A weekend jaunt to Albuquerque and Santa Fe was complete with some pleasant surprises. First of all I was able to acquire one of these beautiful swan gourds from one of our seed librarians in Albuquerque. AIRE had provided these gourd seeds a couple of years ago and we were happy to learn that they have been maintained, expanded, and returned. We will be growing these out at Chysalis and Parr Field this year and making art projects out of the them as a fundraiser.
On the way back from Albuquerque, I also visited one of our seed librarians in Santa Fe who showed me his blue corn harvest from seed we provided at the beginning of the year. Then he gave me my choice of one of the most beautiful of ears. This particular librarian is also maintaining one of our sweet corn varieties.
These librarians are providing a back up plan in case anything were to happen to our varieties at home. We also look forward to future common garden experiments in various locations once seed stock from the same parental lines becomes diversified and adapted to their respective environments…
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