Exchange Spotlight: Julie Sheen

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. Below, Julie shares how seed saving enables her to adapt to climate change and the unique growing conditions of her region.

A woman poses in a garden next to rows of cabbage plants

Interview

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I farm a one-acre garden in southeast Idaho. We have a short season and an arid climate. The challenges of our growing area are one reason I love growing seeds and growing out rare varieties.

Through saving seeds, I can slowly adapt varieties to be better suited to my climate and region. With every subsequent season of planting, the seeds are better adapted to my farming system and soils and grow better for me. That means less struggle and hard work growing crops that aren’t really adapted to this land.

Climate change is a great concern in my gardening, and by adapting crops to our arid short season, I believe we are enhancing biodiversity in a way that might be useful for all gardeners in coming years.

I love listing in the Exchange because it is such a great way to get my seeds into the hands of gardeners who need them and gardeners who will continue to save seeds from them.

What called you to seed saving?
When I save seeds, I have a closer relationship with the plants I’m growing because I see them through their whole life cycle. I also love growing out rare varieties (or varieties in danger of disappearing) I have found in the SSE Yearbook, catalog, and other sources.

I’m drawn to crops named after the women who stewarded them, like ’Anna Ortman’s’ lettuce” or ‘Aunt Molly’s’ ground cherry. Many of our crop varieties have been bred by women farmers who worked informally providing for their families and communities, and these are varieties I wish to continue to grow to honor the role of these women in our agricultural heritage.

SSE lists ‘Anna Ortman’s’ lettuce on the Exchange. ‘Aunt Molly’s’ ground cherry can be purchased from SSE’s commercial catalog.

Do you have a favorite crop type and/or variety that you maintain?
I love native plants, medicinal herbs, and “staples” crops that are adapted to shorter seasons like peas, beans, corn, cabbage, and squash. Peas are such a great crop to grow here, and I have several rare varieties I love to maintain. Dry peas and frozen fresh peas can help sustain you through lean times too!

Is there anything else SSE members/listers should consider about seed saving?
The book The Seed Garden, published by SSE and the Organic Seed Alliance, is really one of the best and most practical seed-saving guides out there for those saving seed on a smaller scale like a garden or small farm.

Check out some of Julie’s favorite varieties:

A bouquet of celosia flowers in a range of colors from pinks to oranges to yellows.

Mix Celosia: This highly valued, unique flower has several names: Cock’s Comb, Coral Statice, and Brain Statice. A long-lasting, large, and exotic cut flower, Celosia likes heat and space and is not frost tolerant. This mix contains both coral folding flowers and spikes of yellow, red, orange, purple, and pink.

Julie does not currently list ‘Mix Celosia’ seeds on the Exchange.

A small jar filled with tiny yellow dijon mustard seeds resting on a brightly-colored crop

Dijon Mustard: This French heirloom excels for mustard-making! Plants bolt quickly, producing a profuse number of yellow flowers that produce surprising amounts of light-brown mustard seeds. A small 5 X 5′ space yields enough to keep you in mustard until the following season!

Julie does not currently list ‘Dijon Mustard’ seeds on the Exchange, but they can be purchased from Julie’s website.

A bunch of small wild pea seeds in a range of colors from light blues and greens to darker blues and purples on a red surface

Wild Peas of Umbria: Gardeners who plant this variety hold in their hands a living, perpetuating fossil, a piece of history. This dry pea has been grown and wild harvested since the Neolithic age by peasants and shepherds along Italy’s Apennine Mountains, specifically on the Umbria-Marche ridge. Its near disappearance in recent decades has led to its being sponsored by Slow Food’s Ark of Taste. It requires little to be quite productive and can be used as a dry or soup pea.

Julie does not currently list ‘Wild Peas of Umbria’ on the Exchange, but they can be purchased from Julie’s website.

Originally published August 21, 2020. Updated January 31, 2025.