According to the Seed Savers, Grandma really did know best. In the past few decades specialization, urbanization and other trends have resulted in a drastic drop in the varieties of vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs and flowers available, with potentially hazardous consequences for all of us. Ordinary folks who keep heritage varieties in use are becoming essential for our future.

June Griswold is one such Grandma. After spending years as a homesteader in the Kootenays, saving her seeds for the next season is as natural as breathing for her. When she and her husband Harry moved to a smaller acreage at Springbend, between Enderby and Grindrod, she met Gabrielle Wesle, of Green Croft Gardens, who was enthusiastic about getting people together to share seeds. A few conversations at kitchen tables led to the first Seed Swap Potluck on March 5, 1995.

"There were forty organic gardeners and their children. We played a few games and everyone shared what they were doing," said Griswold. "We began going to the Drill Hall in Enderby for an annual potluck and seed swapping and we added sales as well."

Now there are individuals who come from as far away as Lillooet, Princeton, Langley and Creston to stock up on seeds. There is an exchange table for anything from gourds to dahlia tubers and sales that focus on natural products. Griswold's specialty is Ochra. She was first given seeds 30 years ago and has grown it and shared the seeds ever since. Also called Seaside Lamb's Quarters, it grows very tall, with triangular dark green leaves and although it can be eaten like spinach, it has the advantage of a long season.

Griswold lived on eighty acres near Kaslo for over twenty years without power or phone. They heated with wood and had a Pelton Wheel in the basement for power from a creek. "I had an Organic Gardening subscription for years and years after we were first married," said Griswold. "It was just our way of living. Our parents always had gardens. We were the most self-sufficient people in the area. There was very little we had to buy from the store. I bought a pound of butter for special at Christmas. We never used sprays and always saved some seeds, especially potatoes and peas."

Griswold was the secretary for the Kootenay Lake Historical Society for years and has taken on keeping minutes and records for the Seed Savers. She also wrote a Seed Saver column in the North Valley Echo for a few years, but she isn't one to talk theory. For that she quickly recommends Patrick Steiner of Stellar Seeds, Gabrielle Wesle, John Alcock of Sunshine Farm in Kelowna or Seeds of Diversity at www.seeds.ca.

From the latter we find out that the U.N. has declared the number one danger to world food security to be the drastic decrease in genetic diversity in food crops and that the traditional plants that founded early Canadian communities are now difficult, if not impossible, to find. For example, 86 per cent of the 7,098 varieties of apples documented between 1804 and 1904 have been lost, as well as 91 per cent of field corn, 81 per cent of the peas and 81 per cent of the tomatoes. Seed companies and gene banks cannot replace millions of seed-saving farmers and gardeners.

For reasons why the diversity is essential they cite changing tastes and products, greater awareness of nutrition and changing growing conditions. A recent study found that older vegetable varieties tend to have more vitamins than modern ones, which are frequently bred for size and yield rather than nutrition. Older varieties also tend to be tougher at withstanding new pests, diseases and pollution.

According to Griswold, some gardeners are motivated by the fact that hybrid seeds are getting expensive and they often cannot be reproduced. "You might start with orange squash and get a white one the next year," she said. " I think the big seed companies want you to buy their seeds every year."

She invites anyone interested in swapping, purchasing and learning to attend the 13th annual Seed Swap and Sale to be held March 17 from 10 to 3 at the A.L.Fortune School, 500 Bass Ave. in Enderby. Perhaps there will be Griswold Tomatoes available, a large paste variety, very popular locally, that was saved so many years ago Griswold forgot where it came from.

In Penticton the comparable Seedy Saturday takes place on March 3 and in Kelowna on March 10 at the Elk's Hall.

March 07, Lynn Dewing