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Stewardship Stories

Stewardship stories have always been an important part of SSE’s preservation work. Seeds are not just a food source but a record of human history. Seeds are intrinsically connected to culture, health, technology, and the human experience. Many of the heirloom seeds in our collection have been grown and preserved by generations of families, each with their own stories of why they saved the seeds.

Small containers of sprouted plants with popsicle stick markers.

Stewardship Stories: John Coykendall

John Coykendall was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee by his mother and father—a school teacher and a banker, respectively. John’s grandfather owned a farm and was a congressman by profession. In 1954, when John was 11, his father taught him to plant potatoes and corn. It was then that John found his love of gardening. “I still get the same thrill out of digging new potatoes that I did the first year!” remembers John.

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A variety of plants growing densely in a garden

Stewardship Stories: Jim Tjepkema

Jim Tjepkema, like many seed savers, gardened as a child with his parents. “My dad always had a garden as I was growing up. I helped some with planting it,” he remembers, “You know, my mother liked to do canning too, so we always had canned vegetables and some frozen as well, so that started me out in gardening.”

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A group of people gather outside of a large red chicken coop

Stewardship Stories: Glenn Drowns

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.

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