Varieties of Vegetable Seeds I Believe We* Should Save

*"We" means the Seed Library of Los Angeles 

Every year we revisit this list.  This is the list first promulgated in the waning hours of 2010, just after the very first SLOLA meeting on December 4th, 2010.  This is the list I first came up with as the minimum varieties of seeds we should always have in our inventory.  I invite anyone to add their selections they feel have to be saved.  I have changed this list, adding and subtracting.  

This list is never complete, nor is it ever done.  The attempt is to come up with those varieties that must be saved.  What varieties do you feel that I am missing?  I'd be happy to add some more.

I personally have dedicated myself to curate many of these varieties as far as I am able, those, I have marked in a different color.

Artichokes (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus)
	Green Globe Violetto
Beans (Phaseolus vulgaris)
	Aquadulce (Fava – Vicia faba) Broad Windsor (Fava - Vicia faba) Cannelini Bush Bean (Dry/Bush) Christmas (Lima/Climbing - Phaseolus lunatus) Envy (Soybean – Glycene max) Golden Wax Bean (Wax/Bush) Henderson (Lima/Bush) Hutterite Soup Pencil Pod (Wax/Bush) Pineschi Family Bean (Vigna unguiculata) Royal Burgundy Bean (Purple/Early) Scarlet Runner (Phaseolus coccineus)
Beets (Beta vulgaris)
	Bull's Blood Crosby's Egyptian Burpee's Golden Chioggia Detroit Dark Red Yellow Cylindrical
Broccoli (Brassica oleracea)
	DiCicco Nutribud Romanesco
Brussels Sprouts (Brassica oleracea)
	Long Island Improved
Cabbage (Brassica oleracea)
	Copenhagen Market Cabbage Early Jersey Wakefield Glory of Einkhuizan Mammoth Red Rock Perfection Drumhead Savoy Premium Late Flat Dutch Winningstadt
Carrot (Daucus carota)
	Scarlet Nantes Carrot Chantenay Red Core Danvers Half Long White Belgian
Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea)
	Early Snowball
Chard (Beta vulgaris)
	Five Color Silverbeet Chard (AKA Rainbow Chard) Fordhook Giant
Celery and Celeriac (Apium graevolens)
	Giant Prague (Celeriac) Utah Tall (Celery)
Collard Greens (Brassica oleracea)
Corn (Zea mays)
	Black Aztec Country Gentleman Corn Golden Bantam Corn Oaxacan Green Dent Stowells Evergreen
Corn (Popcorn) (Zea mays)
	Strawberry
Cucumber
	Armenian (Cucumis melo var. flexuosus)
	(Cucumis sativus)
Eggplant (Solanum melongena)
Garbanzos (Cicer arietinum)
	Black
Grains (except corn and wheat)
	Flax Quinoa, Shelly 25 Black Sesame, Light Seeded
Kale (Brassica oleracea)
	Curled Scotch Lacinato
Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var porrum)
	Blue Solaise Carentan King Richard
Lentils (Lens culinaris)
	Black Beluga
Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)
	Back Seeded Simpson Brune d'Hiver Cimmaron Drunken Woman Frizzy Head Forellenschluss Merlot Merveille des Quatre Saison Parris Island Cos Red Romaine Rouge d'Hiver Rouge Grenobloise Summertime Tango Tom Thumb Webbs Wonderful Yugoslavian Red
Melons (Cucumis melo)
	Charentais Green Nutmeg Hale's Best Tigger
Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus)
	Burgundy Clemson Spineless Don't Knowcra Star of David
Onion
	Granex (Allium cepa) I'itoi's (plants not seed, perennial, Allium cepa var. aggregatum) Red of Florence (Allium cepa)
Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa)
	Harris Model
Peas (Pisum sativa)
	Alaska Lincoln Little Marvel Tall Telephone Oregon Sugar Pod Sugar Snap
Pepper (Capsican annuum)
	Anaheim Corno di Toro Fish Italian Pepperoncini Jalapeno Early Jimmy Nardello Italian Red Marconi
Squash – Summer (Cucurbita pepo)	Genovese Lebanese White Bush Marrow Zucchini – Lungo Bianco
Squash - Winter
	Black Futsu (Cucurbita moschata) Delicata ( Cucurbita pepo) Marina di Chioggia ( Cucurbita moschata) Queensland Blue Squash (Cucurbita maxima) Sweet Meat (Cucurbita moschata)
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
	Amish Paste Annie's Apricot Big Rainbow Black Cherry Black From Tula Black Icicle Burbank's Slicer Cherokee Purple Copia Cream Sausage Federle Juane Flammé Orange Banana Roma Roman Candle Rutgers San Marzano Striped Roman Thessaloniki Wapsipinicon Peach
Turnip (Brassica rapa subsp. rapa)
	Purple Top White Globe
Wheat (Triticum spp)
	Perennial Wheat Sonoran White

david 

Varieties of Vegetable Seeds I Believe Should Be Saved

SLOLA Volunteers Check-in Seeds

A year ago I drew up a list of seeds I thought would be the ones to save – I asked around for others to suggest varieties that I might have missed, but there haven't been a lot of responses.

I was explaining to someone the other day that SLOLA has something like 200 varieties of vegetables in our bank and how I would rather have fewer varieties with larger quantities of each. He suggested that I was postulating the same lack of diversity I decry in the world of seed today.

