The secret Iowa farm saving America’s food supply from extinction

The Whealys’ Mission to Save America’s Heirloom Seeds

Two heirloom seeds nearly died with one old man in 1975. Instead, they sparked a food revolution.

When Diane Ott Whealy got ‘Grandpa Ott’s’ morning glory and ‘German Pink’ tomato seeds from her grandfather, she knew these Bavarian treasures would vanish forever after his death.

So she and husband Kent placed a small ad in Mother Earth News. Soon after, 29 gardeners joined their seed-saving mission.

The network grew fast as members shared not just seeds but stories through yearly books. By 1986, they had bought Heritage Farm near Decorah, Iowa.

Today, the Seed Savers Exchange safeguards over 20,000 heirloom varieties that tell America’s immigrant story through plants you can actually grow.

The farm in Decorah now stands as living proof that ordinary people can save our food heritage.

Grandpa’s Seeds Started a Food Revolution

In 1975, Diane Ott Whealy got special seeds from her grandfather that changed American gardening forever.

He gave her ‘Grandpa Ott’s’ morning glory and ‘German Pink’ tomato seeds that his parents brought from Bavaria to Iowa in 1884.

When Diane realized these unique plants would vanish after her grandfather died, she and her husband Kent Whealy took action from their Missouri home.

A Magazine Ad Launched a National Movement

The Whealys put a simple ad in Mother Earth News asking if other gardeners kept family seeds. They never expected what happened next.

Twenty-nine gardeners across America replied, each with their own special plants and family stories. This small group formed what grew into the Seed Savers Exchange.

The first seed sharing happened through letters and packages sent from the couple’s kitchen table, with handwritten notes about each plant’s history.

Gardeners Shared Stories Along With Their Seeds

The Whealys made the first Seed Savers Exchange yearbook in the late 1970s. This catalog did more than list seeds.

Members shared growing tips from their families and stories behind each plant. Some seeds came with tales of the Civil War, moving west, and coming to America.

The yearbook got thicker each year as more gardeners joined, adding plants that grocery stores no longer sold.

An Iowa Farm Became Seed-Saving Headquarters

Kent and Diane bought an 890-acre farm near Decorah, Iowa in 1986. They called it Heritage Farm and made it home for their growing group.

They picked this spot for its hills, different growing areas, and distance from big farms that might mix with their old-time plants.

The land had woods, fields, and various soil types perfect for testing how plants grow in different spots.

Their Seed Bank Grew Bigger Than Anyone Expected

The Seed Savers team built special storage rooms at Heritage Farm to keep their growing collection safe. They set up cool rooms that keep perfect temperature and moisture levels to help seeds last for decades.

They cleaned, dried, and recorded details for each seed packet before storage.

The collection grew fast as older gardeners gave family treasures and members rescued plants from old farms across America.

Gardens Preserve Living History You Can Taste

Heritage Farm shows hundreds of plants at once in its display gardens.

Visitors can walk through living pieces of American food history, seeing vegetables Thomas Jefferson grew alongside plants brought by German, Italian, and Eastern European families.

The group follows strict growing rules to keep different plants from mixing.

Staff members carefully hand-pollinate certain crops to keep the exact traits that make each plant special.

Old Apple Trees Found New Life in Their Orchard

Seed Savers planted over 900 apple types that existed before 1920.

Many of these apples nearly died out when the group tracked down the last trees in old homesteads and forgotten farms.

Since apples don’t grow the same from seeds, the team learned grafting to attach cuttings from rare trees onto strong roots. The orchard saves flavors, colors, and textures that left grocery stores generations ago.

Scientists Help Track America’s Plant Diversity

The group created good systems to record each plant’s special traits.

Staff members take photos, measure, and write down details about growth habits, disease fighting, flavors, and history. They work with the USDA and world seed banks to make backup collections in many places.

DNA testing helps check plant identity and understand links between similar plants with different names.

Regular Gardeners Keep Rare Seeds Alive

Seed Savers Exchange grew from those first 29 members to over 13,000 supporters worldwide today. The group started a sharing model where everyday gardeners grow rare plants in their backyards.

This keeps seeds changing with new weather and pest problems. The yearly member seed swap now offers thousands of unique plants, many not found anywhere else.

Workshops Teach Anyone to Save Their Own Seeds

The group created hands-on classes teaching home gardeners how to save seeds properly. They started school garden programs showing kids the fun of growing food from seeds their classmates saved last year.

Their training programs teach the next group of professional seed keepers.

These classes spread key knowledge that almost got lost when big farms replaced family growing traditions.

Two Seeds Grew Into 20,000 Varieties Saved

Today, Seed Savers Exchange preserves over 20,000 heirloom varieties in their collection.

Staff members continuously search for varieties at risk of disappearing, often working with aging gardeners to document their lifetime of knowledge.

The organization reintroduced countless forgotten vegetables, fruits, and flowers to American gardens and dinner tables.

What started with two seeds from one grandfather became a nationwide movement that rescued a significant portion of America’s agricultural heritage.

Visiting Decorah, Iowa

You can visit Seed Savers Exchange at 3074 North Winn Road to see how grassroots activists preserve America’s heirloom food heritage. The Lillian Goldman Visitors Center is open daily 10am-5pm from March through October.

Walk through their 890-acre farm with display gardens showing over 1,000 heirloom varieties. Check out the Historic Apple Orchard and Amy Goldman Heritage Orchard with hundreds of rare apple types.

They’re celebrating their 50th anniversary with special exhibits throughout 2025.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

Read more from this brand:

• The secret Norwegian capital of America is hiding in Iowa’s hills
• Iowa’s messy birth: when delegates couldn’t agree on basic geography
• The Iowa nuke plant that never was: see what’s there now