New Seed Savers 2022

Adam Calder
Wheatsfield Produce Manager

In spite of the cold weather, the produce department has brought in another great selection of heirloom seeds produced right here in Iowa.

Every year Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, IA, releases a catalog of what seeds they have available for sale. Each year they have a fine selection of tried-and-true favorites. They also go through their varied stores of seed and pick a handful they have never offered before.

This year, from the new seed offerings we have Elka White Poppy, Miss Annie Pearl Counselman Collards and Heshiko Bunching Onions for sale at Wheatsfield.

The Elka White Poppy comes from Chernovec, a town in Slovakia. The delicate flower petals are white with just a brush of purple color at the base. This plant bears large seed pods, and the seeds can be used in baking. All of the rest of the parts of the plant are toxic, so this is perhaps not the best plant if you have curious children or pets roaming about your flower garden.

In 2012, a 94 year old Annie Pearl Counselman gave some collard seeds to Tom Lambard. She told them she had gotten them from her preacher’s wife over 60 years ago, and had been growing the greens and saving the seeds ever since she was gifted them. The leaves of this collard taste sweet, and are about two feet long and one foot wide. When Tom donated them to Seed Savers in 2015, he insisted they be named after Miss Pearl, so we have him in part to thank for these new Miss Annie Pearl Counselman collard seeds.

The Heshiko Bunching Onion is perfect if you are looking for lots of green onions from a small space. The onions grow and spread from root cluster at the base of the plant until they reach their full height of around 12-14 inches. These onions will also overwinter, so they do not need to be re-sown the following spring and will grow back year after year.

We’ve also got our usual selection of Seed Savers cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, peppers, kales, okras, flowers and herbs. All the seed packets are $3.29 each, so come get yours soon while the selection is at its best and get your garden off to a great start this year.