Kentucky Heirloom Seeds : Growing, Eating, Saving / Bill Best with Dobree Adams ; foreword by A. Gwynn Henderson ; afterword by Brook Elliott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Best, Billy F., 1935- author.

Adams, Dobree, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Heirloom varieties (Plants)--Kentucky.

Heirloom varieties (Plants).

Seeds--Storage--Kentucky.

Seeds.

Seeds--Kentucky.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (pages cm)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Lexington, Kentucky : University Press of Kentucky, [2017]

Summary:

Saving seeds to plant for the next year's crop has been key to human survival for millennia. However, the twentieth century witnessed a grand takeover of seed production by multinational companies aiming to select varieties ideal for mechanical harvest, long-distance transportation, and long shelf life. With the rise of the Slow Food and farm-to-table movements in recent years, the farmers and home gardeners who have quietly persisted in the age-old habit of conserving heirloom plants are finally receiving credit for their vital role in preserving both good taste and the world's rich food heritage. Kentucky Heirloom Seeds: Growing, Eating, Saving is an evocative exploration of the seed saver's art and the practice of sustainable agriculture. Bill Best and Dobree Adams begin by tracing the roots of the tradition in the state to a seven-hundred-year-old Native American farming village in north-central Kentucky. Best shares tips for planting and saving seeds for heirloom beans and tomatoes and describes his family's favorite varieties for the table. His incredible interviews with seed savers-predominately eastern Kentuckians, who for generations have worked tirelessly to preserve and share heirloom varieties to feed their families-vividly document the social relevance and historical significance of the rituals of sowing, cultivating, eating, saving, and sharing.

Contents:

Seed saving: past, present, and future

Kentucky's seed-saving pioneers

Getting to know beans

Getting to know tomatoes

Letting traditions speak

Growing, eating, and sharing: Frank Barnett's stories

Seed-saving legacies

Practical tips for growing and saving

Heirloom favorites

Growing and sharing today

The high price of cheap food: a case for heirlooms.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780813168890

0813168899

9780813168883

0813168880

OCLC:

970639221