Glenn Drowns’ passion for gardening started when he was two and a half years old. “I used to crawl through the fence to our neighbors’ to escape from my mom, and help [Evelyn, the neighbor] plant her garden,” recalls Glenn, fondly.
Bill McDorman started High Altitude Garden Seeds (which later became Seeds Trust) in 1984 while living in a small mountain town in Idaho. He hoped to offer varieties best suited to the cold, short-growing season of the area.
Landis Valley’s Heirloom Seed Project has over 50 volunteers who help to maintain their collection of historic Pennsylvania Dutch seeds. This includes several that they first found in the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbooks. Featured photo courtesy of Landis Valley.
Before Tom Wagner ever started breeding the now-popular ‘Green Zebra’ tomato in 1958, he learned the value of saving seeds by shelling beans around the farm table with his extended family.
This is the story of Suzanne Ashworth, one of nine small seed companies and a few of the varieties they have preserved. While each and every one of their backgrounds is as unique and bold as the varieties they share, they all have one thing in common: the passion for sharing seeds.
Sugo: Juice of Life, submitted by Robin Morgan, Seed Savers Exchange intern and Italian chef. The Italian word sugo means both “juice of life” and a tomato-based pasta sauce. To call something sugo is to say it is rich, interesting, and worthy.
Cabbage Pasta, submitted by Diane Ott Whealy, co-founder of Seed Savers Exchange, Diane’s daughter, Tracy Lynn Whealy, never was a vegetable fan, but she discovered how delicious cabbage can be through her mother’s pasta dish. This is a beautiful dish when prepared with red cabbage.
Fried Thin Skin Ausilio Peppers, submitted by the Ogle-Riccelli family, who have stewarded the ‘Ausilio Thin Skin Italian’ pepper for four, going on five generations. These fried peppers taste great on bread or in a sandwich and go well with onions, mushrooms, and diced potatoes.
Golden Tomato Tart, submitted by Rosalind Creasy, author, photographer, and Seed Savers Exchange advisor. This spectacular tart can be served as an appetizer or as an entrée for a light lunch. It is quite dramatic made with gold tomatoes or any combination of colorful homegrown luscious tomatoes. Any leftover marinade can be used as a base for a vinaigrette dressing.