In 1894, the Peter Henderson & Co. seed house of New York introduced Pink Plume celery. Its beautiful appearance and intense flavor inspired gardeners and seed companies to add it to their collections. By 1903, over 100 seed houses across North America were offering this variety.
Read MoreSSE listed member Hans Hansen, of Peaceable Kingdom School in Texas, sent SSE this arugula in the mid-1990s. Peaceable Kingdom School received seeds for this variety from Ric (Enrico) Rao in 1992. Ric had been growing and saving seed from his family’s heirloom arugula since finding some seeds in his grandfather’s garden shed in 1983.
Read MoreAll seed collectors, no matter the size of their collection, should try to gather historical and varietal information about their seeds. SSE's top Collection priorities are heirlooms with a history of being saved and shared within a family or community. Ideal donations are well documented and have a story with a clear chain of ownership and providence.
Read MoreHeritage Farm is a plant genebank - we maintain thousands of varieties of plant types. We call our seed bank, orchards, in vitro tissue cultures, and vegetative plant repository the collection and every year we grow out a portion of the collection to increase and/or refresh stock and for evaluation and observation purposes.
Read MoreIf seed reserves stored elsewhere are destroyed, the seeds deposited in seed banks act as a reserve for future planting, protecting the biodiversity of our planet. Seed banks store genetic diversity, but that diversity may be of little value if it remains frozen in a vault, inaccessible to growers.
Read MoreUnlike the ubiquitous “cantaloupes” in today’s supermarkets, this melon has a divine aroma and flavor whose complexities are difficult to capture in words – sweet, spicy, nutmeg-like, with a distinctive floral aftertaste. If you are looking for an alternative to today’s standard melon, look no further than ‘Nutmeg.’
Read MoreAccording to William Woys Weaver’s 1997 book Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting, Seed Saving, and Cultural History, the lettuce we know as 732 ‘Paris White Cos’ was "sold in this country as early as 1802 by Bernard M’Mahon of Philadelphia. M’Mahon sold it under the name White Cos." Weaver describes the lettuce as “a heavy drinker and will never develop its famous crispness unless it is kept well-watered, none of which seemed out of the ordinary to me. But Weaver goes on, “This is also one of the popular lettuces that was used for stewing..." Yes, you read that correctly. Stewed lettuce. It sounded slimy to me, but intriguing nevertheless.
Read MoreFew vegetables elicit as strong a reaction in people as lima beans. We either love them or hate them. However, most of us can agree that lima beans from the frozen foods section of the grocery store are vastly inferior to homegrown ones. So, if you have ruled lima beans out of your diet, we urge you to give them another chance. At Seed Savers Exchange, we have over 300 varieties of lima beans in our Heritage Farm Collection, displaying a tremendous array of colors and patterns.
Read MoreHere’s a bean that’s so tasty and so unusual that it has not only inspired many home cooks but also some rather far-fetched stories of its own origins.
Read MoreAt Seed Savers Exchange we sometimes lovingly refer to our collection of 103 turnips and 81 rutabagas as “turnabagas.” Confusion reigns over these crop types; many turnips in our collection are actually rutabagas. Much of the confusion stems from the fact that a common name for rutabaga is Swedish turnip. Botanically, however, the two are different species. Our favorite example of this confusion is the ‘Westport’, or ‘Macomber’, turnip, or as it’s known in the Heritage Farm Collection, Turnip 8.
Read MoreSeed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit, member supported organization that collects, preserves and shares heirloom seeds for our future. Since 1975, SSE and our supporters have collected the seeds and stories that would otherwise have been lost.
Seed Savers Exchange is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of heirloom seeds.
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