Start saving seeds from garden plants you grow

By Christie Schlueter
rcschlueter@yahoo.com

Date Modified: 02/18/2010 11:22 AM

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If you like collecting and buying heirloom seeds, a seed saver exchange is where you want to go. The most widely known web site is seedsavers.org.

SSeed Savers Exchange was founded in 1975 by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy to honor the tradition of preserving and sharing.

Their collection started when Diane's terminally-ill grandfather gave them seeds from Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory and German Pink Tomato that his parents brought from Bavaria when they immigrated to St. Lucas, Iowa, in the 1870s.

Today, the 890-acre Heritage Farm in Deocrah is the largest non-governmental seed bank in the country. Seed Savers maintains more than 25,000 endangered vegetable varieties, most having been brought to North America by members' ancestors.

Heritage Farm isn't surrounded by security fences and guards. Their perimeter is patrolled by Bald Eagles, red-tailed hawks, deer, raccoons and other wildlife. The farm is ringed by 8.5 miles of hiking trails that take visitors through majestic scenery, past some 23 acres of certified organic preservation gardens, a historic orchard and ancient White Park cattle.

Members have distributed an estimated 1 million samples of rare garden seeds since their founding nearly 35 years ago. Those seeds now are used by companies, small farmers, and home gardeners.

A heirloom variety is any garden plant that has a history of being passed down within a family, just like pieces of heirloom jewelry or furniture. Some companies have tried to create definitions based on date, such as anything older than 50 years.

The genetic diversity of food crops is eroding at an unprecedented and accelerating rate. Threatened vegetables and fruits represent thousands of years of adaptation and selection in diverse ecological niches around the world. Each variety is genetically unique and has developed resistance to the diseases and pests with which it evolved. Plant breeders use old varieties to breed resistance into modern crops, which are being attacked by rapidly evolving diseases and pests. Without these infusions of genetic diversity, food production is at risk.

Just how dangerous is genetic erosion? The late Jack Harlan, world renowned plant collector who wrote the classic "Crops and Man" has written: "These resources stand between us and catastrophic starvation on a scale we cannot imagine. In a very real sense, the future of the human race rides on these materials. The line between abundance and disaster is becoming thinner and thinner, and the public is unaware and unconcerned. Must we wait for disaster to be real before we are heard? Will people listen only after it is too late?"

We can ignore it and say it's not a problem, but it will not be long before it is.

You can start saving your own seed from heirloom plants or seeds from the plants that you grow.

In 2002, SSE published the Second Edition of "Seed to Seed," a complete seed-saving guide that describes techniques for saving the seeds of 160 different vegetables. The book contains detailed information about each vegetable, including its botanical classification, flower structure and means of pollination, required population size, isolation distance, techniques for caging or hand-pollination, and the proper methods for harvesting, drying, cleaning and storing the seeds.

If you would like to know how to organize a community seed swap go to: www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/How-To-Organize-A-Community-Plant-And-Seed-Swap.aspx