Do you know the stories of your garden seeds? If so, you might be the last chance to preserve them. To help, Seed Savers Exchange and StoryCorps are making it easy to record and share stories about the heirloom plants you love.
As a nonprofit with a mission to preserve endangered heirloom seeds, Seed Savers Exchange knows how valuable the stories behind today’s plant cultivars will be for future generations. However, few of these stories are still known and shared. Seed Savers Exchange has the backstories of fewer than 20 percent of the 20,000 seeds in its collection. For this reason, they’re seeking out your stories to start filling in the gaps.
Now, anyone with a smartphone can record the stories behind their favorite heirloom plants through the StoryCorps app. StoryCorps is a mobile platform and popular podcast dedicated to recording and sharing inspiring stories from around the world through user-submitted personal interviews. To record your own heirloom seed stories, simply start an interview through the app and make sure you include background information about yourself, a detailed description of the plant, everything that’s known about its history, and your connection to it.
When saving your story, use the hashtags #seedstories and #seedsaversexchange to ensure that the nonprofit and other plant enthusiasts can easily find it. You can also upload photos of your plants or seeds and include additional hashtags like #heirloomseeds, #gardening, and any information about the location where you grow it.
By utilizing the StoryCorps app, Seed Savers Exchange is working to preserve the stories of rare plant species throughout the United States. Your stories may make a difference for their survival, so grab your phone and get recording! (Learn more at StoryCorps.)
