North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Pat Meadows <pat@containerseeds.com>]

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 21:15:56 -0500, you wrote:

>Thanks for the explanation of hybrid vigor, Philip; that clears it up for me
>in two sentences.
>
>How's about getting vigor by crossing several varieties, and then over the
>years saving seeds NOT for homegeneity but rather for diverse features you
>like?  A decade ago I started saving seeds of the favorite cucumbers I grew
>from a variety of sources.  Eventually I lost track of which was which.  Now
>I just plant all of them together -- some are yellow, some dark green, and
>some in between.  They are various shapes, too.  I save seeds not based on
>any one color or shape, but rather of the plants which produce early,
>produce longest, produce the most, and produce the best tasting cucumbers.
>
>By starting with genetic diversity I hope my seed line will contain lots of
>diversity for many decades.  Do other people do this?
>

Yes, I believe so.

Are you aware of the Seed Saver's Exchange (USA: but others
may join as well) and Seeds of Diversity (Canada)?  If you
are interested in preserving genetic diversity, I think the
appropriate one of these organizations would be of great
interest to you. Members save and exchange seeds, also their
membership supports various initiatives taken by the
organizations.  You can read about this at their respective
websites.

http://www.seedsavers.org

http://seeds.ca

Also, I'm on a list called "OnlyHeirlooms" and there are
several people there who have developed their own varieties
and/or done as you have.  Many list members belong to the
Seed Saver's Exchange and many of them save and exchange
seeds through SSE.

"Only Heirlooms" pertains to all aspects of gardening,
really, but vegetables, herbs, and garden fruit (melons,
ground cherries, etc.) are the most frequent topics of
conversation.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/onlyheirlooms/

Pat
-- 
ContainerSeeds.com - vegetable, herb, fruit, and 
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