
          A Southern Exposure for Spring Planting 
          By HRWHRW
          Vol. 11, No. 2, 1989, pp. 5-6
          
          As soil is being worked and gardens laid this Spring, it may be
useful to remember that all seeds are not created equal, and that
there are alternatives to agribusiness and hybridization.
          Southern Exposure, a seed exchange and gardening center in North
Garden, Va., is one such alternative. (No relation to the Institute
for Southern Studies' journal of the same name.)
          Begun in 1982 by Jeff McCormack, a botanist who previously ran the
greenhouses at the University of Virginia, Southern Exposure is a
leader among the growing movement to preserve genetic variation in
agricultural crops. McCormack has been called a vegetable historian,
and he and his wife, Patty Wallens, began their seed exchange from
their kitchen table as a means of protecting some traditional
varieties of garden crops from extinction.
          They soon began receiving unsolicited donations of seeds from
like-minded individuals who were enamored of particular plants that
had been grown in their families for, sometimes, several
generations. Today Southern Exposure has expanded to include hundreds
of vegetable varieties, flowers, and fruit trees, many of which are
not commercially available and some of which were feared to be
extinct.
          The Southern Exposure operation now includes a twelve-acre organic
testing and demonstration garden; a lab and environmentally controlled
seed storage; a customer list that is doubling every year; and a
catalog full of seeds, gardening and seed-saving supplies, and general
tips and advice. The business also has an unlisted telephone; to get
their catalog, send $3 to P.O. Box 158, North Garden, VA 

22959. Those
who place orders automatically receive future catalogs.
          McCommack writes in his 1989 catalog, "Non-hybrid [seed]
varieties introduced prior to 1940 are defined as heirloom
varieties. After 1940, hybrids began to displace traditional
varieties, and many became scarce or lost. We define a special class
of heirlooms as 'family heirloom varieties.' These have been handed
down within families for generations."
          These heirlooms are described and sometimes illustrated in the
Southern Exposure catalog.
          For example, the Large Early Greasy variety of pole bean is
"from the mountain area of Mars Hill, N.C. Pods have medium
strings, are flattened when young...grow 4 to 6" long, and contain 6
white seeds per pod. Though not suitable for green shell out, it makes
a high quality green bean when picked small. As is typical of many
home saved seed of mountain people, there is some variation in this
variety as to pod and seed size, shape, and maturity. The name
'greasy' refers to the lack of 'fuzziness' (plant hairs) on the
pods. Has been grown for generations as a drought hardy, cornfield
bean."
          McCormack says he is "concerned about the erosion of genetic
resources and the trend toward replacement of standard or
open-pollinated varieties by hybrids. Unless we have genetic diversity
in our food crops, our whole food supply is vulnerable to
epidemics...For this reason, we offer a diverse selection of
open-pollinated varieties to help ensure a genetic reservoir of
resistance to disease, regional adaptability, cultural and flavor
qualities, and to ensure that the traditional varieties remain
available to gardeners and farmers.
          "What a shame it would be if we lost varieties such as
'Stowell's Evergreen' corn or 'Tappy's Finest' tomato. We would lose
not only unique taste and quality, but also part of our agricultural
and cultural heritage."
          Finally, there's the Old Time Tennessee cantaloupe, which one
gardener told McCormack is so fragrant he can find the melons in his
garden in the dark-obviously healthier and even more entertaining than
a trip to the refrigerator for a beer.
        
