Preservers

A friend once told us, "There are two kinds of people - those who like to start over and those who like to preserve.  You guys are preservers."   The comment was made at the time we were trying to decide if and how to renovate our old farmhouse or whether we should just build a new house.  Of course we ended up renovating because we are, in truth, preservers.

And not only when it comes to houses.  It's hard to put into words but somehow I find it fundamentally important to preserve and restore the connections to what went before - where we came from.  Without a history we would be marooned in the present and that would be an incredibly lonely place to be. So I try to preserve genetic diversity by using heirloom varieties of plants in my garden.  I love preserving and practicing old skills like spinning, weaving and rug hooking.  I enjoy preserving the family history in genealogy records and photos because when I'm gone, who will remember these things?  I treasure the antiques that have been passed down in the family.  And I have been on a mission to restore and preserve native prairie plants around our house and in the fields around the homestead.  

Part of preserving those plants is collecting the seeds, passing them along to others and saving some for expanding their domain here on the farm.  This past week I finally got around to sorting and cleaning the seeds I'd collected and dried earlier this fall.  I collected 15 different varieties of seeds, although that's only a small sample of all the kinds growing out there.  I was amazed at the beauty and diversity of the seeds as I worked with them.  Some were so small that I had to use my digital handheld microscope to make sure I was actually collecting seeds and not dust!  Once I got started I couldn't stop - it was so fun to photograph the seeds under the microscope.

Rattlesnake master seeds.  These seeds are dangerously sharp!

Here's the stickery seed head I gleaned the rattlesnake master seeds from.  My fingers were very sore after dealing with these seeds.

Royal catchfly seeds - about 2 mm wide.  This plant is considered rare so I'm happy it is thriving here.  Its blossoms are bright red, a rare color for prairie flowers.

Culver's root seeds, barely a millimeter wide but they grow into quite a large plant.  I find it so amazing that all the information and equipment to grow is packaged in such a miniscule seed.

Hoary Vervain seeds, also quite a large plant.

New England aster seeds.  These are phenomenally successful at spreading and turn into huge plants.  By late summer the flower beds are dominated by their purple and pink blossoms.

Prairie blazing star seeds.  This is one plant I've fallen in love with!  Such lovely long blossom stalks in gorgeous pink.

Rudbeckia seeds.  Hard to believe they grow into rivers of gold in the flower bed.

Smooth blue aster seeds.  The plants aren't nearly as big and showy as the New England asters but they are lovely in the border.

Yarrow seeds.  A very useful medicinal plant that grows wild pretty much all over the place.  I'm glad to have it in my beds.  

Even with this small selection of seeds it is easy to see the different methods the plants use to spread their seed around: some have fluff to carry them by wind, some stick to whatever happens to walk by (I've seen royal catchfly seed heads sticking to the cat!), some form heads attractive to the birds and some just drop straight down at the foot of the mother plant.  The truly astonishing thing is the sheer NUMBER of seeds each plant produces to ensure it's preservation.  Nature is far and away the very best preserver!