The Evangelists for Heirloom Vegetables

[lsanderson]

David La Spina for The New York Times
Sasha, Emilee and Jere Gettle at the recently revived Comstock, Ferre & Company seed business in Wethersfield, Conn.
By CHRISTINE MUHLKE
Published: August 11, 2010

Seed catalogs are what sustain most gardeners in the pit of winter, the pictures of bright blooms and fleshy melons stoking their fantasies. When my mother-in-law sent me the beautiful Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog in February, it reanimated me, but it befuddled me too. There was an “olde tyme” painting of a melon on the cover, while the editor’s letter — “Let’s rock the food supply in 2010!” it implored — showed an attractive young family whose father has a thing for overalls and loud shirts. What followed was the cutting edge of heirloom seeds: 1,400 varieties from 70 countries, including vegetables yet to appear in any canvas market bag. More