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‘So many choices, so little time!’
Kris Fox , Exchange lister , shine on how she and her hubby , Tom , first became involved in saving seed and why they share seeds on the Exchange .
My captivation with germ multifariousness started when I see a colorful show of dry beans in one of the seminal fluid catalogs I had quest . Some had maroon - and - white speckled pelage . Some were deeply - red . One was a tan - gold . Some were tan with chocolate-brown line of credit . And one was bloodless on one one-half and black on the other . The simple beauty of these beans struck me , and I decide I just had to grow some of them .
Both Tom ( my husband ) and I get up in families that farmed and gardened , but no one saved seeds . The seeds were buy each winter and spring for that twelvemonth ’s garden . One of the seed catalogs , however , had road map for keep open seed , for not only beans but also each different case of vegetable . That ’s how I got my start in save germ .
Kris and Tom Fox save and share several bean varieties, including (top) ‘Haudenosaunee Skunk’ and ‘Jacob’s Cattle Gasless.’
About the same time [ 2006 ] , Tom and I discovered Seed Savers Exchange and like a shot sign up as members . When our firstYearbookarrived , I was astonished at how many different varieties were listed . There were over 40 page of bean plant listings , and over 150 varlet of tomatoes of every type and colour .
I say with swell interest the “ bios ” of each individual “ listing extremity ” in the front of theYearbook . The dedication these members had for saving rare and hard - to - obtain varieties was clear .
The concept of “ orphan variety ” intrigued me . I wanted to originate something that literally no one else in America was growing except my origin and me . It did n’t take me long to acquire a half - twelve such varieties . Most of these variety I still grow today , and a few of them are still orphan . For good example , I have never had a request for ‘ Shield , ’ a perfectly salutary yellow - oculus bean that I acquired age ago .
Kris and Tom Fox save and share several bean varieties, including (top) ‘Haudenosaunee Skunk’ and ‘Jacob’s Cattle Gasless.’
Our favorite adoptee to day of the month is a tomato variety I opt out of several page of list from the IPK Gene Bank . This collection was pick up from Germany by theExchangein the 1990s , and the varieties did n’t have veridical names . Each was listed with a series of letter and number .
I picked “ IPK T 1176 ” based on the abbreviated description available . At first , this variety seemed like a poor choice . Only a few germ germinated , and those plants seemed unhappy that whole first year . But I saved seeds from the few tomatoes we got , determined to give the variety every probability . The next year , I was so glad for the movement . intimately every cum germinated ; the plants flourish ; and we got a bumper crop of Roma - type tomatoes . To this 24-hour interval , that variety is one of our two “ must - produce ” canning varieties .
While I had focus on beans , pepper , and lettuce in those early age , Tom turned special attending to tomato . He try one or two fresh varieties most years , while still maintain the dozens of variety we have already accumulate . Several motley have spot themselves and are mature every year . For canning , we favor ‘ fable ’ ( resistant to later blight ) and IPKT 1176 ( which we now call ‘ Fox Legacy ’ as a variety this nice merit a name ) . Our favorite cherry tree tomatoes are ‘ Yellow Peacevine ’ and ‘ Matt ’s Wild Cherry . ’ ‘ New Yorker , ’ ‘ Old Brooks,’‘Nyagous,’and many others do very well for us , too .
Reading the SSEYearbookquickly became a favourite winter pastime for us ( especially me ! ) . The primary downside to that was that I want to essay almost every single salmagundi I read about . So many selection , and so little time in one lifetime !
One day as I perused the page of beans , I started detect listings of variety that originated with the Native American federation of tribes . I knew about the account of the Iroquois Confederacy that used to dominate here in New York state . The Seneca Nation of the Iroquois were the people that exist right here in westerly New York , so I found and ordered a few potpourri that originated with the Senecas and thirstily expect for leaping so I could imbed them . The vigor of these varieties , the right way from sprouting , storm me . I thought possibly I was just favourable , but as I think about it , it seemed more potential that after hundreds of age of being grown in the same realm , these varieties were already extremely adapted to our grunge . I was hooked and bit by bit expanded the collection . I now farm about 15 Native American - sourced beans — mostly Iroquois , but also some Cherokee and other varieties .
Eventually , hoping to try dissimilar bean plant varieties , I planned to reduce my Native American collection . But demand for these varieties is so strong through the Exchange that I ’ve maintain growing them after all . I ’ve been very pleased to send some of these seeds to Native Americans who are reconnecting with their cultural heritage . That just make it seem so worthwhile !
Tom is the practical - tending one who grows the food we actually eat . Beets , potatoes , cuke , squash , and so on are in his part of the garden . With squash , we grow only one mixture each ofpepo , moschata , andmaximaeach yr so that we have the alternative of saving ejaculate on any multifariousness we really like . ‘ Blue Hubbard ’ is a ducky of Tom ’s , although it is a space hogg . ‘ White Bush Scallop ’ is a variety from which I like to save seeds .
We work hard at acquire much of our own food , so part of our criteria for what to grow in our garden let in what yields food for thought for our freezer and shelves . The bighearted exclusion to that is me and my beans . With the exclusion of farsighted rows of ‘ Jacob ’s Cattle ’ and‘Black Valentine’beans , which we grow for teetotal bean and freezer green bean respectively , I maturate smaller row or patches of as many dissimilar varieties of beans as I can wedge into the blank designated as my “ germ garden . ” I intersperse them with moolah , soybeans , some love apple , and so on , so they are space aside a little .
I set up a bamboo tripod for each diversity of pole edible bean . I always grow ‘ Seneca Allegany Pinto ’ beans on my corn , because it only wax to about five feet tall . Many pole beans will overwhelm corn and pull it over , specially my ‘ Bear Paw ’ Zea mays everta , which is n’t very tall . By the way , that is the correct New York state spelling of Allegany . I once had a well - think of fellow member “ right ” me that it should be Allegheny , as it is spell in Pennsylvania .
betimes in my seed - save life , I struck up an on-line friendship with an old gentleman who had a passion for Madagascar pepper . He gave me good deal of advice for growing black pepper and share pictures of his favorite varieties . I thought of him as a mentor , and then , one day he was hold out . I do n’t bang if he cash in one’s chips , or entered a nursing home , or what . I was sad to lose him , and it taught me an authoritative lesson . Like humans everywhere , the life of a seminal fluid rescuer is finite . Ever since then , I watch for old or perchance ailing member who need to find homes for some of their favorite varieties .
I am in my LX now , and Tom is over 70 , so we are becoming cognisant that we are no longer youthful . We await to have a figure of years of safe health in advance of us , but we wo n’t survive forever .
Our hope is that the semen - save community remains racy , and that younger people keep joining in as older members gradually become ineffective to maintain as many semen varieties as we used to . If that bechance , the work will continue long after we are gone , but we will have play our part for the yoke of a few 10 .
Kris and Tom Fox of Avoca , New York , heel 59 variety in the 2025Yearbook .
Hope and Practice
To celebrate Seed Savers Exchange ’s fiftieth anniversary , we are featuring the work and intake of Exchange listers in the " Hope and Practice " series .
Try a couple of Fox favorites!
‘ Black Valentine ’ noggin
This twofold - intention variety works well for making soup and growing tasty fresh snap attic .
‘ Nyagous ’ tomato
This productive kind boasts an excellent , full flavor stark for eating refreshing , throw sauce , or roasting .
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