Part 1 - History of The Commons with David Bollier
Podcasts by David Bollier about the Commons
On the Commons website
Commons Transition website
History of Commons and Incidents of Early Commons Activism
Charter of the Forest & Magna Carta
Woolsack History
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David Bollier

King John signs the Magna Carta by James Williams Edmund Doyle (author) and Edmund Evans (engraver)

Plan showing the conventional features of an English manor of the medieval period

House of Lords, Westminster, c.1870-1885. The Woolsack (with back-rest) can be seen facing the throne in the upper foreground

Léon-Augustin Lhermitte's 'The Gleaners" (1887, Philadelphia Museum of Art). The gleaners are related to the commons because gleaning -- scavenging the leftovers after the harvest -- has historically been a right of commoners.

David Bollier Explains What the Commons Is & Is Not, in his appearance on the show Conversations with Great Minds

Gerrard Winstanley and THE DIGGERS movement was, and is, one of the most important parts of the English ‘Revolution’ of 1649. Winstanley and THE DIGGERS, who consisted of mainly poor families that had no land of their own (as land was only owned by the rich) decided to take direct action by taking over common land that belonged to no one, and which was not in use, and started to farm it, so as to allow everyone who worked the land to eat.







Part 2 - Seed Library with Ken Greene
Hudson Valley Seed Homepage
WBUR’s "On Point" Story About the Seed Library
NPR Story on "Seedfolks" Book
“Planting a Seed Library” Video from the “Sustainable Martha’s Vineyard” documentary series
“Seedy Politics” Article
"Seed-Sharing Snafu" Article
"Free Seed Exchange Allowed in Pennsylvania" Press Release

Ken Greene and Doug with flowering parsnips

Zinnia Flower Field at the Hudson Valley Seed Library

Ken Greene and Vandana Shiva presenting to a group of farmers, seed savers, activists, ag-tivists and eaters at Omega Institute.

This tomato variety is from Ukraine and was named after the first Russian Cosmonaut.

The Seed Library

An artfully crafted selection of seeds from the Seed Library

Seed saving workshop at the Hudson Valley Seed Library. Those are Ground Cherries.

Summer Sunrise Tomato is a product of the collaborative Dwarf Tomato Project, which aims to breed great tasting, interesting, open-pollinated dwarf varieties. It yields big quantities of medium-sized pale yellow fruits with a pink star-burst. The flavor is tart, sweet, and full.

An assortment of vegetables produced from seeds at the seed library

A demonstration and talk for how to care for certain seeds and about the work done at the seed library

General Seed Catalogue from 1898

Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection.; R. & J. Farquhar Company.











