Hi DL. In February they send members the "Yearbook" which is 500 pages with descriptions and offers of several varieties per page. Most of these are not available on the SSE website. The Yearbook alone is worth many times the membership fee in my opinion.

Well, as an SSE member since 2000, I am obviously not impartial. ;-)

There was a similar question here , and if you do a Gardenweb search for SSE (or for "Heritage Farm", SSE's headquarters), you will find other threads as well. On one particularly long thread, you will find many numerous comments by prominent members, critics, and supporters (self included).

If you are seeking the unusual, interested in seed saving, or believe in the cause of heirloom preservation, then you would probably find membership rewarding. If you love experimenting, and enjoy exploring for new things, then SSE will open the door to a whole new way of gardening. Having conversed with you several times before, DL, I believe it would be a good fit for you.

There are, as I have said, critics. Most of these disagree with some of SSE's politics or policies, but continue to support the organization as members, because they believe in SSE's mission. Obviously, the cost of membership is not for everyone. It should be viewed not as an investment, but as supporting the work of the organization.

And even if you view the annual membership as an investment, then for receiving access to thousands of varieties (many available nowhere else), it would a good one. There were over 13,000 varieties listed in the Yearbook this year.

I can tell you, as I have stated elsewhere, that SSE has vastly enriched my own gardening experience. My garden is on a 5-year rotation, and is never the same twice. 90% of what I grow changes every year. I might grow 10 beans, 10 tomatoes, and 10 peppers in a given year, but 8 of them would be new trials, or seed crops of rare varieties to be shared with others. The heirloom seeds that I collect from Gardenweb members are distributed through SSE, and those found through SSE are exchanged here on GW. I'm having the time of my life!

For those who choose not to join SSE, it should be noted that quite a few members exchange their seeds here on Gardenweb as well.

I was a member for one year. The Yearbook is indeed interesting and has seeds you will find no place else. A great many of the listings are duplicates however and many of the seeds offered are not at all rare. So the thick book is a little less impressive than at first it may seem. The book contains a huge amount of information, but it can be hit or miss.

You have to decide if membership and the cost of acquiring seeds through SSE is worth it to you. I didn't request many seeds. The value to me was in browsing the book and in supporting the organization. The latter is money well spent if you believe in the things SSE is doing. I came to question that somewhat last year when there was an organizational upheaval, but I would not discourage anyone from joining.

Jim

Thanks everyone!!

I do love to experiment and grow different types of the same things (okra, beans, tomato). Looks like I will become a member this year.

DL

There are also some real gems, hidden away in those listings, and hardly tried by anyone. I've been a member since 1984, maintaining my listings even when, at least once, I couldn't afford to pay for the membership (they let me list anyway).

After so many years, I have to say I make few requests for seeds. But, as has been mentioned above, membership has other benefits. For one, it does support the cause. I'm very glad that there are others who do this work, besides the SSE, and in different ways. Still, the SSE has its place and does a great job of promoting seed saving and preservation.

Unlike Zeedman, I've tended to streamline the number varieties I grow out. Life changes and it's become harder to do it well on a larger scale. So, I've been mainly concentrating on some of the special varieties which are often little grown, or else, in some cases, special to me and my family. Then, I REALLY WANT TO LIST them, in order to make them available to others. So, in my mind, I'm actually paying in order to offer seeds.

When one exchanges seeds in the SSE over time, they are likely to run across some unexpected jewels. Seed Savers are often quite generous and enthusiastic. So, when a person requests "X" variety, they will sometimes receive "X" and "Y" varieties in the mail, along with a note to the order, "You've just gotta try this one!" In my experience, these freebies are more likely to be "keepers" than the ones I request.

George
Tahlequah, OK

DL,

I joined SSE last week for the very reasons you and the others stated above.

Here is a link for a quick search for some of what SSE offered in the 2008 yearbook.

Hope to see you there.

Dean

George, would you care to tell us about some of the gems you have found in the Yearbook or among the freebies? - Dick

Well, I have RAM memory (RANDOM ACCESS memory) but here goes with a couple:

1) Flossie Powell Pole Lima. Original source: Was introduced into the Seed Savers Exchange, in the 80s by Harold R. Martin of Hopkinsville, KY who got it from an aunt named Ethel Martin. Ethel Martin, in turn, received her start of seed from Flossie Powell in 1922.

