Collecting Seed Stories: How to Record Seed Histories

Every seed has a story.

SSE gathers, documents, and shares the stewardship histories, origins, and community ties associated with the varieties in our collection.  We are committed to the preservation and distribution of heirloom varieties with a deep and enduring connection to the gardening and farming heritage of the United States.

How to Collect a Seed Story

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.

Plan the Interview

A little bit of planning can greatly increase the quality of your interview. In general, a good seed story will include a description of the variety, a little bit about the interviewee, information about the interviewee’s relationship with the variety, and information about the broader history of the variety.

Interesting lines of inquiry include those that help listeners understand how the variety has been shared, where it came from, who else has stewarded the variety, and why the variety is important to the interviewee.

Sometimes unexpected things come up, so stay flexible and see where the interview leads. Try to let the interviewee do most of the talking.

Sample Interview Questions

Questions about the variety:

• What does it look like?
• Is there anything special about it?
• What is the best way to grow it?

Questions about the interviewee:

• When were you born?
• What was your childhood like?
• Where do you live now?
• Where did your ancestors come from?
• How/when/why did you start gardening?
• Have you always had a garden?
• What is your happiest memory of gardening?

Questions about the interviewee’s relationship with the variety:

• What is your earliest memory of the variety?
• How do you like to eat it?
• Do you have any favorite recipes that use the variety?
• What is it about this variety that makes you keep growing it?
• Have you ever shared this variety with anyone else?
• Is it popular among gardeners in your area? Are you the only one growing it?
• Have you ever come close to losing the variety?

Questions about the history of the variety:

• From whom/where did you get the variety?
• What did you know about the variety when you first got it?
• What attracted you to the variety?
• Where did the variety originally come from? (ethnic group, country, family?)

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Originally published February 2, 2016. Updated January 29, 2025.