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I ’m a lifelong gardener and plant nut . I set off saving seeds in the early ’ 90s when my best-loved ‘ California Giant ’ petunias begin disappearing from catalogs and the local store that carry the seeds closed . I had one extra package and begin saving the seeds from that . I ’ve been save these seeds ever since … and add any other ‘ California Giant’-type petunias to the premix .
Around that same prison term , my mother sent me a newspaper article about heirloom tomatoes and Gleckler ’s Seedsmen [ an heirloom semen caller founded by Merlin Gleckler in 1947 ] . I found it really interesting so I ordered some of those heirloom tomatoes and grew them . That was just the start .
A neighbour , Mr. Tarter , later gave me some German love apple he had arise . I save the seeds from them and have been spring up them since 1996 . They are prominent , red , and kind of heart - shaped but variable . Their flavor is terrific , and they are still one of my most favorite Lycopersicon esculentum . They were known only as “ that German tomato ” so I began send for them ‘ Mr. Tartar ’s German ’ tomato . Another best-loved Lycopersicon esculentum is ‘ Grand Belgium , ’ acquired just two years ago from Joan Ballitch through the SSEExchange . It ’s a beautiful orange - yellow tomato with fleeceable shoulder joint that twist to a slight blush when ripe . I add the best of these into the theatre to mature so we can apply them at peak ripeness . My hubby and I both love these tomatoes ; they ’re so good .
‘Mr. Tarter’s’ tomatoes sit front and center in this metal bin of fresh produce.
I joined Seed Savers Exchange as a penis while visiting Heritage Farm in Decorah while on vacation in September 2001 . We ’d been visiting friends in Northern Iowa when the September 11 attacks occurred . We decided to go home , and SSE ’s Heritage Farm was on the way . That was such a shivery and chaotic time , but Heritage Farm was so peaceful and calming .
I also hoped SSE could assist me retrieve an heirloom bean that my family had farm . My grandparent were Belgian immigrants , and my sisters and pal and I grow up in a house across a small hay field from them . We visited them so often that we don a track through the eye of the bailiwick — it was a heavy deal when you were old enough to sweep the way alone to get to May and Pay ’s house . They had a beautiful garden where they grew rod bean from seed that had come from Belgium . I thought that was just the coolest thing . I find the seeds after my gran passed away , but they did n’t pullulate . However , in 2002 , I received ‘ Belgium ’ beans from Exchange lister PA SI G [ Guy Simpson ] , an optometrist who got eight varieties of heirloom beans from a patient . Only two plant , however , survive the woodchuck ; one was ‘ Belgium , ’ a pole walkover noodle , and the other was ‘ Austrian Kidney , ’ a red dry bush bean . I ’ve grow ‘ Belgium ’ almost every year since then , and it is a great , fertile variety .
I save ejaculate from my garden each twelvemonth for my own use and to keep these wonderful , luscious varieties available for others . I ’ve savour showing my favorite heirloom and swapping seed for a number of years at the Heirloom Garden Show at theGarfield Farm Museumin La Fox , Illinois , west of Chicago , usually held in recent August . The museum staff really welcomes and appreciates visitant and volunteers . It ’s a great place to meet the great unwashed from different walks of life interested in heirloom plants .
‘Mr. Tarter’s’ tomatoes sit front and center in this metal bin of fresh produce.
you may expand what you spring up by learning to start ejaculate ( specially indoors ) and to save them . I learned a mountain by reading books like Suzanne Ashworth’sSeed to Seedand Nancy Bubel’sThe New Seed - Starters Handbook . I foundGrowing and propagate Wild Flowersby Harry Phillips especially helpful for learning about cold social stratification — seeds that need a nerveless moist treatment before they ’ll sprout ; lots of trees , perennials , and wild blossom demand this treatment in purchase order to develop .
One of my favourite things about SSE is theYearbook[the print directory of the online Exchange come swap ] . I enjoy reading the lister profiles , learning about their different projects and update , and wonder at the sheer identification number of interesting heirlooms they ’re get useable .
enter in the Exchange has been very rewarding . I ’ve learn so much , met and corresponded with people I otherwise never would have , and found heirloom veggie and flower sort I love that I want to arise as long as I can . I would encourage anybody with an interest in gardening to give the Exchange a try and to mean about becoming a lean member .
Gayle Saberniak (seated, right)shows her favorite heirlooms at the Heirloom Garden Show at the Garfield Farm Museum.
Gayle Saberniak of Chalmers , Indiana , is a longtime Seed Savers Exchange member and Exchange lister .
Hope and Practice
To celebrate Seed Savers Exchange ’s 50th anniversary , we are featuring the work and inspiration of Exchange Baron Lister in the " Hope and Practice " serial .
Gayle Saberniak holds a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers from her garden.
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