Heather Elizabeth Apple | |
|---|---|
 Heather Apple (2013) | |
| Born | 1948 Toronto |
Heather Elizabeth Apple (born 1948) is a Canadian writer, artist, and educator, with an interest in organic horticulture. She was awarded a 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal [1] in 1992.
She attended Branksome Hall, and graduated in 1967, [1] then earned a B.Sc. Honours degree in 1972 [1] in biology [2] from the University of Toronto.
In 1984, Canadian Organic Growers (COG) organized a conference on the loss of genetic diversity in food crops, with Kent Whealy the director of the U.S. organization Seed Savers Exchange as keynote speaker. Inspired by that conference, COG's Heritage Seed Program (HSP) was initiated to help salvage Canada's crop-plant heritage, with Alex Caron as coordinator. In late 1987, after the HSP had lain dormant for about two years, Heather Apple, as a long-term organic gardener, past president of the Durham, Ontario chapter of COG, and a Seed Savers Exchange contributor, responded to a request from Alex Caron and volunteered to reinitiate the programme. [3] Her aim was to develop it as a grass-roots seed-saving organization modeled after the Seed Savers Exchange, [4] and beginning with an announcement in August 1988, she produced a separate newsletter for the program [3] which became a magazine by December 1988. [5]
The Heritage Seed Program/Semences du patrimoine grew to become Seeds of Diversity Canada/Semences du patrimoine (SoDC), incorporated and renamed in 1995; Apple served as president of SoDC thru 1993. She also served as vice president of the Society of Ontario Nut Growers (SONG), 1990–1991. [6]
Heather Apple has been a member of the board of directors of the Gibsons Public Art Gallery in Gibsons, British Columbia, and of the Gibsons Landing Fibre Arts Festival. She is an active member of the Sunshine Coast Spinners and Weavers Guild, [7] and the Sunshine Coast Fibreshed. [8]
Heather Apple began writing seriously about gardening for the Heritage Seed Program, and this grew into freelance work as a garden writer, primarily for magazines.
Seed companies produce and sell seeds for flowers, fruits and vegetables to commercial growers and amateur gardeners. The production of seed is a multibillion-dollar global business, which uses growing facilities and growing locations worldwide. While most of the seed is produced by large specialist growers, large amounts are also produced by small growers who produce only one to a few crop types. The larger companies supply seed both to commercial resellers and wholesalers. The resellers and wholesalers sell to vegetable and fruit growers, and to companies who package seed into packets and sell them on to the amateur gardener.
An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit, or heirloom vegetable is an old cultivar of a plant used for food that is grown and maintained by gardeners and farmers, particularly in isolated communities of the Western world. These were commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but are not used in modern large-scale agriculture.
An heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated, non-hybrid heirloom cultivar of tomato. They are classified as family heirlooms, commercial heirlooms, mystery heirlooms, or created heirlooms. They usually have a shorter shelf life and are less disease resistant than hybrids. They are grown for various reasons: for food, historical interest, access to wider varieties, and by people who wish to save seeds from year to year, as well as for their taste.
Kent Whealy was an American activist, journalist and philanthropist who co-founded Seed Savers Exchange and promoted organic agriculture and the saving of heirloom seeds. Raised in Wellington, Kansas he was inspired by the works of agricultural geneticists Jack Harlan and H.Garrison Wilkes to use his training in communications to promote the protection of genetic diversity in agriculture.
Garden Organic, formerly known as the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA), is a UK organic growing charity dedicated to researching and promoting organic gardening, farming and food. The charity maintains the Heritage Seed Library to preserve vegetable seeds from heritage cultivars and make them available to growers.
Dan Jason is a Canadian active in food politics, as an opponent of genetically modified foods and proponent of heirloom plants and seedbanks. He is a writer, lecturer, and runs a business providing heirloom seeds.
