Quick Navigation
Main Navigation
About Us
Education & Events
Ways to Give & Membership
Preservation
Shop
Stewardship tale
Exchange Spotlight: Julie Sheen
Julie Sheen is a husbandman , growing and share cum adapted to the Mountain West through her ejaculate company , Giving Ground Seeds . In the past , Julie has also apportion seeds via theExchange , our gardener - to - gardener seed swap . Below , Julie shares how germ saving enable her to adapt to mood change and the unique growing status of her realm .
Interview
order us a little fleck about yourself . I raise a one - acre garden in southeastern Idaho . We have a poor time of year and an arid climate . The challenges of our growing orbit are one reason I enjoy mature seed and farm out rare varieties .
Through make unnecessary seed , I can slowly adapt variety to be better suited to my clime and part . With every subsequent time of year of planting , the seeds are substantially adapted to my farming system and soils and grow better for me . That think of less struggle and difficult work grow crops that are n’t really adapted to this land .
Climate change is a groovy concern in my gardening , and by adapting crop to our waterless scant season , I consider we are enhancing biodiversity in a fashion that might be useful for all gardeners in coming year .
I get laid number in the Exchange because it is such a great way to get my source into the hands of gardeners who need them and gardeners who will continue to save seed from them .
What called you to seed saving?When I save seed , I have a closer human relationship with the industrial plant I ’m grow because I see them through their whole life wheel . I also love growing out rare variety ( or varieties in peril of disappearing ) I have found in the SSE Yearbook , catalog , and other sources .
I ’m drawn to crops advert after the women who stewarded them , like ’ Anna Ortman ’s ’ cabbage ” or ‘ Aunt Molly ’s ’ ground cerise . Many of our crop varieties have been bred by fair sex Farmer who bring conversationally providing for their mob and communities , and these are multifariousness I wish well to continue to turn to respect the role of these charwoman in our agricultural inheritance .
SSE lists‘Anna Ortman ’s ’ lettuceon the Exchange . ‘Aunt Molly ’s ’ ground cherrycan be purchased from SSE ’s commercial catalog .
Do you have a preferred crop type and/or kind that you maintain?I love native plant , medicinal herbs , and “ staples ” crops that are adapted to brusque time of year like pea plant , bean , Zea mays , scratch , and squeeze . Peas are such a peachy crop to rise here , and I have several rarefied varieties I bang to maintain . juiceless peas and frigid fresh pea plant can facilitate sustain you through lean times too !
Is there anything else SSE members / Joseph Lister should consider about seed saving?The bookThe Seed Garden , published by SSE and the Organic Seed Alliance , is really one of the best and most practical seed - economise guides out there for those bring through seed on a small plate like a garden or small farm .
Check out some of Julie’s favorite varieties:
conflate Celosia : This highly valued , unique flower has several names : Cock ’s Comb , Coral Statice , and Brain Statice . A long - lasting , large , and alien cut flower , Celosia likes heat and space and is not frost resistant . This mix contain both red coral folding flowers and spikes of scandalmongering , cerise , orangish , empurpled , and pinkish .
Julie does not currently name ‘ mingle Celosia ’ cum on the Exchange .
Dijon Mustard : This Gallic heirloom excels for mustard - fashioning ! works bolt quickly , producing a profuse number of yellow flowers that produce surprising amount of light - brown leaf mustard seeds . A pocket-sized 5 X 5′ space yields enough to keep you in leaf mustard until the following season !
Julie does not presently heel ‘ Dijon Mustard ’ seeds on the Exchange , but they can be purchased from Julie’swebsite .
Julie does not currently lean ‘ Wild Peas of Umbria ’ on the Exchange , but they can be purchased from Julie’swebsite .
Originally print August 21 , 2020 . update January 31 , 2025 .
Keep explore
When you make a leverage from Seed Savers Exchange , you help fulfill our nonprofit commission to protect our food and garden heritage . Do even more good by gain a donation to help us preserve and share even more heirloom variety !
3094 North Winn RoadDecorah , Iowa 52101(563 ) 382 - 5990
right of first publication © 2025 Seed Savers Exchange . Images on this site are protected by right of first publication — unauthorised use is not let .
Seed Savers Exchange is a tax - exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicate to the preservation of heirloom come .
