A celeriac plant lies across a cutting board, with a white root and purple and green stems

Three Recipes from Our Table to Yours

Food is central to holiday gatherings and often a celebration isn’t complete without that one dish made especially for the occasion — be it your Grandma’s pecan pie or the green bean casserole, customized to your family’s exact liking.

Hands putting a small spoonful of seeds from a tray on a scale into a white envelope

About Us

The Seed Regeneration Process

Come behind the scenes as Seed Savers Exchange’s preservation team shows how they regenerate seeds on Heritage farm. This is a vital step in caring for our collection.

A group of many different plants growing together, with several plant labels

How Tos

Create a Small-Space Garden Like (Our) Pro

In 2017, we visited with Lou Ann Hall—gardener extraordinaire and Former Seed Savers Exchange retail seed program manager—to learn more about the lush and inviting small-space garden (100 square feet, give or take) she created that spring on the sprawling grounds of Heritage Farm in Decorah. Read on and learn how you too can make the most of even the smallest garden spot.

A light pink turnip with leafy green foliage grows in the ground

Learn

Identifying Brassica Species by Seed…and the ‘Turnabaga’ Extinction

Until 2017, the Seed Savers Exchange collection included the “turnabaga.” What is a turnabaga, you might rightfully ask? Well, it was a very unique vegetable that we can now proudly say is extinct.

Two red tomatoes and two tomato halves on a wooden surface

Stewardship Stories

A.W. Livingston and His Enduring Tomato Legacy

Discover the history of A.W. Livingston, the father of modern tomatoes, and his transformative work in tomato breeding. Learn about the legacy of Livingston’s varieties, their restoration by Victory Seed Company, and the unique characteristics of tomatoes like ‘Livingston’s Paragon’ and ‘Honor Bright’ that have shaped today’s tomato culture.

Yellow sunflowers tower over a wall of red-flowering runner beans.

Varieties

Quintessentially British: The Unjustifiably Shunned Runner Bean

In the United States, runner beans are undervalued as an edible crop and usually grown as ornamentals for their large, showy, often scarlet-colored flowers. American horticulturalist Fearing Burr recognized their eating qualities in his 1863 book Field and Garden Vegetables of North America, stating “its value as an esculent has not been generally appreciated.” This remains true today.

A leafy plant with many red tomatoes growing on it

Learn

Exploring Tomato Flower Structure

One common belief among gardeners is that tomato varieties with potato-type leaves are much more likely to cross pollinate than regular leaf tomatoes. Is there any truth in it?

Stewardship Stories

Collecting Seed Stories: How to Record Seed Histories

Anyone can preserve history by collecting seed stories. There are many more amazing seed stories out there than we can ever collect on our own. An easy way to protect these stories is to record them.

A pile of black and white lima beans with two green pods on top and in the lower left corner a seal that reads,

Varieties

Wick’s Lima Bean

Discover the rich history and exceptional flavor of ‘Wick’s’ Lima Bean, a vigorous pole bean with a lineage dating back to the 1930s. Passed down through generations, this heirloom variety produces slightly curved pods with beautifully mottled or solid purple seeds. Enjoy its sweet flavor fresh or its nutty taste when dried. Learn how to grow, cook, and preserve this unique lima bean while exploring its fascinating story through the CORE Project’s preservation efforts.

Learn

Tomatillo Isolation Requirements

Learn the truth about tomatillo pollination and isolation requirements for successful seed saving. Discover why tomatillos must cross-pollinate, debunking common myths about their self-pollinating nature, and understand the proper isolation distances needed to preserve true varieties.

Articles