Kind of sad….and eerie….creepy, even.......but a good idea.

I like seeds – love plants!

Did I ever tell you that……

I managed the Display department for a large department store,

and it all began when I volunteered to water their pitiful, dehydrated, sickly plants!  ;o)

Anyway, here’s what I know….

• the vault is underground in Norway – owned by Norway, but the countries own the seeds they deposit there.
• it’s designed to protect the world’s seeds from climate changes, war, nuclear strike, natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, etc.
• it can hold 4.5 million seed sample packages, I think, each containing 500 seeds!
• there are 1400 other seed vaults in the world, and this one is the “back-up” for all!
• giant air-conditioners bring the temp down to minus 0.4 Fahrenheit
• the seeds can last 1000 years at that temperature!
• if the air conditioners fail, the permafrost around the seed vault will keep it cold another 200 YEARS!  That’s like, “Hey, the power’s out….don’t open the freezer door, ok?!!!”

There’s also another seed vault that holds 1 billion seeds in Sussex, England.  It’s more for “wild” seeds, while the Norway project is attuned to agricultural seeds, designed to insure an adequate food supply in case of castastrophe.  

You can read an article about the Norway project HERE (*at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,332330,00.html) and you can watch a video of the Norway Project, then a video of the Sussex project in England will come immediately afterwards.   It’s at http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/25/norway.seeds/index.html.