Question about Seed Savers Exchange

16 years ago

Hello, I am about to join the SSE and wanted to know a little more about it first.Now, supposivley, when you join, you get access to much more heirloom seeds, which is posted in their Seed Savers Year Book that comes out every February. Now, I also seed that they have a 6th Edition Seed Source book that you can buy for $26. Does anyone know the difference between these 2 books? Which one is better?

And just curious of the over all joining of the group and its benefits. I hope someone can share their experiences. Thanks! Christy

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Comments (3)

zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
16 years ago
The Garden Seed Inventory, Sixth Edition is a book published & sold by SSE. It is a listing of all U.S. & Canadian seed companies that offered heirloom & OP (open pollinated) seed as of the time of publishing. It gives descriptions of all varieties, and a list of companies that offer(ed) them, both retail & wholesale. Anyone, member or non-member, can purchase the G.S.I.

Because it was published in 2004, many of the individual listings are no longer accurate... but it is still a good place to start, if looking for a commercial variety. It is also an invaluable resource, if only for the huge list of heirloom seed companies (and their contact info) in the front of the book. For serious seed savers, it also lists varieties which have been dropped by the seed trade, and are in need of preservation... I look for those varieties in the Yearbook.

(There is also a Fruit, Nut, and Berry Inventory, which I believe is being revised this year.)

While the G.S.I. lists commercial sources, the Yearbook lists seed that is being offered for exchange by other SSE members. There were 13,280 varieties listed for 2008, the vast majority of which are heirlooms available nowhere else. The Yearbook is a benefit of SSE membership. All members are requested to submit a list of the seeds they will offer by November of each year, if they choose to do so.

So which of the two books is better? They each have a different purpose, so it depends upon your needs as a gardener.

As for SSE itself... if you search GW for "SSE", there are several threads, with opinions both pro & con. You can read the comments, and decide for yourself. Essentially, what you think about SSE depends upon what you expect from it.

If you join to explore the enormous diversity of vegetables available to us, and to be a part of their preservation, SSE membership can be very fulfilling. You could spend your life trying new varieties each year, and never grow them all. This does not mean that you need to offer seed; only about 1 in 10 chooses to do so.

If you only join SSE to get something, and don't support the goals of the organization, then some of the rules for exchanges can appear restrictive. And as in any grass-roots organization, there are those who take issue with some of the politics or policies of the organization... most of these still remain as members, because of the great work SSE continues to perform in the cause of preservation.

