8 Seeds With Stories

Clare and Dante

 

“ What ’ s that? ” Clare asked. Marissa was admiring a magazine brimming with beautiful pictures of garden plants.

“ Seed catalogue, ” she answered, not looking up. “ Oh, I ’ m sorry! Of course this is new to you. Come on over, Clare, ” she said, motioning the girl closer. “ I love looking through these. ”

Clare joined her, peering at the colorful pages. “ But there ’ s still snow on the ground. ”

Marissa smiled. “ Yeah. We know. All the more reason to dream of spring. ”

Clare couldn ’ t believe her eyes. She had learned about peas, but now she saw snap peas, snow peas , and shelling peas . Under each of those titles were individual names: Sugar Spring, Sugar Ann, Rembrandt, Dakota, Canoe, Maestro . . . There were numbers and letters and prices.

“ Please tell me how all of this works, ” Clare said.

“ You haven ’ t covered this in class? ”

“ No. We started at the beginning—botany, soil, fertilizer. We haven ’ t talked about actual gardening. I learned some stuff from my teacher back home, Ana, and Gruff—remember I told you about him? But there ’ s so much to learn. What is this catalogue , exactly? ”

Marissa thought for a moment. “ When you bought things at home, how did you shop? ”

“ In Stores.” It was a strange question.

“ Online? Catalogues? ” Marissa asked.

“ No,” said Clare, her forehead wrinkling. “ Shopping online back home isn ’ t something you can easil y do, ya know? And I ’ ve never even heard of catalogues. ”

“ Okay, yes, I should have realized that. A catalogue is sort of like a store, only through the mail. If I want, I can buy seeds at certain stores, but I can also send for them in the mail. Delivery is three days a week. ” She smiled at Clare, peering above the bifocals slid low on her nose. “ For people who live out of town it ’ s convenient. T he selection from catalogues is much better than in store s. Even if I don ’ t buy anything, I like looking at all the seeds. ”

“ What about online? ” Clare asked.

“ Oh, certainly it ’ s easier here than in the States, but I prefer the catalogues, ” Marissa said. “ I like holding them in my hands, circling what I like with a pen, putting sticky notes on pages I want to return to. ” She winked. “ I think I ’ m a throwback to my grandma ’s generation.”

Clare had been learning about the 1980s in school. It sounded like an interesting time to live , before too much technology or so many restrictions. But it was such a long time ago . . . Her brow furrowed as a new thought struck. “ I thought people saved their own seed. ”

Marissa laughed. “ Some do. I save seed from a few plants. Cilantro, peppers, certain flowers. But this is easier. And it ’ s fun to look through catalogues and send for the pretty packets. What ’ s wrong? ”

Clare’ s mouth had turned down in a frown.

“ It ’ s just that . . . well . . . what ’ s the big deal about Seed Savers if you can just buy seeds? ”

“ Oh honey, ” Marissa said. “ It is a big deal. What if what happened in the States happened here? People who save seeds are important . B esides that, there ’ s a lot to be said for having seeds suited to an area. Some times the seeds I order from catalogues don ’ t grow well here. On the other hand, locally grown and saved seeds are well adapted to a particular place and a lways do great. It ’ s important. ”

“ I don ’ t get what you ’ re saying. ”

“ Okay,” Marissa said, flipping ahead in the book, “ let’ s look at the tomatoes. ”

“ Yes! ”

Marissa pointed at a picture of long, red-striped tomatoes. “ Striped Roman. OP —that stands for open pollinated. You know about pollination? ”

“ Yes. ”

“ You can plant the seed from an open - pollinated tomato such as this and expect to grow the same toma toes. O ver time, plants change and adapt to the local growing conditions and year-to-year climate. So if I saved my own seeds, the plants from my seeds would be better for this area than seeds I randomly purchase. That ’ s why many places have seed banks and seed libraries. F ood security. ”

“ Seed banks? Seed libraries? ” Dante walked in just as Marissa was making her point about saving seeds . “ Can I check out some seeds? ” he asked, giggling. “ How long do I get to keep them for? Do I hafta pay a fine if they ’ re overdue? ”

“ Oh go away, silly, ” Clare said, unwilling to be interrupted.

“ I’ m hungry , ” Dante complained.

“ You are a growing boy. I suppose it wouldn ’ t hurt for you to have a small snack , ” Marissa said. She saw the startled look on his face. “ Not that kind of snack. Snack here still means eating a bit between meals, it ’ s not one of those ridiculous packaged food groups you ’ re used to . . . oh for heaven ’s sake.”

“ W arm up a bagel and have it with peanut butter, ” Clare suggested, still nervous Marissa might get distracted before her questions were answered.

“ Yes, ” Marissa agreed, “ that ’ s a fine idea. Can you handle that, Dante? Clare and I are in the middle of something. ”

“ Of course, ” Dante answered, deepening his voice .

“ Tell me about the seed banks and libraries , ” Clare said.

“ Hmm. Like I said, seed banks and libraries are about food security , knowing you ’ ll have food if you have access to seeds — and the ability to grow them, of course. A seed bank usually consists of volunteers who grow out plants that thrive in their area and then harvest and store the seeds. When there ’s enough seed to share, they do that too. But there is always seed in the vault, so to speak. ”

Clare was nodding her head. “ And seed libraries? ” she asked.

Marissa chuckled. “ Well, just like Dante said, in some libraries you can actually check out seeds. You take some home, plant ‘ em, save some of the seeds to bring back at the end of the season. Instructions come with each packet as well as a code for Monitor instructions. E ach seed library works a little differently , but that ’ s the general idea. They ’ re not everywhere, but Hudson has one. ”

Clare wanted to ask Marissa if they could visit the one in Hudson , but held back.

“ One other thing, ” Marissa said, “ about buy ing seeds every year versus the importance of saving seed . . . see these? ” She pointed at a photo of some thick-looking tomatoes dubbed Kobe Beefsteak. “ F-1, that means these seeds are hybrids. With hybrids, the pollen of two varieties has been crossed to produce a new plant. I sometimes order hybrid seeds, but I would never be able to save seed from these plants. They wouldn ’ t be true, that is, wouldn ’ t grow the same beautiful tomatoes we see here. If anything ever happened and I couldn ’ t buy seeds, eventually I ’ d run out. People who plant and save non - hybrid, open - pollinated seeds are guaranteed a food source. ”

“ What about these? ” Clare asked, pointing at the next page. “ Heirloom? My mom said our Bible was an heirloom. I thought it meant an old thing passed down in families. ”

“ That ’ s right. All of the seeds marked heirloom are open - pollinated seeds that have been grown and saved and passed down in a family or community for generations. Seeds with stories , some people say. ”

Clare ’s eyes moved over the page slowly, caressing each photo of plump tomatoes, reading the enchanting descriptions and histories of the seeds.

The catalogue snapped shut abruptly. “ But enough of this, ” Marissa said as she stood, “ you ’ ve got a lot to learn every day. How ’ s your homework load? ”

“ It ’ s not too bad. I think I can get it all done after supper—need help in the kitchen? ”

“ Thank you, dear, but I ’ ve got it covered. ”

Clare figured as much from the aroma filling the room.

“ Stew in the slow cooker? ”

“ Yes, ” Marissa answered. “ This weather is just stew weather, isn ’ t it? ”

“ Mm - hmm.”