Growing Food

Hear a Seed Saver, See Where the Seeds Are Saved

Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa.
Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. Photo: courtesy Anthony Todd/Chicagoist

Louisa Chu informs us that tonight you can hear a talk by apple historian Dan Bussey, who is Orchard Manager for the Seed Savers Exchange and owner of a Wisconsin orchard that’s home to some 250 varieties of apples. But what’s this Seed Savers Exchange, you ask? For that question we turn to Chicagoist, where Anthony Todd reports on a recent visit to Seed Savers’ primary heritage farm in Decorah, Iowa:

Seeds don’t stay viable in jars. You can’t simply keep millions of seeds and then dig them back out in 50 years - they have to be grown and re-harvested, over and over and over. Hence Heritage Farm, Seed Savers living laboratory and production facility. Called “the most diverse farm in the world,” Seed Savers many gardens showcase the heirloom varieties in their collection. And they do it in the prettiest way possible, in an effort to inspire home gardeners to buy some seeds, take them home, and plant them all over their homes and yards… If you need inspiration, this is the place.

Get some garden zen for the end of your workday at Chicagoist here. Then go hear Dan Bussey at Haas Park tonight at 6 at 2404 N. Washtenaw; it’s free.

Hear a Seed Saver, See Where the Seeds Are Saved