Member Profiles

Seed Savers Passing on a valuable heritage
By: Meagan Seele

Ever seen anything prettier than a spring woods full of flowers? Tasted anything sweeter than a naturally ripened wild strawberry? While our greenhouses and truck gardens produce beautiful flowers and vegetables that are available nearly year-round, they lack the something special that nature seems best able to provide: the delicate fragrance, the exquisite, fully ripened taste, the subtle tone of color and texture that once made each variety of fruit and flower completely unique.

As man slowly domesticated flowers, fruits, and vegetables over thousands of years, the varieties that best met his needs were saved and propagated. The favored varieties came as seeds or plants to the new world of America with each ethnic culture. But when the shift of populations from rural to urban occurred, out of necessity the varieties that stored and shipped well were those selected by commercial producers. With hybridization the shift to specific traits was accelerated. Unfortunately something was lost. This was the uniqueness and diversity of the individual species such as the tomato. Hundreds of varieties became only a few dozen that met the modern need.

We were close to losing the opportunity to taste tomato varieties such as Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, or Hungarian Heart. But Kent and Diane Whealy of rural Decorah now make that opportunity possible. In 1975 the Whealy's started to collect and save different varieties of seeds. The collection started with one seed, Grandpa Ott's Morning Glory. The seed was brought over to North America with a family member who emigrated from Bavaria. Today, the Whealy's collection has grown to over 24,000 different varieties of seeds that are permanently maintained and their Seed Savers Exchange Inc. has become known and respected nationwide.

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to collecting and preserving "heirloom" garden seeds, including fruits and vegetables, from extinction. The Whealy's are committed to preserving handed-down varieties that immigrant farmers brought to North America as well as preserving a number of traditional varieties that are grown by Native Americans, Mennonites and Amish families in today's society. The main purpose of Seed Savers Exchange is to make these heirloom seeds available to gardeners across the country as a way of ensuring each variety's survival and everyone's enjoyment.

Seed Savers Exchange is located in Winneshiek County's hilly countryside near Decorah, Iowa. The Heritage Farm includes 170-acres and 12 organic Preservation Gardens that are open for the public to explore. Each year, the Whealy's welcome between 4,000 and 5,000 visitors from all over the country. The tours help visitors become aware of how delicate and important each of the different varieties of seeds are and the possibility of their loss forever if someone doesn't assist in the preservation process.

Hawkeye REC plays a critical role in that preservation process. Freezers are utilized as a means of long-term seed storage to ensure viability. Reliable electric energy from Hawkeye powers those freezers. Are you ready to taste a Crnkovik Yugoslavian Pink tomato? Mmmmm!! Kent and Diane Whealy make that experience possible.

To receive a free 84-page seed catalog, call 563-382-5990. An on-line version of the catalog can be found at www.seedsavers.org.


Apple Orchard

Seed Savers's Historic Apple Orchard preserves more than 750 rare apple varieties. Their collection preserves irreplaceable genetic qualities and a large part of American's apple heritage. In 1900, apple growers could choose from about 8,000 named varieties. Only about 1,000 of those still exist today.