Press Release
Saving Seeds: New Reports Out for OK Gardeners and Farmers
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Heirloom okra.
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Heirloom okra.
Click on photo for higher resolution image. |
Gardeners are eagerly eyeing their mailboxes for the winter’s
crop of seed catalogs, but they’ll find far fewer seeds to
choose from now than just 25 years ago.
By one estimate, the number of commercially available garden seed
varieties has fallen by 90% since 1981.
Older “heirloom” varieties, the ones grandpa used
to grow, are disappearing from the lists.
When these old-fashioned varieties disappear, so does their rich
genetic heritage, including traits that let these plants flourish
in an age before widespread fertilizer, pesticides, and irrigation.
Three new publications from the Kerr Center in Poteau explain
the benefits of growing heirloom varieties and identify seed sources.
The Kerr Center is a non-profit educational foundation with a
farm and ranch near Poteau.
Two reports detail the results from the Kerr Center’s heirloom
variety trials.
Over the 2008 growing season, Kerr Center tested 30 heirloom varieties
of okra, and twenty of sweet sorghum, to see which did best in
Oklahoma’s changing, and challenging, weather.
The third report makes the case for preservation of these heirlooms
and outlines how gardeners and farmers may help in this effort.
Several organizations have sprung up around the country with the
mission of preserving local, regional and old-time varieties of
everything from lettuce to tomatoes.
For more information call the Kerr Center at 918.647.9123 or visit www.kerrcenter.com.
The site offers free downloads of these and many other publications
on various topics in sustainable agriculture.
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