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  • From: Heron Breen <breen@fedcoseeds.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] SSE orchard list etc
  • Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 21:20:33 -0600

HI Jonathan,
I have a list in my filing cabinet, but some of the trees succumbed to
vole/other
rodentia damage after I received it 4 or more years ago. I do not have an
updated
list. I spoke with Kent Whealey, director of SSE, a few years ago and asked
if it
was okay if I came and collected scionwood. He seemed interested in the
possibility
of me coming out to Iowa and helping prune the orchard and taking scions as
booty
for helping. This never happened due to the fact I live in Maine and was
trying to
start a family etc. I actually proposed a plan where I and a good
nurseryfriend
would propagate select varieties from the collection and sell them mailorder
through SSE seed/rose etc catalog as SSE nursery offerings. Kent never
expressed
much interest in this idea. Can't really blame him, as I tend to ask many
outrageous questions and not second guess the rationality of my thoughts.
Kent
thinks I am a little nutty (correct!), and tolerated me because I work for a
friendly company which frequently cooperates with and buys from SSE wholesale.
My nurseryfriend and his wife have visited the SSE farm many times in the
fall, and
I have been there once during a July 5-6 years ago. The White Park cattle are
worth
the visit alone. White Park theory kept simple: White Park cattle "roamed"
wild
over much of Ireland and Scotland, bearing significant resemblance to cattle
in
India. These cattle may be the reason the early Romans named Ireland Alba
Major
(alba-white) and Scotland Alba Minor. Their resemblance to Indian cattle is
explained: White Park cattle are descendents of the original herds brought
across
in slow migration from central Asia/Indian subcon with the first "Aryan"
settlers...40-10,000 years ago! I told Kent this about this theory when I was
there
and he hadn't heard it. He just knew their origin was shrouded in the past
somewhere. Nice theory, very little besides extrapolation to back it up.
I find these cows unique in habit. The cow is agressive with the bull docile
and
shy. Smaller in stature, like semi-dwarf Indian wild cattle. These cattle are
wild,
like Indian cows or buffalo. Not domesticated at all. I watched a cow climb a
fence
like a ladder to reach a calf seperated, and Kent explained the need for the
wooden
fences: wire ain't strong enough. Maybe others elsewhere have tamer ones, and
maybe
Kent's worked on calming their wild sides, these buggers did not seem much
different from those that roamed in Scotland. I still treasure my pictures of
them,
although it was one of the few times I felt like I was stealing a soul by
taking a
picture. I still get an eerie/great feeling when I look at the photos now.
sincerely,
Heron Breen
zone 4, Maine

On Thu Feb 16 15:37 , 'Dyer, Jonathan A.' <dyerja@health.missouri.edu> sent:

>
>
>
>
>
> 
>Does anyone have a
>list of the cultivars held by the Seed savers exchange heirloom orchard? 
>I'm a member but haven't been able to get a list of the ~700 or so varieties
>they offer.
> 
>Thanks,
>
> 
> 
>Jon
>Dyer
> 





  • [NAFEX] SSE orchard list etc, Heron Breen, 02/16/2006

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