After thinking about it for a couple of days, I think I have an answer to that accusation: It is better to save a fewer varieties of seed and save them well than to have hundreds of different varieties and save them poorly. I would like SLOLA to save all the seeds that will grow here successfully, but that could easily be more seeds than SLOLA can handle at present.

It is more important that we start where we are (we can't really start somewhere else, can we?) and begin to learn how to save seeds of several major varieties and have them on hand. At present, there aren't that many members who are experienced at growing out to seed. Those who can reliably grow plants out to seed need to apply themselves to growing out the difficult seeds and grow enough out to insure a supply on hand for the rest of our members.

Last year, compiling my list of seeds to save, I was heading east on I-70 through Illinois on into Indiana ending up at Ft. Wayne to celebrate Christmas. I was in the back of a car with my little Netbook and using a Blackberry to be online. This year, I'm at home and surrounded by seed catalogs, including the two most often cited as 'veggie porn' catalogs (Seed Savers' Exchange and Baker Creek Heirlooms) and was able to use their listings to create the following list of seeds to save.

I'd like to hear from everyone who reads this and has suggestions for varieties of veggies to save. The Seed Savers Of Los Angeles need a list of seeds to save – a 'target' for us to shoot for. Email us via the blog or bring your list to any SLOLA meeting – I’ll be willing to add your suggestions to my list. Let's see if we can double this in the coming year!

Here are my choices:  

Artichokes

      Green Globe

      Violetto

Beans

      Aquadulce (Fava)

      Broad Windsor (Fava)

      Cannelini Bush Bean (Dry/Bush)

      Christmas (Lima/Climbing)

      Dr. Pineschi's Grandfather Bean (Vigna unguiculata)

      Envy (Soybean)

      Golden Wax Bean (Wax/Bush)

      Henderson (Lima/Bush)

      Hutterite Soup

      Pencil Pod (Wax/Bush)

      Royal Burgundy Bean (Purple/Early)

      Scarlet Runner (Phaseolus coccineus)

Beets
      Albino

      Bull's Blood

      Crosby's Egyptian

      Burpee's Golden Beet

      Chioggia Beet

      Detroit Dark Red

      Yellow Cylindrical

Broccoli

      DiCicco

      Nutribud

 

Brussels Sprouts

      Long Island Improved

Cabbage

      Copenhagen Market Cabbage

      Early Jersey Wakefield

      Glory of Enkhuizen 

      Mammoth Red Rock

      Perfection Drumhead Savoy

      Premium Late Flat Dutch

      Winningstadt 

 

Carrot

      Scarlet Nantes

      Chantenay Red Core

      Danvers Half Long

      White Belgian

Cauliflower

      Early Snowball

Chard

      Five Color Silverbeet Chard (AKA Rainbow Chard)

      Fordhook Giant

Celery and Celeriac

      Giant Prague (Celeriac)

      Utah Tall (Celery)

Corn

      Country Gentleman Corn

      Golden Bantam Corn
      Stowells Evergreen

Cucumber

      Armenian

Eggplant

      (You know, I don't really LIKE eggplant - but I'm open to listing suggestions from those of you who do!)

Grains Etc... (The library is not saving any of these seeds, but it is important to keep these in mind for the near future - I've already started to grow out the Federation Wheat trying to get a supply of seed on hand, there'll be another blog post about this one soon.)

      Flax

      Quinoa, Shelly 25 Black

      Sesame, Light Seeded

      Wheat, Federation 126

Kale

      Blue Curled Scotch

      Lacinato

Leek

      Blue Solaise

      Carentan

      King Richard 

 

Lettuce

      Black Seeded Simpson

      Brune d'Hiver 

      Cimmaron

      Drunken Woman Frizzy Head Lettuce

      Tango Lettuce

      Merlot Lettuce

      Merveille des Quatre Saison Lettuce

      Parris Island Cos Lettuce

      Red Romaine

      Rouge d'Hiver

      Rouge Grenobloise

      Summertime

      Tango

      Tom Thumb

      Webbs Wonderful

      Yugoslavian Red

Melons

      Charentais

      Green Nutmeg

      Hale's Best

      Metki White Serpent (cucumber)

      Tigger

Okra

      Burgundy

      Clemson Spineless

      Star of David

Onion

      Red of Florence

Parsnip

      Harris Model

Peas

      Alaska

      Lincoln

      Little Marvel

      Tall Telephone

      Oregon Sugar Pod

      Sugar Snap

Pepper

      Anaheim

      Corno di Toro 

      Fish

      Italian Pepperoncini

      Jalapeno Early

      Jimmy Nardello Italian

      Red Marconi

Squash – Summer

      Lebanese White Bush Marrow

      Zucchini – Lungo Bianco

Squash - Winter

      Black Futsu

      Chersonskaya 

      Delicata

      Marina di Chioggia

      Queensland Blue Squash

      Sweet Meat

Tomato

      Amish Paste

      Big Rainbow 

      Black Cherry

      Black From Tula

      Black Icicle

      Cherokee Purple      Copia

      Cream Sausage

      Federle

      Flammé

      Orange Banana

      Orange Icicle

      Roman Candle

      Rutgers

      San Marzano

      San Remo

      Striped Roman

      Thessaloniki

      Wapsipinicon Peach

Turnip

      Purple Top White Globe

That totals 113, this year.  Maybe we'll top 200 next year!  Let us know which ones are missing and help us to find those really good varieties to save!

david