Vicia villosa, known as the hairy vetch, fodder vetch or winter vetch, is a plant native to some of Europe and western Asia. It is a legume, grown as a forage crop, fodder crop, cover crop, and green manure. Although non-native, it occurs in all US states and is considered invasive by some states, such as Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington state — as well as in Japan and some parts of Europe where it is not native. It is also found in most Canadian provinces.
This is an alphabetical index of articles related to gardening.
Microgreens are vegetable greens harvested just after the cotyledon leaves have developed with one set of true leaves. They are used as a visual, flavor and texture enhancement. Microgreens are used to add sweetness and spiciness to foods. Microgreens are smaller than "baby greens" because they are harvested soon after sprouting, rather than after the plant has matured to produce multiple leaves.
Seed Savers Exchange, or SSE, is a non-profit organization based near Decorah, Iowa, that preserves heirloom plant varieties through regeneration, distribution and seed exchange. It is one of the largest nongovernmental seedbanks in the United States. The mission of SSE is to preserve the world’s diverse but endangered garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, and educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity. Since 1975, Seed Savers has produced an annual yearbook of members’ seed offerings, as well as multiple editions of The Garden Seed Inventory, and The Fruit, Nut and Berry Inventory. SSE also publishes Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners. The nonprofit has sold seeds to about 600 retail stores in the United States and Canada.
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (SESE) is a cooperatively-owned seed company based out of Mineral, Virginia. SESE is a source for heirloom seeds and other open-pollinated (non-hybrid) seeds with an emphasis on vegetables, flowers, and herbs that grow well in the Mid-Atlantic region. SESE also supports seed saving and traditional seed breeding through their product line, through lectures and workshops, and by working with over 90 small seed-growing farmers in the Mid-Atlantic and other parts of the United States. SESE publishes an intermittent email newsletter and blog for gardeners, as well as the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Catalog and Garden Guide.
Amy Goldman Fowler is an American billionaire heiress, gardener, author, artist, philanthropist, and advocate for seed saving and heirloom fruits and vegetables. She is one of the foremost heirloom plant conservationists in the US. Goldman has been called "perhaps the world's premier vegetable gardener" by Gregory Long, president emeritus of The New York Botanical Garden.
Seed swaps are events where gardeners meet to exchange seeds. Swapping can be arranged online or by mail, especially when participants are spread out geographically. Swap meet events, where growers meet and exchange their excess seeds in person, are also growing in popularity. In part this is due to increased interest in organic gardening and heritage or heirloom plant varietals. This reflects gardeners' interest in "unusual or particular varieties of flowers and vegetables", according to Kathy Jentz of Washington Gardener Magazine (Maryland).
Jerry Coleby-Williams is an English–Australian conservationist, horticulturalist, plant curator and television and radio personality. He has been a presenter on ABC TV’s Gardening Australia since 1999. He is the director of The Seed Savers' Network and an Executive Member of the Queensland Conservation Council.
Seed of Diversity, Semences du patrimoine, is a Canadian charitable organization that aims to "search out, preserve, perpetuate, study, and encourage the cultivation of heirloom and endangered varieties of food crops", particularly Canadian plants, and to educate the public about their use. It has been called "The Canadian NGO leader in two key areas of food system sustainability: crop genetic diversity and the redesign of pollination strategies".
The Seed Savers' Network (SSN) is an Australian not-for-profit organisation, based in Byron Bay, New South Wales. Since 1986, SSN has organised gardeners and farmers to collect, multiply and redistribute garden seeds in Australia and also within peasant organisations worldwide.
Will Bonsall is an American author, seed saver and veganic farmer who lives in Maine. He is a regular speaker about seed saving, organic farming and veganic farming.
Joy Larkcom is a British vegetable grower and gardening writer, known for books including Grow Your Own Vegetables and Creative Vegetable Gardening, and a campaigner for organic gardening.
Ira Wallace is a gardener, teacher and author. She manages Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, a cooperatively-owned seed company.