Becker Library at Seed Savers Exchange

10/06/2018

PLEASE NOTE:

08/14/2018

Here's a lovely online exhibition on small gardens and the role they have played in American history.

08/13/2018

https://www.nal.usda.gov/exhibits/ipd/small/
Like wandering through an art museum, only this gallery is devoted to small garden history.

07/12/2018

Summer reading on the subject of food sustainability. Thank you, FoodTank!

Food Tank’s seasonal list of summer reading is here! Find out what should make your list this summer.

04/10/2018

Our good friend, Curzio Caravati, potato collector and breeder in Kenosha, WI, talks about collecting and breeding potatoes as well as other topics in this podcast.

In this episode of the Cultivariable podcast, I talk with Curzio Caravati of the Kenosha Potato Project about collecting and breeding potatoes and diverse topics ranging from farmers markets to honeybee breeding.

04/03/2018

There are about 5,000 potato varieties worldwide. Over 3000 of them are found in the Andes alone, mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia. BEHOLD -- this small sample of that incredible variety!

Varieties of Andean potato (Solanum tuberosum Andigena) in Huancavelica, Perú.

There are about 5,000 potato varieties worldwide. Over 3000 of them are found in the Andes alone, mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia.

There are two major subspecies of Solanum tuberosum: andigena, or Andean; and tuberosum, or Chilean. The Andean potato is adapted to the short-day conditions prevalent in the mountainous equatorial and tropical regions where it originated; the Chilean potato, however, native to the Chiloé Archipelago, is adapted to the long-day conditions prevalent in the higher latitude region of southern Chile.

Over 99% of the presently cultivated potatoes worldwide descended from varieties that originated in the lowlands of south-central Chile, which have displaced formerly popular varieties from the Andean highlands.

The potato was originally believed to have been domesticated independently in multiple locations, but later genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species proved a single origin for potatoes in the area of present-day southern Peru and extreme northwestern Bolivia, where they were domesticated approximately 7,000–10,000 years ago.
Photo: Märtin Märtïn‎

03/22/2018

It seems a bit bizarre to wish a massive concrete vault a "Happy Birthday," but what the Global Seed Vault represents -- a truly inclusive international effort to safeguard the future of our food -- is amazing. Every nation in the world (yes, even North Korea) has placed seeds in the Vault for safekeeping. So --HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY, SEED VAULT! May you stay cold and dry through the decades...

Bambara groundnuts, black-eyed peas, and Estonian onion potato seeds are headed to the bank.

03/15/2018

Cary Fowler, former Board member and longtime friend of Seed Savers Exchange, was recognized recently for his role in envisioning and implementing the Global Seed Vault, along with other leading scientists who have worked to secure the Global Seed Vault for future generations.

02/21/2018

A new book details the life of adventurer-botanist David Fairchild

02/21/2018

The banana was first introduced to the United States at the 1876 World’s Fair in Philadelphia. It was one of over 200,000 different vegetables, grains and fruits that a USDA food hunter/explorer named David Fairchild found and introduced into the American food network. At that time most families depended primarily on potatoes, meat, and cheese for their daily diet. Fairchild dramatically altered the course of food history for Americans. Read on ...

A new book details the life of adventurer-botanist David Fairchild

02/19/2018

In 1615 the Nuremberg-based apothecary Basilius Besler, by the order of the Prince Bishop of Eichstätt, Germany, published the lavishly illustrated inventory of plants in the Garden at Eichstätt, in a massive work, The Hortus Eystettensis. Among the varieties so carefully illustrated was a member of the capsicum species, one called, simply "chilli pepper" (Latin: Piper minimum Siliquis rotundis -- left side of the page), which held both red and green cherry-shaped peppers. This particular variety continues to exist today in Seed Savers Exchange's collections as "Besler's Cherry Pepper" a 400 year-old variety. It can be found among commercial pepper offerings, and MAY be available from SSE at a later date following the upcoming growing season.