Josie Meyer, recent SSE intern, pulls seeds from cold storage to conduct germination tests.

Even though the summer months here at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa, seem like they are the busiest and most exciting time of year, with all the gardens being tended to, you may be surprised at how much work there is to be done even in the middle of winter! I know I was surprised to find out all that goes on in the Preservation Department when I started my internship working with the Exchange program this past January. From planning for the next year, to processing and packaging seeds from the previous growing season, there is plenty of work to keep everyone busy.

If you are unfamiliar with Seed Savers Exchange, the Exchange program is completely separate from the seeds you might see in our catalog. Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange has been facilitating a network of gardeners and farmers who have shared seeds to both preserve their genetic diversity and share new varieties with other people. Since then, over 20,000 different open-pollinated seeds have been shared on the Exchange. Additionally, because Seed Savers Exchange has so many different varieties in the collection, we can’t possibly grow each of them for the catalog each year. Through the Exchange, however, you can request smaller quantities of different seeds to begin your own seed-saving journey!

As a sophomore studying environmental science at Luther College, I decided to do a month-long internship at Seed Savers Exchange this January, primarily to get some job experience and explore some of the conservation-related careers out there. I wasn’t anticipating just how much I would end up learning about the Exchange and all the things that need to be done to get the seeds out to people who want them. The staff are all incredibly welcoming and excited to share the work that they do, and I would highly encourage other students interested in biology and conservation to consider internship opportunities here!

Although I entered this internship with a focus on the biological aspects of seed saving, I was able to spend some time learning about the other areas of the Preservation Department as well. I found it very interesting to see just how everyone from the seed historians to the evaluation team work together to run a well-organized and well-managed seed bank. The emphasis that Seed Savers Exchange places on the stewardship history behind every seed made me start to realize just how important it is to incorporate the human experience into conservation work. This focus allows Seed Savers Exchange to bring in a more diverse audience of people, who are interested in not only seeds and gardening but also the stories behind the food they are growing. That was a big takeaway during my time here.

Germinating squash seeds.

Lettuce seedling under microscope.

Seed-moisture content test.

Scan of heirloom lima bean seed.

I spent a lot of time learning about the seed bank as a whole, but most of the work I did this month was in the seed lab performing germination tests on seeds that were grown for the collection this past summer. We do this in order to ensure that the people requesting seeds from the Exchange will be able to grow healthy plants, and to make note of any potential issues with disease. I really enjoyed being able to work in a real lab outside of school that is providing useful data for the program. I also enjoyed learning about and working with so many fun seeds with such interesting backstories!

We begin germination testing by placing the seeds in grow chambers with plenty of light and moisture. When we take them out, we look at how many seeds have started to grow compared to those that may be dead or covered in fungus; this determines the overall germination percentage. That number is then printed on packets of seeds requested from Seed Savers Exchange through the Exchange.

We next conduct a seed-moisture content test (SMC) to make sure the seed is dry enough to be packaged and preserved. If a seed has too much moisture, it may freeze or begin to germinate when stored in the freezer or seed bank rooms. If it is too dry, its long-term seed viability may decrease.

To perform a seed-moisture content test, we crush up a small sample of seeds and place them in small jars. They are weighed, put in an oven heated to approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours to remove all moisture, and then weighed again. The difference in weight can be used to calculate the percentage of moisture that was present in the original sampling of seed. We aim for a moisture content between 3-9 percent for seeds at Seed Savers Exchange.

Many types of seeds that are unique in color or patterns—such as beans, peas, corn, and squash—are also scanned and kept in a database. These scans can be helpful if there are ever questions in the future about the identity of a seed, or if there are concerns about off-types (meaning seeds that appear visually different from the rest of the variety).

Once a seed variety has had its germination and SMC tests completed, we can then package those seeds. After a successful harvest, seeds are divided into different inventory packets. Some seed is set aside for preservation—both here at Heritage Farm and in back-ups sent to the USDA seed bank and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. These back-up locations are very important, because if something were to happen to our freezers in Decorah, we would still be able to recover the collection from one of these locations. The rest of the seed is kept for distribution, to be given to whoever requests it through the Exchange.

Since several hundred varieties of seeds from the collection are grown out in small quantities each year, there is plenty for staff to work on during the off-season. Most of the seeds go through all of the aforementioned processes before being stored away. In addition, we continue to receive seed donations as well as distribution requests. Overall, even though the winter months aren’t spent growing plants in the field, there is still much work to be done to make Seed Savers Exchange run smoothly!

Throughout this internship, I also had many opportunities to reflect on what I consider most important in my future career goals and aspirations. While learning about how Seed Savers Exchange both preserves the genetic diversity of seeds as well as connects people with seeds and their stories, the concept of aligning my personal morals and values with the careers I choose to pursue in the future is something that really stood out to me. Feeling that you are doing something that positively impacts the things that you are passionate about makes showing up for work every day that much more rewarding. Doing an internship for a nonprofit organization has helped me realize that this type of work is something that I would definitely be interested in after I graduate!