iconic Brown County man, Jack Weddle. Torrie and her partner Kyle Birkemeier secured the seeds and began to unearth each dusty jar. The labels on most jars had faded, but the Birkemeiers were able to decipher some of the crop names Jack had written in red ink. As they opened a jar, treasured gems of F23 corn tumbled out. They realized they were holding a piece of Brown County history. The label“ F23” meant that the man had bred this corn variety for 23 years. Weddle adapted the seeds to the unique growing conditions of Brown County.
The organization’ s purpose would soon spill out in to the community in the form of seed swaps and a seed library project. Kyle had the idea to dedicate this new seed library project to Jack Weddle.
Brown County is not primarily an agricultural county like the other surrounding counties here in Southern Indiana. The topography is mostly steep, tree-covered ravines with heavy clay soils and unique growing conditions. After a year of research, Jack Weddle was the only person the Birkemeiers found to have bred his own corn and vegetable varieties in the county. The knowledge, seeds, and stories are, however, threaded through the community. It was a means of survival and existence here.
“ SEED Brown County is as much a history project as an agriculture project. We are here to find those old seeds and stories. We are here to rediscover, to value, and pass along the tradition of saving those old seeds that have been adapted and feeding people here locally for the last hundred plus years,” says Torrie.
Developing the homesteading network and teaching“ back-to-the-land” skills are at the core of programs at SEED Brown County. Torrie believes the Brown County community is ripe for ensuring the current movement toward“ Farm to Table” growing.
Within the next few years Torrie wants to secure land where SEED can consolidate. She hopes to provide Brown County people with skills to cultivate food and meet more needs from within the community. She envisions a compost operation, seed saving gardens, and community dinners where people learn to process and preserve food while sharing in the harvest.
For more information check out the website < www. seedbrowncounty. org > or the Facebook page < www. facebook. com / browncountyseedproject >.
Torre Birkemeier can be reached at < torrie @ seedbrowncounty. org >. •
Our mission is simple:
To plant seeds.
March / April 2017 • Our Brown County 41