The Plowboy Interview Kent Whealy

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WHEALY: Every winter our yearbook is mailed out to all members . . . and to anyone else who's purchased a year's subscription. Printed in that annual are the listings of all the seeds that people have to offer and of any varieties that folks are looking for. Just purchasing the yearbook doesn't automatically make someone a member, however. Membership is granted only to those who offer seeds for distribution through the publication . . . once a person does that, he or she can obtain other seeds simply by writing to the person who has the variety in question and enclosing proper postage. Nonmembers (that is, people who buy the yearbook but haven't yet offered any seeds) can still order from our members, but must include postage and a dollar for each type requested.

Members receive the winter yearbook—which is mailed out late each February—and a copy of the Fall Harvest edition, which appears later in the year and includes a plant finder service to aid people who are seeking specific vegetables. We also help gardeners exchange bulbs and cuttings, but that service is of little use to our foreign members . . . since such vegetable material isn't allowed to cross national borders.

PLOWBOY: Is there any way that someone might be able to be actively involved in the exchange if he or she doesn't have any seeds to offer?

The ability to save seed is probably one of the most valuable tools for self-sufficiency that I know of. In fact, it's a logical next step for anyone who's honed his or her gardening skills to a high degree . . . and another way that people can "unplug" themselves from our economic system.

WHEALY: Such folks can, as I said, order seeds from our members (although we ask that they do so sparingly, in order not to deplete our overall seed stock), grow out the vegetable, and then join the exchange the next year by offering the same seed themselves.

I'm developing a Growers' Network, which—I hope—will allow people to participate simply by helping to multiply the stocks of rare seed. Anyone in that group would agree to raise a certain number of specific varieties from seed which I'd provide, return part of the stock to me, and share the remaining seed through the exchange. With such an arrangement, we'll not only add new members to our group, but also be able to help maintain the collections of some elderly gardeners who n eed assistance in keeping their vegetable varieties alive. This year, that scheme will be aided by the Soil and Health Foundation of Emmaus, Pennsylvania. Two hundred members of the foundation's gardening branch—called the Backyard Researchers—will join an equal number of gardeners from my Growers' Network to participate in the project this season.

PLOWBOY: How do you focus the massed efforts of the Growers' Network?

WHEALY: Most of the varieties that I'm attempting to save through that particular group aren't the commercial cultivars that have been dropped. Rather, I hope the Growers' Network will be able to multiply rare heirlooms that are often being kept alive by individual elderly gardeners. In many cases, older folks have collections that are so big they can't handle them anymore. One of the most dedicated and well-known seedsavers is John Withee, who—until he stepped down last year—was the director of Wanigan Associates, a network of gardeners who worked at multiplying John's vast stock of heirloom beans.

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