My interest in gardening when I was a small boy. My maternal grandfather was a great gardener and I admired him greatly and he and I would "talk gardens" for hours on end. Too, as a small boy, I would ride my bicycle into town and ride around and visit several older gentlemen who were avid gardeners. I've had my own garden since I was five, and there hasn't been a year in over forty years now that I haven't "put something in the ground."
My interest in heirloom seeds began a number of years ago. For several years we lived in western South Dakota and that was my first experience with heavy gumbo soil. I had trouble growing carrots in that soil, having grown up in Turner County on a "sand farm".
I remembered the stump-rooted carrots my grandfather grew when I was small. They were called oxheart. I searched and searched for the seed but at that time was unsuccessful in locating any seed. I then realized that we are rapidly losing our genetic diversity as many of the old time open pollinated varieties were no longer commercially available.
When we moved back to eastern South Dakota and moved to a German Russian community, I began visiting with a number of older people to see if they were aware of any varieties their ancestors may have brought with them from Russia. I was so glad that I began this project when I did for nearly everyone who provided me with seed has since passed away.
I eventually joined Seed Saver's Exchange from Decorah, Iowa. This put me in contact with a number of other people who are interested in saving heirloom vegetables. I have been able to offer a number of the varieties I have collected through this organization, thus helping to insure that these varieties will be preserved for future generations.
As a result of belonging to the afore mentioned organization, I received a letter from a woman who was of German-Russian descent. She told me she wanted to plant "an old fashioned German-Russian garden and was wondering what she should plant." So, I set to work visiting with elderly neighbors and family members and came up with a list of plants and then developed a PowerPoint presentation which I have given a number of times at the State Fair, and to various historical societies and gardening groups.
I accumulated quite a collection of things that were brought to the Great Plains from the steppes of Russia over one hundred years ago. The climate in south Russia in in this area are very similar so the things that grew in Russia are well suited to grow in this part of the country.
On this page I will attempt to to describe and provide pictures of the varieties that I have.
With all this being said, let's see, what would we find in a German Russian garden.
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