• Loading
• ENJOY YOUR VISIT
  • Events Calendar
  • Visiting the Garden
  • Directions
  • What's In Bloom
  • For Families
  • Flower Shows
  • Exhibitions
  • Garden Trams
  • Photography
  • Birding
  • The Garden Shop
• AT THE GARDEN
  • Plant Collections
  • Horticulture
  • General Info
  • Explore
  • Garden Blog
  • Group Visits
  • Private Events
  • Press Room
  • Employment
• YOUR GARDEN
  • Gardening Help
  • Plant Information
    Service
  • Plant Finder
  • Plant Evaluations
  • Illinois'
    Best Plants
• EDUCATION
  • Adult Education
  • Lenhardt Library
  • Teachers and Students
  • Youth and Family
  • Urban Agriculture
  • Horticultural Therapy
  • The Learning Campus
  • Register Online
• CONSERVATION
  • Plant Science and Conservation
  • Science Laboratories
  • Staff
  • Plant Science Center
  • Graduate Training
  • Conservation Internships
  • Resources
  • World
    Environment Day
• SUPPORT US
  • Membership
  • Give to the Garden
  • President's Circle
  • Board of Directors
  • Woman's Board
  • The Guild
  • Volunteer
  • Annual Report
  • Strategic Plan
  • Donate Online

Education

Lenhardt Library
• About the Library
• Library Services
• Catalog
• Collections
• Stories from the
   Rare Book Collection
• Digging for Answers
• Connecting to
   Collections Bookshelf
• Grants Received
• Staff
• Links
• Free Library Talks
• Story Time for Children
• Library Exhibitions
• Current Books
• Public Library Days
• Book Dedication

Education — Lenhardt Library

Digging for Answers

Saving Heirloom Seeds, a Great Return on Investment

If you've ever gotten seeds from your grandparents or your neighbor's aunt twice removed, and were told they were from the sweetest tomatoes they'd ever eaten or the most beautiful columbine they'd ever seen, chances are these seeds were heirlooms. Heirloom seeds are those that have been passed down through generations. Quite often, they carry their own histories and stories, and unique delectability.

Over the millennia, people have moved from country to country or even continent to continent. As a way of ensuring the survival of their seeds, people carried them from place to place. Most heirloom seeds are open-pollinated varieties, meaning they can reproduce themselves from seed. Therefore the offspring grow true to type, resulting in plants that look like the parent plant. Finally, heirlooms have a tendency to adapt to the soil and climate they grow in, becoming disease and pest resistant. The seeds are known to produce sweet-scented blossoms and delicious fruits.

To learn more about planting heirlooms and saving seeds, check out these resources at the Lenhardt Library.

Gathering: Memoir of a Seed Saver Diane Ott Whealy Decorah, Iowa: Seed Savers Exchange, 2011.	The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds Robert Gough and Cheryl Moore-Gough North Adams, Mass.: Storey, 2011.   Read our Review in Current Books
The Complete Guide to Preserving Your Own Seeds for Your Garden Katie A. Murphy Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 2011	Gardening with Heirloom Seeds Lynn Coulter University of North Carolina Press, 2006

Articles

"Inherit the Earth: Why Treasure Heirloom Foods" by Teresa O'Connor
Horticulture Magazine May/June 2011, vol. 108, issue 4: pp. 30 – 35
This article explains the importance of growing heirloom foods.

"Saving Seeds" by Karen Lawrence
Herb Quarterly Summer 2007, issue 111: p. 46 – 49
The importance of heirloom seeds to the genetic diversity of plants is discussed.

 

Websites

One Seed Chicago is an urban greening project designed to bring Chicagoans to grow together.
www.oneseedchicago.com

Seed Savers Exchange is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seeds.
www.seedsavers.org