(photo: Courtesy of Seed Savers Exchange) Not long after writing a letter to Mother Earth News, the Whealys began receiving seeds and stories from all across the country. The Whealys cataloged it all and took on the responsibility for keeping the seeds – and their stories – alive. The readers of Mother Earth News responded with enthusiasm, and the Whealys soon began receiving seeds from all across the country, accompanied by letters telling their history. The heritage of family-grown seeds was disappearing when those varieties weren’t handed down to a new generation of gardeners.

She asked if anyone else was interested in saving seeds and hoped to draw attention to the value of older varieties which were being lost. At the time, home gardeners were primarily interested in buying hybrid seeds, so most seed companies weren’t carrying many heirloom options.ĭiane wrote a letter to Mother Earth News, one of the only publications of its time that focused on living sustainably. This realization really struck a chord with the Whealys. When her grandfather passed away a few months later, Diane realized that, if she hadn’t asked for those seeds, she would have lost a treasured connection to him and to a past that stretched for years into her family tree. That’s when she learned that the plants her grandfather had been growing for decades were descendants of seeds his parents had brought to America from their Bavarian homeland.Īs she held the seeds in her hand, Diane felt a living connection to her ancestors.

So when Diane and her husband, Kent, began to plan their first garden, she asked her grandfather for morning glory seeds. Her grandfather was particularly fond of morning glories, and their canopy of vines and blooms was a favorite place to gather in the evenings. The crew and I filmed an episode there for my show, Growing a Greener World ten years ago.ĭiane grew up on an Iowa dairy farm, and daily visits to her grandparents’ home nearby instilled an early love of gardening. I’ve enjoyed two trips to Heritage Farms.

Seed savers exchange