pollination seeds that are in danger of disappearing off the face of the earth as a result of industrialized agriculture and multinational corporations that control the majority of our seed supply.”

3. What are some of your other duties at the library?

“My primary duty at the library is outreach. I get to visit daycare centers, preschools and senior living facilities bringing programs and books to them. I also spend time at the reference desk helping patrons, and have a ‘Forest Friends’ library program for 4-to-6-year-olds (a nature-centered storytime where we always spend the last part outside). I host a monthly Northern Roots music jam and organize the Monday Music concerts outside the library during the summer, and I put up the Storywalk in the park. The Storywalk is a book whose pages are spread out along the path from the library to the playground in McEuen Park and back again. You can get some exercise and read a story at the same time! I also host the monthly Food for Thought Book Club focused on food, farming and eating well.”

4. What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?

“I spent three years teaching at an international school in India.”

5. If you could be a visitor in any book, what would it be and why?

“I would love to visit the town of Three Pines created by novelist Louise Penny. In all of her books she has such wonderful descriptions of this Canadian town near the Vermont border. I want to visit there, have lunch at the Bistro owned by Olivier and Gabriel, and meet the wonderful townspeople described in her books.”

MORE COEUR-VOICE STORIES

Can't make it to the library? The library can come to you
Bonner County Daily Bee | Updated 7 years, 4 months ago
Swappin' seeds and smiles
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 8 years, 4 months ago
Get set for spring at Seed Swap event
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 5 years, 5 months ago

ARTICLES BY DEVIN WEEKS FOR COEUR VOICE

Fast Five Char Beach: Swapping seeds, stories and song
January 29, 2020 midnight

Fast Five Char Beach: Swapping seeds, stories and song

Meet Char Beach, lover of the outdoors, the arts, music and books. She is an avid gardener and lives with her husband, David, and her dog, Baron. She is currently living her dream job at the Coeur d’Alene Public library. Born in rural New York, she has been a resident of Coeur d’Alene since 1987.

Fast Five: Take a look through Jerome Pollos' lens
November 27, 2019 midnight

Fast Five: Take a look through Jerome Pollos' lens

Meet Jerome Pollos. He’s known as the “moment” guy in the photography community, which comes from his background as a photojournalist in the military, for the Coeur d’Alene Press and many other magazines, newspapers and photo agencies. Over the past eight years, Jerome Pollos Photography has earned a reputation for creating creative and fun portraiture, candid, storytelling wedding photography, as well as collaborative, brand-specific commercial photography (Jeromepollosphotography.com).

Fast Five: Ashley Chaffin
December 7, 2019 midnight

Fast Five: Ashley Chaffin

Meet Ashley Chaffin, a graphic designer and photographer in the marketing department at the Coeur d’Alene Kroc Center. Ashley has been with the Kroc for four years and absolutely loves the work she gets to create for its community-centric programs. She describes herself as “creatively-driven” with a passion for music, video games, her friends and all kinds of nerdy topics.