Once again this year, Slow Food Utah will have a table at the People’s Market Seed Swap. The event is from 2-6 PM Saturday, January 25th at the Sorenson Unity Center in Salt Lake City (California Avenue at 900 West). We will be distributing sampler packs of vegetable seeds listed on the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste for those interested in growing them out and helping preserve these rare and tasty varieties. These will include several varieties of heirloom tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, beets, and a winter squash. If you have taken seeds in past years and have stories to share about how they grew or how you used them, please post a reply here or let us know at the swap.

All seeds we’ll be offering at the swap were purchased from Seeds Savers Exchange, a non-profit organization based in Decorah, Iowa, with a mission to preserve agricultural heritage and crop biodiversity. This year, Seed Savers has created a special online page in their seed catalog that identifies all Ark of Taste varieties available for purchase. If you can’t make the swap or want more seeds than a sampler packet, we highly recommend Seed Savers Exchange as a source. You may order from their commercial catalog whether or not you are a member; all proceeds help support the organization’s mission. If you become of member of Seed Savers Exchange, you can also order from their Exchange Yearbook (online and paper versions), an encyclopedia of seeds stewarded by a network of seed saving volunteers and offered to other members to grow out and re-save in order to preserve them.

Hope to see you at the Swap!