There are many SSE members (self included) who post on GW. I can tell you that SSE has been very rewarding for me - it has vastly enriched my gardening experience. My vegetable garden is now 95% heirloom & OP... and trust me, I'm not giving up a thing in terms of quality or quantity. ;-) I love sharing seeds, and enjoy the fellowship with other members... just as I do with those I've met here on GW.
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cejay
16 years ago
I am not a member of SSE but had the privilege of visiting their farm last summer. Both my DH and I walked around in awe. What a wonderful experience and I recommend a visit to everyone.
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Megan, To list something as "Has," one should have enough for at least four full samples. A full sample of seeds is 25 seeds. A full sample of sweet potato slips is 3-4 slips. I more often try to send a small sweet potato, and let the person sprout their own, and get more that way. I do get more than 4 requests for some things. Been receiving several requests a day, for a couple weeks now, and joked with my wife, yesterday, "Wow! Here's a request which doesn't ask for Red Wine Velvet Sweet Potato!" (Slight exageration) I believe four samples is the guideline for offering as "Has." Less should be offered as Limited Quantity. If you have something really rare, and in need of propagation you label it as "Must Reoffer." That cuts way down on the requests. I respect all the opinions expressed above. Each is making some good points. Dawn, I am completely uninformed about whatever Amy Goldman may or may not have done. Nor do I know why George DeVault left. Actually, I don't read the other yearbooks very much; just the winter yearbook. There are some good articles in them all. I just get busy and don't get around to it." Perhaps they have mentioned something in one of these. While we're on the subject, I'd also like to add another disclaimer. The SSE has been a little, ... well, I don't know just how to describe it,... liberal, or "left leaning," as an organization; and that, for as long as I've been a member. That is not my personal leaning/persuasion. I just live and let live. But as a member, I hope no one every things I simply believe everything the organization puts out ;) George
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George, I haven't followed the politics closely either and just felt the whole Kent Whealy episode was very unfortunate both for the family and for the organization. I hope this latest transition is a smooth one. Too much turmoil too often can shake people's faith in a group and I'd hate to see the legacy of SSE tarnished. I wouldn't expect you to stop saving/offering seeds. Far from it. SSE needs for its members to keep on doing what they do and have done so well for such a long time. I just wanted to post this info when I saw it so you and others familiar with SSE wouldn't be blindsided by the news. The fact that it has not thus far resulted in the same type of communications put out last time is a hopeful sign that this is a positive move and that no one wants it to be a disruptive thing, right? Ideally, SSE members and customers won't have to endure the transitional problems that occurred last time. SSE is a fine organization with an umblemished history. (I don't hold the KW thing against them because they aren't the ones that went public and made a big issue of it--he did). SSE is the heart and soul of the heirloom movement in this country and always has been. I hope that never changes. Dawn
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For milehigh and erlyberd mile high, you mention Idaho Hillbilly and I'd ask if this is the same as Hillbilly itself for starters or something else entirely. There are varieties where a name has been attached to a variety, that's true with many of the Mortgage Lifters and Brandywines,which just indicates who grew it at one time. As to how many seeds you'd need to be able to list a variety,that really depends on whether you're the ONLY one listing it and it appeals to others or whether you're listing varieties that already have several folks listing them. I'd have on hand probably around 500 seeds for a variety that's brand new and less for one already listed. I can't tell you the number of plants you'd need b'c it depends on what the variety is, how seedy it is and that determines the number of fruits you'd use off how many plants to get enough seeds to process by fermentation or whatever. A couple of more comments. I see the YEarbook as a place to obtain the more rare tomato varieties and have suggested that it might be a good idea for folks to have some tomato growing experience with the more well known varieties first. And that pertains to knowing how to rogue out plants that are not true to the variety. No commercial seed company has a perfect record when it comes to offering OP seed that's always true seed, and that's also true of Listed SSE members. Some bag blossoms others don't. And how important that is in terms of possible cross pollination depends on a lot of factors as to where a person gardens, what the pollinators are in the area, when they're active and on and on. Second, there's no need to list at all although if you have something unique you might want to consider it. If you look in the front of your SSE YEarbook you'll see that about 90% of the SSE members are NOT listed members, and many of those members become members b'c they want to support the mission of SSE in terms of preservation of OP varieties. Erlyberd, I think what I just wrote speaks to your comment as to why pay for a membership just to pay for seeds from others. First, the membership monies are an important source of income to SSE in terms of staff, growouts, isolation stuff, maintaining the permanent collection and so much more. Second, there is no obligation at all to requests seeds or tubers or scions or anything else from the listings in the Yearbook. Third, as I said above, there are those who want to join just b'c they have strong feelings about preservation of OP varieties and the Yearbook, to me, is the core of those preservation acitivities. A good number of companies that specialize in OP tomato varieties are owned by SSE members and we wouldn't have the many seed companies we have today if it weren't for SSE b'c that's where most of those seed companies got their initial starts for their companies. Carolyn
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ollierose
16 years ago
I never thought about joining, but have received seeds from GW trades that came from there. I have experienced execellent germination rates and each seed started is a beautiful and/or tasty addition to my gardens!

I most certainly plan to join after reading the informative review by zeedman though! Thanks zeedman!

Diana
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Question about Seed Savers Exchange

Comments (3)

zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin

cejay

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