Four red peppers, a group of pepper seeds and a small jar of pepper seeds on a small blue styrofoam plate

Amy LeBlanc: Seed Saver, Preservationist, Educator

Amy Frances LeBlanc, a lifetime SSE member since 1996, truly embodies the mission of SSE to promote and preserve our garden heritage.

Many small orange butterflyweed flowers in clusters surrounded by their stems' foliage

Learn

Prairie Flowers for Pollinators

Scott Leddy, a habitat-restoration practitioner well known among naturalists in the Midwest, has devoted the majority of his life (more than three decades) to restoring the bluffs and prairies surrounding Rushford, Minnesota, part of the Driftless Area of the Midwest.

A close up of a leafy green lettuce plant with some splashes of bronze color

Varieties

Members Help ADAPT Program Shine

The year 2017 proved a success for Seed Savers Exchange’s new Community Science programs. Myriad SSE members answered the call to participate in one (or both) of the programs—ADAPT and RENEW.

Small seedlings emerge from the soil in the cells of plastic trays

Learn

Adventures of a First-Time Seed Starter

With the start of each new year at Seed Savers Exchange come seed orders from gardeners across the country who are eagerly anticipating another spring of growing heirloom and open-pollinated vegetables and flowers. And 2018, I discovered, was no different.

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

Recipes

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 woman in a red shirt smiles and holds a leafy vegetable in a garden

Stewardship Stories

The Revolutionary Work of Sara McCamant

Sara McCamant of Sebastopol, California, has never met a garden plot she didn’t like. “Gardening’s in my blood,” she says. “Growing up in a family of gardeners, I’ve always had a passion for planting things and digging in the dirt.” And she has happily spent much of her life pursuing that passion.

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.

A collage of old photos of people and beans

Stewardship Stories

Bean There, Done That: The Living Legacy of the Withee Collection

From Washington to Massachusetts, John Withee’s collection is being honored and protected by the next generation of seed savers who carry on his legacy of growing and sharing heirloom beans. Here you can follow the plight of just a few of the varieties in the John Withee bean collection.

Hailey Abbey