Seed Savers Exchange

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Mary Ann — 2 Comments

It’s Time to Read Seed Catalogs by the Fire

It has been so warm this winter, with the exception of a few
days last week, that I have not been able to engage in one of my favorite winter
activities: reading seed catalogs while I sit by the fire. I have still read them, of course, but without
a fire, something seems to be missing. While
I enjoy the fire, I organize the seed I have left from last year, and I decide
which varieties I will order for the garden this year. Packages of seeds cost a few dollars, and it
is easy to experiment with many different varieties of plants to figure out
which ones are happiest in your garden.

Two years ago, I ordered some fruit trees and bushes from
Stark Brothers’ Nursery (www.starkbros.com or
1.800.325.4180) and I am pleased with their products and service. As soon as I get my soil ready, I will order
some more fruit trees so I can expand my orchard.

I do not think I have room to cram in any more perennials
now, but perennials from Bluestone Perennials, (www.bluestoneperennials.com or
1.800.852.5243) fill my garden. They no longer sell perennials in three-packs; instead,
they sell one larger plant for a lower price than the three packs. The catalog gives cultural information on nearly
any perennial commonly grown in the US.

I have not ever actually ordered anything from White Flower
Farm, www.whiteflowerfarm.com or
1.800.503.9624, but their catalog has unusual and beautiful plants. I found out about them from a Martha Stewart
book years ago, and they appear to be a good, although expensive, nursery.

Peaceful Valley Farm and Garden Supply (www.GrowOrganic.com or 1.888.784.1722), is
a California company with nearly every gardening/farming item imaginable. Peaceful Valley’s catalog is good for
information, obscure organic pest control products, and season-extension
products.

For seeds, I order from Seed Savers Exchange, (www.seedsaversexchange.org or (562)
382.5990), a nonprofit organization from Iowa which sells exclusively heirloom
seeds and John Scheepers Kitchen Garden Seeds (www.kitchengardenseeds.com or
(860) 567.6086), a catalog that is a work of art and provides detailed planting
and culinary information.

The only truly local seed supplier is Heavenly Seed LLC (www.heavenlyseed.net or 864.209.8283) out
of Anderson. It provides the least
glamorous catalog but the most generous amounts of seed for the money; I buy
most of my seeds from Heavenly Seed.

Johnny’s Seeds, www.johnnyseeds.com
gives good cultural information for gardeners, and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds,
(417.924.8917 or www.rareseeds.com, has
one of the largest collections of heirloom seeds around. Pinetree Garden Seeds (207.926.3400 or www.superseeds.com) sells small,
inexpensive packets of seeds that are useful for small gardens or for trying
out many varieties of seeds.

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Mary Ann

Gardens in front of the barn at Seed Savers Exchange

Decorah, Iowa, is a beautiful town near the Minnesota border. Norwegians apparently settled the town, and their influence remains in the food and culture. After driving more than 100 miles north of Iowa City, where my family and I visited my sister, we arrived at Seed Savers Exchange, a seed purveyor. Visit them at http://www.seedsavers.org/. They specialize in selling heirloom seeds, and their goal is to help prevent the extinction of the seeds our great-grandparents grew. People used to save seeds of plants that did well in their gardens and pass them along to other people, and they developed varieties especially adapted to their gardens. With the advent of hybrid seed and the decline of gardening, many of these varieties have been lost. Seed Savers, along with other similar organizations, hopes to prevent further demise by growing and selling the seed.

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization founded by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Ott in 1975 with some seed her grandfather gave her that he brought from Bavaria to Iowa in the 1870s. Heritage Farm, where Seed Savers Exchange is headquartered, spreads for 890 acres and includes antique apples, fields of heirloom vegetables, and endangered cattle. The farmers at the Heritage Farm, as well as gardeners across the country, work together to preserve heirloom seeds by growing, sharing, and selling the seeds. Seed Savers Exchange donates seed to national and international seed vaults and preservation programs.

Coneflowers

Unfortunately for me, we visited on a Sunday, when many of the buildings were closed, and we went there at the end of a very long day of driving and touring other places. Although my visit was brief, it was long enough to determine that the place is just as beautiful as the seed catalog and the website, http://www.seedsavers.org/, depict it.

The soil is the rich, dark land of the Midwestern cornfields. I am perpetually envious of the richness of the soil and the abandon with which plants grow. My sister reminds me, though, that the weather is only pleasant less than half the year, and while I am at home, contentedly enjoying a 70-degree day in January and picking lettuce, the soil in which she might hope to grow lettuce is frozen solid and covered with snow.

But on that July day, the coneflowers grew in enormous clumps, as did the hollyhocks. Insects ravaged neither, and the colors in the petals were vibrant instead of faded by day after day of temperatures at or near 100, as my flowers are. Plants look like they do in pictures in magazines, instead of hot and tired.

Trial gardens at Seed Savers Exchange

In the vegetable garden, beans and tomatoes shared space with lettuce, potatoes, carrots, and beets. In Iowa, gardeners have only one season in which to grow their crop, and nature seems to cooperate to provide abundance in the short time. With the rich soil and extra hour of daylight gardens receive there, usually without the temperatures high enough to stop plant growth and fruit setting that we have regularly, plants grow and produce enough in the short season to sustain the gardener for the winter.

As I always do when I visit another garden, I left inspired to work harder in my garden. I cannot do anything about the heat, but I can continue to work on the soil so that my plants have a thicker layer of black loam in which to grow every year. I told my husband and sister I could just summer in Iowa, with a nice garden, and move back to SC when the snow falls. Then again, I would miss home and the sounds of our birds and insects. I guess I will stay where I am, and cope with my gardening challenges. At least I can garden nearly every day of the year here.

To buy products from Seed Savers Exchange or to request a catalog, visit www.seedsavers.org or call (563) 382-5990. If you have some seed you have passed down in your family and want to make sure it is preserved, or if you want to share it with others, they might be able to help. In addition, if there is some variety of plant you remember from your grandmother’s garden but you cannot seem to find anymore, check their catalog for it.

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Mary Ann

Chioggia Beets

I have a great crop of these heirloom Chioggia beets this summer. According to Seed Savers Exchange, an heirloom seed company you may visit at http://www.seedsavers.org/ to purchase seeds, Chioggia beets are a pre-1840 Italian heirloom, introduced to the U.S. before 1865. They are named for a fishing town near Venice. I planted the seeds in my South Carolina garden on February 18, after most of the freezing weather had passed, and I began harvesting them on May 9.

Just harvested chioggia beets

Sliced Chioggia beets

After I sliced them, my 5 year old, captivated by the candy cane-like stripes, declared that they were sweet enough to eat raw. I did not tell her beets are not usually eaten raw, but I tasted the slice she offered me and agreed they are tasty. We roast them with salt and olive oil in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes, but I need to find some more beet recipes to use our bounty before they toughen in summer’s heat.