Time traveling a bit - some garden pics from 2002, using my first digital camera

late June 2002 view of my garden - this was our 10th garden in Raleigh, prior to moving most of the tomatoes to the driveway.

I’ve never been a particularly good photo-documenter of my gardens. Prior to digital photography, there simply isn’t much at all that was captured. It really is a shame, particularly for the 1987-1990 stretch when I really took the deep dive into heirloom varieties.

2002 saw the very beginnings of growing in the driveway - this shows mostly peppers and eggplants.

The Nikon Coolpix purchased in 2002 meant more pictures, but not always the most timely and best organized. I didn’t always use the best size (meaning lower resolution), but in taking a tour through my 2002 pics, there are a few worthwhile things to share.

The real Red Brandywine - regular leaf, scarlet fruit, medium sized, nice smooth form

In 2002, my garden held 78 different varieties. Looking through the varieties, it is clear that many grown then continue to be my favorites - Cherokee Purple and Cherokee Chocolate, Ferris Wheel, Brandywine, Yellow Brandywine, Red Brandywine, Aker’s West Virginia, Halladay’s Mortgage Lifter, Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Speckled Roman, Stump of the World, Lucky Cross, Nepal, Black from Tula, the Livingston varieties Favorite, Magnus and Golden Queen, Peak of Perfection, Burpee’s Matchless, and Anna Russian. Seeds saved that year are now 20 years old and I will likely try my hand at germinating some, though they are 4 years older than the oldest seeds I’ve managed to germinate.

Black from Tula

My first good picture of Cherokee Purple showing all of its characteristics

Druzba, a highly underrated, fine medium sized red tomato from Bulgaria

Livingston’s Favorite, from the 1890s, a very popular medium sized historic red variety rescued from the USDA germplasm collection

Ferris Wheel, from 1894, a Salzer variety I also rescued from oblivion, hiding in the USDA germplasm, now one of my favorite tomatoes.

The spectacular Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, potato leaf, late, showing its characteristic pink blush - core variety in my gardens since 1990.

Livingston’s Magnus - from 1900, showing exactly as shown in the old seed catalog - potato leaf, pink, medium sized, sweet and delicious. I grew it this year and loved it just as much.

Mexico Midget showing its tiny, pea sized fruit

Halladay’s Mortgage Lifter - this one was around 2 lbs, very characteristic.

Yellow Brandywine (which is actually orange) - big, oblate, and delightfully tart

That was fun to do - going down tomato memory lane, 20 years ago. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed creating it!

"Seed Legacy and seed security" - my concerns, part 2

Sue, Koda and Marlin on our Flat Laurel Creek trail hike from this oddly warm week

In part 1 of this two part blog entry I set the stage for laying out a major concern that has been on my mind the past few years. I left off in part 1 talking about some famous Seed Savers Exchange member names that held large single crop selections. I also noted that we “seem” to be in good hands, with heirloom varieties being maintained by the SSE themselves, the USDA, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

I joined the SSE in 1986, developed my passion for heirloom tomatoes, helped launch a major tomato breeding project, and sit here as the calendar is about to flip to 2022 with literally thousands of seed samples (not just tomatoes, but also big pepper and eggplant collections). I also have a big collection of old seed catalogs (hundreds, collected over the years from antique shops and ebay). There are also boxes of letters; personal communications from just about everyone who ever sent me seeds.

I am not ready to stop gardening yet, of course, though I am certainly about to enter the “simplifying and downsizing” approach. This means less plants, which means longer times between growing particular varieties. I plan to use some of the more important seed catalogs for research for future books. These catalogs document the evolution of gardening in America, particularly those between 1870 and 1950 (the pre-hybrid focused years).

Marlin with his Christmas present

Here is the main question that I have, and the whole point of this two part blog. What is the landing point for all of my material? At some point I will decide that I am finished with the catalogs, need a safe place for the letters, the Dwarf Tomato Breeding project is essentially completed, and my massive seed collection needs to find an appropriate home. What is that home?

A few years ago my tomato growing friend and fellow author Carolyn Male died. I can only imagine the amount of heirloom gardening related material in her home. Through communications with her brother, I know that some of the seed did make it into the hands of fellow gardeners, but much was lost. I have no knowledge of what happened to the large collections of important seed saving gardeners who died decades ago - Fax Stinnett, Gary Staley and Thane Earl, for example, those who were the main tomato people of the first decades of the SSE.

