Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I become a member of SSE and/or FHE?
Do I have to become a member to order from the SSE Catalog?
What is an heirloom?
Why should I grow heirlooms?
1) Why should I become a member of SSE and/or FHE?
Imagine a seed catalog with thousands of varieties of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and beans. As a member of SSE and/or FHE you'll have access to over 11,000 unique varieties of heirloom vegetables, fruits, grains, flowers and herbs through the Seed Savers annual yearbook and the Flower and Herb annual yearbook, which lists available varieties, their characteristics and histories, and information on how to obtain them through other members.
Many of these varieties are extremely rare and would probably be extinct if it weren't for a community of gardeners who are committed to keeping these treasures alive. Seed Savers Exchange has provided an organized link for gardeners who feel the importance of maintaining the existing biodiversity of our food supply. In 1970, a corn blight devastated more than 15 percent of the North American corn crop. The corn was particularly susceptible to the blight because over 70% of the corn being grown in the US came from the same parent lines. Not only does maintaining heirlooms prevent occurrences like the corn blight, but as you will discover, growing them is a lot of fun!
In addition to the SSE annual yearbook, you will also receive two other annual publications containing articles from around the globe pertaining to seeds, plants, gardening and food. Articles range from the latest new and commentary on the world of biotechnology to timeless articles exploring the origins and peregrinations of various food crops.
All are welcome to attend the Annual Convention (if you are already a member of the SSE or FHE you will receive a discount on registration) held on the next to last full weekend in July at Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa. Past keynote speakers have included Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Eliot Coleman, Gary Nabhan, Amy Goldman, Cary Fowler, Glenn Drowns, Roger Swain and Will Bonsall. Demonstrations and workshops, garden and orchard tours, open houses, delicious food and a barn dance are all a part of the weekend festivities.
Becoming a SSE and/or FHE member brings with it the reward of knowing you are a part of an organized effort to preserve heirloom varieties. The typical gardener or grower does not have the resources to save thousands of plant varieties on his or her own. Government-funded seed banks such as the National Seed Storage Laboratory in Colorado are inadequately funded. Furthermore, to guarantee their viability these varieties need to be grown out on a routine basis and the seed collected and saved under optimal conditions until it is time to repeat the process. Presently only organizations such as Seed Savers Exchange are growing out and maintaining the heirloom varieties. Our members support us in our efforts to preserve these treasures for future generations. In perpetuating these varieties we are keeping genetic material alive which may be called upon to protect our food supply from unforeseen challenges such as drought, global warming, pesticide-resistant insects and diseases.
Become a member of the SSE and/or FHE now >>
2) Do I have to become a member to order from the Seed Savers Catalog?
No! We love it when non-members order from our catalog. In the catalog you will find varieties that are available through other sources, as well as our unique offerings. Once you experience the wondrous world of heirloom varieties, particularly the incredible flavors, you'll want to keep growing them. You might even find yourself saving your own seeds and exchanging them with others!
3) What is and heirloom?
Heirlooms are seeds that are passed down within families of gardeners from generation to generation.
4) Why should I grow heirlooms?
If you want variety, superior flavor, unusual colors and shapes and unique histories, heirloom gardening is a wonderful alternative to growing the F1 hybrids featured predominately by many large seed companies. Most home gardeners and grower don't need tomatoes with skins tough enough to withstand cross-country shipment, or potatoes that will pass the McDonald's uniformity test. Since the 1940s the hybrids have been the most marketed varieties to home gardeners. Choices grew increasingly smaller as the seed companies discarded those varieties that did not fit the factory-farm, monoculture mold.
| Although the old time varieties were worthy of continuing, many were dropped by seed companies in favor of the hybrids and gradually home growers couldn't get the same tomatoes and peppers they remembered from childhood. An entire generation grew up believing that all tomatoes were red, round and identical in taste. However, heirloom gardening is putting an end to that myth! There are thousands of different tomato varieties, and although some are red and round there are many others with incredibly complex flavors and a virtual rainbow of colors! | |
Many heirloom varieties can be recognized by their names as having folk origins. These gems were often grown by generations of families, ethnic enclaves and communities and are usually found in isolated and mountainous regions. Frequently they took the name of their ethnic origins, as in Zapotec Ribbed and Cherokee Purple tomatoes. Sometimes they were named after the family or person who bred them or made them available to other gardeners such as Djena Lee's Golden Girl tomato and Jimmy Nardello's Sweet Italian Frying Pepper. Some got their name from unusual physical traits, examples being Moon and Stars Watermelon and Rattlesnake Snap Bean. The Aconcagua Pepper was named after Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina, where it originated.
If you aren't already convinced that you want to try growing heirlooms, another one of their desirable traits is that the ripening process is staggered, which means you get produce that ripens on an ongoing basis. Many hybrids were bred to ripen at the same time, which optimized mechanical harvesting. This trait is a disadvantage for the home gardener who might want to pick ripe tomatoes over a period of weeks, not days.
As a home gardener, you can make a difference simply by growing heirlooms and helping to keep the genetic reservoir well stocked for future generations. Imagine a seed catalog with two or three tomato varieties - all red, round and similar in taste. What a dull world it would be without variety!
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