[Scpg] Feb 10 4pm SLO Diane Ott Whealy of Seed Savers Exchange talk, book signing, and seed exchange

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network]

Diane Ott Whealy of Seed Savers Exchange talk, book signing, and seed 
exchange
Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver.
Hosted By SLO Seed Exchange
Sunday February 10 from 4-6pm

SLO Grange
San Luis Obispo, California

Seed Savers Exchange is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving 
and sharing heirloom seeds. Since 1975, our members have been passing on 
our garden heritage by collecting and distributing thousands of samples 
of rare garden seeds to other gardeners. http://www.seedsavers.org/


The article below was originally appeared online at Decorah Newspapers 
about Diane Ott Whealy’s book Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver.

Diane Ott Whealy, co-founder of the world-renowned Seed Savers Exchange 
in Decorah, has published her first book, Gathering: Memoir of a Seed 
Saver, and will launch its release at an author event hosted by Agora 
Arts Saturday, June 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. (For an interview with the 
author, see below).

Gathering is, at heart, the story of many remarkable individuals-true 
heroes of the land, including Merle Van Doren, preserver of the 
evocatively named Moon and Stars watermelon; Dan and Eli Zook, two Amish 
brothers who lovingly handcrafted many of SSE’s buildings; and Ole O. 
Lomen, aka Apple Lomen, whose 1898 orchard boasted 100 varieties of the 
fruit. And, of course, Ott Whealy herself, whose passion and 
perseverance helped what is now a major organization take root and flourish.

“To us,” she writes, “seeds were always connected to people-people whose 
stories, no less than good soil and spring rains, brought those seeds to 
life.”


An interview with Diane Ott Whealy

Q. Why did you write this book?

A. It was important for me to communicate to a new generation of 
gardeners and staff who work here that an organization succeeds because 
there are people who have lived it, dreamt it, and built it with an eye 
toward the future. This is not only my story, but also the story of Seed 
Savers Exchange.

Q. What inspired you to write Gathering?

A. I have always wanted to write. In the fall of 2008, George DeVault, 
the executive director at that time, and I were talking about “the good 
old days” of Heritage Farm and Seed Savers Exchange. I began to 
reminisce about how much had happened over the years and the many folks 
who helped create the fine organization we are today. What an adventure! 
He listened to the narrative of my childhood, my grandparents, of 
homesteading, raising a family and eventually building the nonprofit 
into what it is today. And when I was finished, he told me to clear my 
schedule and start writing and I never looked back.

Q. Is there a message in your memoir that you want to convey to your 
readers ?

A. The fact that amateurs can accomplish great things by starting small, 
keeping things focused, and being willing to make sacrifices while 
celebrating the gradual progress being made. A dream must be something 
you feel passionate about if you expect to inspire others to join in 
your effort.

Q. How did you come up with the title?

A. Gathering is the simple, beautiful thread that ties this story 
together. It’s about the gathering of people, seeds and stories. It 
simply had to be the title.

Q. Who is your book for?

A. The book is for people who want to grow something, whether it’s a 
seed, a family, a business or a dream of any size.

Q. In recent years, the word “heirloom” is used to describe many 
vegetables, especially tomatoes, but when you began your work was 
heirloom seed a common term?

A. More than thirty years ago, when Seed Savers Exchange started, no one 
knew what an heirloom was. We were pioneers in the heirloom movement 
which today is an integral part of any serious conversation about 
genetic biodiversity.

This was a movement that grew out of the backyard garden and its 
creative evolution continues to be played there today. In the chapter 
“Cover Stories” I wrote about a mid-1980s preservation garden 
illustrated by the photos of David Cavagnaro -a collage of diverse 
colorful tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans and eggplant. These images 
remain captivating to this day. As heirlooms have gained in popularity 
some of these odd looking purple tomatoes do not look all that strange 
to us now. SSE was ahead of its time. The fact that heirlooms have 
become players in the Slow Food movement attests to their quality taste 
and variety, indeed there is a tomato for every kind of cuisine, a bean 
for every pot.

These days everyone wants to talk about heirlooms because of their taste 
and variety but the story is more important than what meets the eyes or 
taste buds, it is about preserving our heritage for future generations.

Q. How did SSE began?

A. It started over 35 years ago with two seeds handed down to me from my 
grandparents and it grew from there, I am speaking about Grandpa Ott’s 
morning glory and the German Pink tomato.

I was not a trained botanist, but knew instinctively to respect the 
seeds, stories, recipes and memories. I knew that the loss of this 
genetic diversity could never be recreated. Family heirlooms were 
important and saving seed was the right way of communicating with the 
past and passing it on the future.

Q. What is the current state of Seed Savers Exchange?

A. Seed Savers Exchange has become one of the most important vehicles in 
this country for the storage and distribution of heirloom and other 
open-pollinated seeds. We connect gardeners from around the world with 
each other. Our 2011 Yearbook offers more than 13,000 varieties of seeds 
and plants grown by our members and offered to other members. We have 
approximately 13,000 members, and thousands of visitors come to Heritage 
Farm each summer to walk through our gardens. We offer 600 varieties of 
seeds for sale to the public through our catalog-these sales support our 
non-profit mission and educate the general public about heirloom 
gardening, saving seeds and producing healthy safe food.

