Savoring summer’s bounty was top of mind at this year’s Tomato Tasting, like it is every year, and a record number of tasters showed up to sample, vote, and enjoy a beautiful, if not a bit cloudy, afternoon at Heritage Farm. 

In the late 1980s, just like today, the historic barn at Heritage Farm was in need of help—lots of help. In 1987—not long after Seed Savers Exchange bought arguably one of the most beautiful farms in Iowa—Kent Whealy and Diane Ott Whealy, founders of the organization, learned that the homemade laminated bows that supported the barn’s roof were weakening, and, consequently, posed a real threat of the roof collapsing. Thus began months of restoration, conducted by Amish carpenters from Canton, Minnesota, financed with a $20,000 grant from the Ruth Mott Foundation, based in Flint, Michigan. In 2011, Diane devoted a section of her book Gathering, Memoir of a Seed Saver, to the work the Amish carpenters did to restore the barn. An excerpt of that section follows:

Executive Director Lee Buttala recently traveled to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to deliver our annual deposit of rare varieties and to participate in commemorating the Seed Vault’s 10th anniversary. Share in his journey with these photos and observations.