Kent and Diane Whealy were granted a sacred trust in 1971 when Diane’s grandfather Ott, gave them seeds of two varieties of garden plants—a tomato and a morning glory—which his parents brought with them when they emigrated from Bavaria to the United States in the 1870s., Baptist John Grandpa Ott died that winter, and the Whealys realized the two rare varieties would vanish if they did not grow the plants and harvest and save the seed.

How many more varieties of vegetables, fruits, grains, and flowers were on the verge of extinction, they wondered. Because most gardeners buy seeds from the limited, mostly hybrid varieties offered in the catalogs of major suppliers, many thousands of standard varieties were in danger of becoming extinct. Kent and Diane regarded these disappearing varieties as “heirlooms,” important both for their historic and scientific value.

In 1975, the Whealys founded Seed Savers Exchange (SSE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and distribution of heirloom varieties. The mission of SSE, based at Heritage Farm near Decorah, Iowa, is clear and simple. “We want to increase the genetic diversity that’s available to farmers and gardeners,“ Kent says. “We have found that there is a tremendous heritage of heirloom garden plants in this country that was brought in by the original immigrants. Gardeners and farmers always brought the best of their seeds with them. We want to preserve those links.“

Kent explains the importance of heirloom seed preservation, both for the science of plant genetics and the record of America’s history and heritage. Plants that have evolved in different regions of the world have different genetic characteristics, alterations in their genetic makeup that might enable them to withstand stresses—such as drought, insect pests, or plant diseases—or allow them to thrive in harsh conditions or poor soils. Plant breeders can use these genetic characteristics to develop varieties that can grow and produce food in dry seasons, marginal soils, or summers beset by high populations of damaging insects and diseases.

In a world of hybrid varieties of garden vegetables based on a limited range of genetic stock, the potential for widespread crop failures is increased. And the genetic material needed to develop hardier varieties is diminishing. The lesson for plant breeders is clear: when you tinker with the engine, do NOT throw away any of the parts—you may need them later.

Equally important is the history and heritage of America’s gardening and farming culture. The heirloom seeds offered by Seed Savers Exchange include varieties of garden plants that are intertwined with the great events and people of our past.

“We have seeds in our collection that supposedly came over on the Mayflower,“ Kent says, “and there are varieties of tomatoes that General Robert E. Lee sent home to his family during the Civil War.“

The Seed Savers gardens grow flowers, herbs, and vegetables that Thomas Jefferson raised in his gardens at Monticello and beans and corn carried by members of the Cherokee Tribe on the Trail of Tears. “Every family has its own seeds and every seed has its own story,“ says Kent. “That cultural heritage is really incredible.“

Seed Savers Exchange has more than eight thousand members around the world and coordinates the distribution of some twenty thousand varieties of heirloom garden seeds. About three hundred of the heirloom varieties it offers are available in bulk quantities, a valuable resource for community supported agriculture (CSA) operations, specialty growers, and alternative seed companies.

SSE grows, harvests, stores, catalogs, and distributes heirloom varieties grown at Heritage Farm and in the gardens of SSE members around the world. In addition to the varieties that immigrant gardeners and farmers brought to North America, SSE preserves traditional varieties grown by Native American, Mennonite, and Amish families. For more than twenty-five years, SSE has been a leader in the heirloom seed movement, and its members have distributed an estimated one million samples of endangered seeds not otherwise available.

The annually published Seed Savers Yearbook is the world’s greatest single source of heirloom varieties. It contains listings of more than twelve thousand rare varieties of vegetables and fruits and the addresses of the eight hundred SSE members who offer those seeds for distribution.

Heritage Farm, SSE’s nine-hundred-acre headquarters and demonstration farm, is a living museum of historic varieties and maintains more than twenty-four thousand rare vegetable and flower varieties. Its classic barn was restored by Amish carpenters and features a cathedral-like roof arching over a huge hayloft that serves as a meeting area and performance hall. The barn also contains a visitor center and garden workshops. Up the hill, an oak post-and-beam building contains SSE’s modern seed storage facilities and a complex of offices and meeting rooms.

Heritage Farm is open to the public for tours, and it offers educational programs for school children and other groups. The most popular tour opportunities are walks through the Preservation Gardens and the Historic Orchard.
The Preservation Gardens are open from Memorial Day until October, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Visitors can walk through these beautifully landscaped, certified-organic gardens where some two thousand endangered varieties are grown for seed each year. They can tour the Historic Orchard, the most diverse public orchard in the world, where more than seven hundred varieties of nineteenth-century apples and two hundred varieties of hardy grapes are maintained and displayed. Visitors will also want to see the herd of about eighty Ancient White Park Cattle, a two-thousand-year-old breed from the British Isles that has fewer than one thousand surviving animals worldwide.

Each summer, Seed Savers Exchange hosts an annual convention on the next-to-last full weekend in July when the Preservation Gardens are at their peak. Keynote speakers have included some of the world’s best-known activists and writers in agricultural and social issues, including Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Gary Nabhan, and Nancy Arrowsmith. About 250 SSE members take part in the educational presentations, garden and orchard tours, demonstra-tions and workshops, and entertainment, including a traditional barn dance.

Seed Savers Exchange uses its publications, tours, and educational programs at Heritage Farm and outreach work across the country and the world to create awareness of heirloom varieties and the efforts to conserve them. The organization has provided the models and the resources for genetic preservation projects and for the operation of seed distribution companies throughout the United States and in more than thirty other countries. It is respected worldwide for its accomplishments and continued commitment to seed conservation.