Q. The last chapter is titled, A Roosters Step. What does that mean?

A. My German grandparents were an integral part of my life growing up in 
Northeast Iowa. They peppered their conversation with many quaint 
sayings. One was “a rooster step.” Each day a rooster step gets longer 
after the first day of winter. The rooster step referred to the extra 
second of daylight which soon turned into minutes. The process was a 
slow one and nearly imperceptible. By the end of January it might stay 
light till 5:15 p.m. and by Summer Solstice, the longest day of summer, 
the days were a thousand rooster steps longer.

The story of Seed Savers Exchange is analogous to rooster steps-small 
focused accomplishments over a lifetime, day after day, year after year, 
added together created the organization that we have today.

Q. How does it feel to be part of an important movement in America and 
indeed the world?

A. I am thrilled that SSE has made a difference. We have not saved the 
world, but we’ve saved much that is precious. When Grandpa Ott handed us 
his morning glory seed, which is still the cornerstone of the Exchange, 
we were not sure of the support that we would find from others. What we 
did know is that if we had not treasured it, the seed would have died 
with him. It was up to us to keep it alive.

Seed Savers Exchange has become the connection that links likeminded 
gardeners together. Watching this grassroots movement grow into the 
respected organization it is today has been the most satisfying aspect 
of our work.

Seed Savers Exchange has been a labor of love for both Kent (co-founder 
Kent Whealy) and me. I remain grateful for the leadership he provided in 
launching and developing SSE into the organization it is today. Seed 
Savers is a wonderful achievement, it was our dream and we worked hard 
to bring about its success.

Q. When was the first time that you became aware of the fact that you 
were doing something important?

A.When I walked to the mailbox in Missouri in 1977 and found 30 letters. 
This flurry came in response to a small article in a newspaper back 
East. Soon our family’s roll top desk was inundated with seeds and 
letters. So began our organization.

Q. Now that you are involved with a professional organization do you 
miss the times when things were more casual and everything was still at 
the level of a dream?

A. As with every parent’s dream, I have wanted the organization to grow. 
Back in the day, it was just Kent and I and a very small staff. I opened 
every letter, read most of them and felt I knew the needs and 
personality of our membership. I was involved with all other aspects of 
the organization from handling the finances, fulfilling seed orders, 
working in the gift shops and gardens. I was involved in all decisions 
and plans for the future. I do miss that level of intimacy with every 
aspect of our operation, but of course that level of involvement is not 
sustainable.

Q. You have many seed collections, which ones are your favorite ones? Do 
you feel as strongly about flowers as you do about vegetables?

A. I love my self-seeding annual flowers, the way they take care of 
themselves. These flowers are not bred to order as newer breeds are. For 
instance, some are bred to be a certain size to fit in pots or on 
borders. Sometimes the scent is bred out as well. The old fashioned 
annuals add natural beauty to a garden, and the fragrant flowers attract 
useful pollinators and repel the not so desirable insects.

I don’t like to play favorites but certain flowers like Grandpa Ott’s 
morning glory has a special place in my heart. It is the seed that grew 
into a world class organization. I also feel the same way about certain 
vegetables. German Pink tomatoes always remind me of my childhood when 
mom would serve plates of sliced tomatoes sprinkled with sugar. Then 
there is a rainbow of colors in the peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, 
lettuce and everything between Rat Tailed radish and Aunt Molly’s Ground 
Cherry. All are very self-sufficient and capable of producing food in 
addition to being beautiful in my garden. The resiliency of all this 
seed is magical and I never tire from watching the garden in action.

Q. Do you feel that your area has been affected by climate change? Have 
you personally experienced the unpredictability of the weather in 
growing your produce from seed?

A. Heirloom or open-pollinated seeds have diverse genetic makeup. When 
seed is planted in the same region year after year the seed naturally 
adapts to local climate, pests and diseases. For example, the German 
Pink tomato has been grown in northeast Iowa by my family for nearly a 
century. Over that period of time this plant has thrived through many 
challenges from pests and climate changes.. Our policy at SSE is to grow 
seed from storage on a rotational basis so that it is given a chance to 
adapt to a changing climate. We are a seed bank, but the best way to 
preserve our seed heritage is by having our seeds grow in gardens 
throughout the country.

Q. If you had to do it over again would you still have chosen to move to 
Iowa?

A. We were looking for paradise and indeed we found it at Heritage Farm. 
This is still true twenty odd years later as I look out my window at the 
fertile valley surrounded with lime stone bluffs, trout streams, and 
white pines. Of course we are a bit off the beaten path, but this has 
not been a problem for our members and visitors who, like us, don’t mind 
following a path less traveled.