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SAVING HEIRLOOM SEEDS
Then two things happened. First, a newspaper article alerted us to Seeds From Italy, a catalogue specializing in heirloom Italian vegetables. Their mouthwatering selection of borlotto beans, considered “THE” bean for that classic Tuscan dish, pasta fagiolo, inspired us to start growing and saving bean seeds. Then a favorite miniature bell pepper we had grown for years, “Jingle Bells”, virtually disappeared from all catalogue listings. We hadn’t saved any seeds from our past plantings, but it would not have mattered. “Jingle Bells” is an F1 hybrid pepper, which is the first generation of a cross between two or more varieties. Its seed would have grown a pepper vastly different from, and inferior to, the cute little pepper we were after. Suddenly the Genetics class I struggled through at University of Maryland had new relevance. So where did the Jingle Bell pepper go? What’s an heirloom? And why does this matter? Briefly, an heirloom is an old variety that is still in existence due to the seed- saving efforts of amateurs. By definition these are open- pollinated varieties, not hybrids. Open- pollinated varieties can reproduce themselves; in other words, seeds from these varieties will yield identical offspring. Hybrid seeds may either be sterile or will produce offspring that are very different from the parent. When we rely on hybrid seeds such as the Jingle Bell pepper we are really relying on breeders to keep producing this variety for us, and when it’s no longer profitable for them to do so the variety disappears from commerce. The importance of this depends on your vantage point. Farmers save seeds for self- reliance and a commitment to preserving the genetic diversity that allows them to choose varieties based on superior flavor and adaptability to disease. Kitchen gardeners may save seeds for economy or pure nostalgia. And consumers benefit from being able to choose great- tasting open- pollinated vegetables at their local farmers’ market. We’re eager to continue our own seed- saving efforts in this grass- roots campaign. Seed Sources - Seeds From Italy www.growitalian.com (781) 721- 5904 Seeds From Italy distributes the vegetable, herb and flower seeds of Franchi Sementi in Bergamo, Italy. They specialize in traditional heirloom Italian varieties. We love the myriad of greens, basils and beans they offer. The seed packets are generously sized, with gorgeous photographs and English translations. - Seed Savers Exchange www.seedsavers.org (563) 382- 5900 I mentioned this catalogue in last month’s issue of In The Kitchen. What I failed to mention was the Seed Savers Exchange membership. For $35.00 per year SSE members receive three publications, including the Seed Savers Yearbook, giving them access to 800 fellow SSE members and listings for 11,000 rare vegetables saved by these amateur seed collectors. Members gain unprecedented access to heirloom seed which they trade among each other. We are joining this year and plan to write a future article about what we learn. - Recommended Reading Heirloom Vegetable Gardening by William
Woys Weaver (Henry Holt and Co., 1997)
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Until
a few years ago, seed saving was completely foreign to us and seemed
to be a pleasant but unnecessary hobby, given the plethora of seed
catalogues we received every year. Sure, in North Carolina our fellow
market vendors Julie and Tim McKeon of “R” Gardens had
been gathering their own strain of collard seeds for years, and loyal
customers lined up for the harvest. And we know Staunton Augusta Farmers
Market vendors Jim and Sue Randall of Elk Run Farm and Vic and Peg
Davis of Snow Spring Farm bring their favorite tomatoes to market
from seeds they’ve saved for years. But we continued to plow
in or compost our crops and order new seed as needed.website created by Ray Flanagan of www.rflanaganphotography.com