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.
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And as I found out during my time as the membership and development intern at Heritage Farm, Seed Savers Exchange is all about stories.
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Seed rematriation addresses the desire for Indigenous communities to actively reclaim their ancestral seeds and traditions. Seed Savers Exchange, with grants from North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NCR-SARE), has actively supported Indigenous communities by rematriating seeds in the SSE collection back to their cultures of origin with the goal of practicing sustainable, sovereign, and environmentally and socially responsible agriculture.
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Craig and his childhood friend David Theodoropoulos decided to hitch-hike 2,400 miles from northern California to Dimondale, Michigan in an effort to preserve Harry Saier’s seed collection. Ultimately, this was the catalyst that helped Craig found Redwood City Seed Company, and allowed David to start J.L. Hudson Seedsman.
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Discover expert tips on growing healthy, vibrant collard greens with Ira Wallace, a collard connoisseur and seed-saving advocate. Learn her top five tips for cultivating collards, plus get two delicious recipes, from Brazilian Garlic Collards to classic Southern-style greens. A must-read for gardening enthusiasts and collard lovers alike!
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“The corn is one of my greatest teachers,” says Jessika Greendeer, a Ho-Chunk Nation tribal member from Baraboo, Wisconsin, and a Deer Clan member who serves as a seed keeper and farm manager for Dream of Wild Health. The Minneapolis-based organization works to recover knowledge of and access to healthy Indigenous foods, medicines, and lifeways.
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“You can’t have food sovereignty without seed sovereignty,” says Jessika Greendeer, former seed keeper and farm manager at Dream of Wild Health in Hugo, Minnesota. “That is why this work is so important.” The “work” to which Greendeer refers is seed rematriation, a growing movement Rowen White, founder of Sierra Seeds, explored in the Heritage Farm Companion, Seed Savers Exchange’s member magazine. “In the Indigenous seed-sovereignty movement, we have begun to use the word ‘rematriation’ as it relates to bringing our seeds home again,”
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Craig discovered a passion for heirloom tomatoes when he joined Seed Savers Exchange in 1986 and today serves as SSE’s tomato adviser.
He has named and popularized many well-known tomatoes, including ‘Cherokee Purple,’ and in 2005 added amateur tomato breeding to his garden resumé. He continues to co-lead a space-limited breeding project, responsible for creating 125 (and counting) new compact growing varieties for space-challenged gardeners.
It’s a fact—the Exchange remains a vibrant source of unique, awe-worthy seeds because of our passionate listers and their distinctive interests. One such lister is Bloomington, Indiana, resident Steve Strickler, a grower of state record-breaking produce.
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Julie Sheen is a farmer, growing and sharing seed adapted to the Mountain West through her seed company, Giving Ground Seeds. In the past, Julie has also shared seeds via the Exchange, our gardener-to-gardener seed swap.
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