Back to February 2014 Newsletter
Your Member Seed Directory
Have you ever heard of Litchi Tomato, Wonderberry or Ground Cherries (hint: they're species not varieties!)? Have you grown a purple potato or Jerusalem artichoke? Our members make thousands of both standard and bizarre varieties available in our Member Seed Directory every year. Fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs, grains and even some trees and shrubs are listed. Not just a seed catalogue, the directory is a preservation tool - allowing for rare and regionally-adapted varieties to be saved and grown out by more and more people every year. We encourage anyone to give seed saving a try. Request a variety, grow it out, save the seed, and offer it back the following season. The directory is available both in book form and in an online database, but only members can list and request seeds.
This year, the Directory lists 2915 varieties of seeds that our seed saver members have harvested from their own garden plants, and are now offering to all members.
In August, we invited members to list the seeds that they wanted to offer to other members. 98 members responded, offering a total of 3751 seed listings.
From mid-November through December, we entered the changes, corrections, and new listings that our members sent in, then three people proofread and edited the result. Sometimes variety names have to be amended, sometimes spelling mistakes are obvious enough to correct, but we know that we don't catch every error. It's a race against time to get thousands of entries through the process, and not every detail is obviously right or wrong.
If you scan closely, you'll find some varieties offered by more than one member, that have different descriptions. Who's "right"? We do our best to sort it out, but most of the time, we can't tell. That's the normal situation with heritage varieties, though. Strains appear and change over time. In different areas, varieties can change in different ways, and no one knows the exact lineage of the majority of seed samples that are out there in gardens, seed banks, and heritage seed companies.
That's why the descriptions are so important. Each sample of seeds is its own unique offering, from one gardener to another. Read the descriptions. If one appeals to you, request the seeds, and enjoy the thrill of discovering a new variety in your garden.
Nothing quite matches the wonder of seeing so many people sending in so many personal stories about growing their favourite heritage varieties. It's obvious that people grow and share their seeds out of love for their gardens and plants, and it's an honour to witness that affection turned into such a tremendous project.
To all our seed saver members, thank you. You're the reason that this organization exists. Keep up the great work!
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