I noted in part 1 that things at one point seemed to be in good hands, with the maintained and documented collections of the SSE, USDA and Svalbard Seed Vault. But the keyword is “seemed”. SSE had to make some tough calls on which varieties could reasonably be maintained, and there was significant culling of the collection (remember that they maintain far more than tomatoes!). The USDA started to consolidate their collections as well and far less material is maintained and available than previously. Svalbard is international, and I am not aware of their criteria for presence in their collections.

The reason that I see this as a problem reaching criticality now is that it follows logically from when the SSE created the buzz about growing heirlooms and saving seeds. Let’s say that it was 1985 when this really became “a thing” - we are now nearly 40 years beyond then. The loss of many of those original seed savers, as well as aging out due to health and reduced capability, means that the time is now (if not already starting to pass) to address the lack of clear destination for large collections of seeds and supporting materials (letters, catalogs, seed and garden logs) so that there is access and an effective set of processes to ensure that the seeds live on, and materials can be viewed.

So my question to all who read this blog - what sorts of ideas do you have? To personalize this - let’s say that I am looking at a destination for my seed collection, seed catalog collection, set of garden logs and seed and garden-related correspondences. What is that destination?

Then take my situation and replicate it around the country - around the world - as others who caught the seed saving addiction back in the 1970s, 80s and 90s - how do we prevent loss of possibly valuable germplasm? How do we preserve the information that accompanied those seeds? I’d love to hear what seed companies have to say about this also, as it is something that they themselves may face some day. I don’t think that any of what we have in place - SSE, USDA or Svalbard - is appropriate (for differing reasons). I think we are going to need something new - something that doesn’t yet exist.

Looking out into the Blue Ridge mountains from the Flat Laurel Creek trail in the Black Balsam area off of route 215

Digging a little deeper on the topic I raised about "seed legacy and security" in my last blog - part 1

Koda, Marlin and Betts with Sue taking a Christmas Eve day walk at DuPont Forst

In my last blog (and for those who read it/posted comments, thanks so much), I waited until the end to raise a potential issue that has been nagging at me for some time. I want to take my time describing the situation that has been on my mind for some years. I will split it into two parts, since it is a pretty meaty topic.

Here’s a really quick history primer on gardening in the USA. The very first seed catalogs arose in the early 1800s, mainly carrying varieties introduced in Europe. There were no hybrids being sold - everything was open pollinated (genetically stable and reproducible from saved seeds). American seedsmen, with breeding programs, really took off starting in the mid 1800s, and the proliferation of named varieties was rapid. This continued unabated until hybrid varieties began to appear in catalogs (for example, Burpee’s Big Boy, a major tomato introduction, in 1949). From that point on, the number of varieties of most things began to decrease, and the focus on creating new hybrids significantly increased.

By the mid 1970s, non-hybrid (open pollinated) varieties were in serious decline. Kent Whealy noted this and, in 1975, launched the Seed Savers Exchange to provide a mechanism for sharing rare, local open pollinated varieties more widely. The best way to ensure a variety doesn’t vanish is to grow it, save seeds from it and share it. All of a sudden, tomatoes could be grown well beyond red, and the diversity of beans, watermelons, muskmelon, lettuce (just to mention a few species) exploded, thanks not only to the success of the SSE, but the many smaller seed companies that it stimulated, focusing on non-hybrids. All seemed to be going in the right direction, as older varieties were being preserved, and new varieties continued to be created.

During this time, preservation of open pollinated varieties appeared to be in excellent hands. The Seed Savers Exchange, the USDA, and since 2008, the Svalsbad Global Seed Vault all focused on maintaining viable seeds of the explosion of varieties being saved (and even created). All seemed to be well for preserving our genetic horticultural heritage. In addition, the goal of Kent and Diane Whealy and the benefits of the SSE became a reality. The number of varieties available for gardeners to grow exploded. Those who gardened between the mid 1980s, right through to today, are the most fortunate in history with regard to the diversity of choices. Smaller seed companies, offering regional specialties or diving deep into particular crops, sit alongside the older and larger hybrid-focused companies. Choosing what to grow can be fun - and daunting!

Lake Julia in DuPont Forest on Christmas Eve day

We find ourselves at a rather unique time in horticultural history. The SSE was very successful in attracting some avid gardeners that ended up becoming obsessed with building large collections of varieties. My friend Jeff amassed a significant lettuce collection. I focused on tomatoes, as did many others such as Calvin Wait and Bill Minkey, and before them, Edmund Brown, Thane Earle and Faxon Stinnett. There was apple specialists, bean collectors, and essentially a few avid seed savers for each crop type.

This ends part 1 of this important topic. Within a week I will complete the story and pose the challenge, as it has come to me over the past few years.

Koda and Betts chilling out