Heirloom seed popularity contest

Learn how we choose which seeds make it into our seed catalog - and find out what “old” seeds are “new” in the 2010 catalog.

Launch Gallery

Welcome to Seed Savers Idol , where seeds are given a chance to showcase their good looks and talents . This competition is open to the thousands of seeds residing in Seed Savers collection , and the contender is steadfast , as only the Top 20 will move on . The booty ? Nationwide exposure in the2010 Seed Savers seed catalogensuring the length of service of your seed variety ’s population .

Okay , perchance this is a bit striking , but only a little . Many smorgasbord are endangered , and offer them for sale in the catalogue could move around them into best marketer . What happens to a best merchandising heirloom seed you enquire ? Well , other seed companies will start to betray that source ( imagine a famous heirloom like the Brandywine Lycopersicon esculentum ) . And the more seed companies that carry heirloom mixed bag seeds , the well we sow recoverer sleep at night knowing seed will be grown and saved by gardener across the commonwealth .

Need test copy ? Take the charismatic watermelon variety Moon & Stars ( Van Doren Strain ) . At one time very few germ companies offer this heirloom ( two in the U.S. in 1987 ) . As the watermelon became more pop , seven company offered it in 1991 . Twelve in 1994 . At last numeration , 47 company offer this watermelon vine in 2004 .

Some of this years ’ Top 20 include the Black Valentine Bean , Bumble Bee Bean , Kenearly Yellow Bean , Sultan ’s Golden Crescent Bean , and Mortgage Lifter ( Halladay ’s ) tomato plant . And yes , we hope they become very democratic .

With thousands of varieties to choose from in the collection , figuring out which salmagundi we will sell in our catalog is no easy undertaking .

One way that we pick seminal fluid for the catalog is by using trial run garden . Trial gardens are what they fathom like — gardens where we “ try out ” a certain metal money by turn them in the garden . This past season one of our trial gardens was for cucumbers . When we have a trial for a certain species , we grow out all the smorgasbord we have in our collection , in this case over 200 cucumbers .

For the catalog , we look for smorgasbord that gardeners might wish to originate . We valuate all of the cukes by looking at machine characteristic such as solar day to maturity date , disease resistance , and growth habits ( are they vining or bush ? ) . Taste examination is a best-loved stave event . The competition is fierce , but using this data we hoard a “ Top Ten ” lean of our favorite varieties . We then start bulking up on seed on these varieties so that we can extend them in a future catalogue .

For the aggregation , Seed Savers also used the cucumber vine trials to get to know , and better infer , the collection . Staff Horticulturists took verbal description of each plant during various degree of its living wheel , using around 70 different descriptors to key them .

So , congratulations term of enlistment Squash and the Purple Pickling Eggplant , and those other 2010 selectees . All of you seeds have boastful work to do . Now , go out and make us proud by becoming renowned .

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