Ozark Seed Bank
. . .N E W S L E T T E R

July 2008 --

The Ozark Seed Bank celebrates the gardeners and seed savers of the Ozarks.

We appreciate the hard work, dedication, and passion of Ozark gardeners who year after year save seeds from their own flowers, herbs, and vegetables. The goal of the Ozark Seed Bank is to help farmers and gardeners in the area locate dependable seeds saved by growers from all over the Ozarks.

Finding these Ozark seed savers is what Daniel Roth, our director, has been doing.  He represented OSB at two local spring festivals -- Baker Creek's (huge) Spring Festival near Mansfield with thousands of visitors and at a well-attended sustainability and garden show at Maranatha Farm near West Plains. He handed out leaflets, sought members, and talked, talked, talked! In the process, we gained some new seed-saving members for OSB. (Seed savers become OSB members by offering the bank seeds that are likely suited to our variable climate because they have been saved for five years or longer.)

Our new seed-saving members:

Bob Stone of Mansfield shared some of his "Arkansas Red & White Corn". Doc Baker shared this old variety with him in 1991, and Bob says Doc had been saving this corn variety since earlier times in Arkansas. This is a flour corn, good for corn meal, bearing both white ears and red ears on the same stalk.

Ronnie Jones of Mountain View contributed his "Ozark Gold Butternut Squash," a large, prolific variety he has saved for 15 years. During that time, Ronnie improved his strain by removing those flowers and fruits that did not match his ideal of uniformity and vigor.

Dan Leary of Moody shared his own seeds and some he obtained from other local savers. His plants include an Italian heirloom paste tomato with cylindrical fruits, a variety that continues to produce a good yield even in conditions of blight. He also offered a flour corn, saved for years by people in Caulfield before he began saving it himself around 1990.

Thanks to them, we now have several more dependable Ozarks-adapted varieties in the Bank!

NON PROFIT SEED BANK

Ozark Botanical Garden, Inc

HC1 BOX1 BRIXEY, MO 65618

WWW.OZARKSEEDBANK.ORG

Thank you to all volunteers, members and funders who make this seed bank possible.