Vines reach 8 or nine feet in height but are not invasive. This variety has a somewhat compact growth habit.

Seed is medium sized, somewhat chunky seed, light tan with brown & red markings. Some sources report their seed is a mixture of white, tan or purple, all with brown and purple speckles. Yields under adverse conditions. Yields dry seed in 100 days.

Harold Martin gave me an unsolicited sample of this seed in 1995. It was his favorite garden variety and he sent it along with some other seeds I had requested. Since the seed was not spectacular in appearance I was not that enthusiastic about it, but decided to try growing it, since, in the area of Mexico we were living in, at that time, had no limas at all. Flossie PowellÂs produced like "gang busters!" It also resisted white alkali conditions, which were a problem in our area. It has done well for me also in NJ. But when we moved to Oklahoma, in 2005, my recent seed somehow became lost. I have failed now, for three years to grow it from some old seed, which I could barely coax into germinating. This year I only got one plant and when it reached 2' in height... a rabbit ate it. So, I guess I'll have to try getting another start from a SSE member.

Flossie Powell was Harold's absolute favorite garden variety. I could see why.

2) Penny Rile Cowpea: also sent to me by Harold Martin, and that unsolicited. He told me that in his youth, during the depression, his family would plant a good sized planting of this cowpea, pulling them and stashing the vines in the barn, in order to shell and eat the peas during the winter. They practically survived on this pea for some time. At first I wasn't impressed with a beige colored cowpea. But Penny Rile is truly a great cowpea, and... very delicious.

3) Polish Pastel Tomato: sent to me by SSE member Neil Lockhart, who grows A LOT of tomatoes. I was requesting a sample of seed from a tomato which I introduced to the SSE and later lost due to our family's travels. This is extremely dry bell shaped paste tomato with a blend of pink, yellow and red colors. Since I didn't request this seed, and I'm chronically pinched trying to grow out varieties I've maintained in the past, I almost didn't try Polish Pastel. But my wife thought it sounded interesting. Well, here in our Oklahoma heat, it hasn't borne heavily during the summer. But the plants survive the summer and produce huge crops of fruit in the fall, when most tomatoes have quit. My wife LOVES these since they not only have relatively good flavor for a paste tomato, but they also keep very well on the kitchen counter, until she can get around to processing them. This is a hard one for seed production because I've never seen a tomato which has so few seeds per fruit, and the fruit is so dry, it can be a challenge to do fermentation.

4) Back in the 80s there was an SSE member who had really bad hand writing and seemed not to understand the rules for reimbursement, preferring to send packets of unsolicited seed (mainly tomatoes if I remember correctly) instead of $. I was really bothered with him and didn't keep a single one of those packets. Later, it came to light that the fellow was a tomato breeder. EVERYTHING he named and distributed for several years, turned out to be TERRIFIC! Members who tried those samples all gave rave reviews. Then, ... the fellow dropped out. I never heard anything about him again.

finally...

5) I find that I myself, when filling requests, will often throw in an extra packet of seed, especially if I've had some communication with the one making the request. When I do, it's normally one of my favorites, which doesn't get requested enough. I believe that there are many more who do the same.

George (who, upon hitting "submit" will remember another one he should have mentioned!)

Thank you George. That was a fun account. I do not see Polish Pastel in the Yearbook but will keep an eye out for it.

I have never seen cowpeas grown and suspect that they require warmer summers than we have.

By the way, I believe that you and I are related. - Dick

Being a new member I do not yet have a yearbook, but SSEs yearbook search engine, has this description for Polish Pastel:

-Plant Type: TOMATO
-Subtype 1: OTHER COL
-Subtype 2:
-Variety: Polish Pastel
-Has LQ: Has
-Maturity: 82
-Description: indet., regular leaf, attractive bicolor fruit, light red and yellow stripes as in a pastel, medium size, Australian stuffer tomato.

Dean

Dick, related? My Dad (I'm a Junior) tells me that we have relatives on the West Coast, and even one in Japan. Are you referring to actual kinship, or to having the same kind of memory?

You're probably correct about the cowpeas. They like heat.