Native Seeds/SEARCH

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(Southwestern endangered arid land resources clearinghouse)

Sharon Niederman of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a freelance writer and author of several books.

Yaqui basil. Chia roja. Mt. Pima oregano. Tarahumara anis. These herbs carry names that conjure deep associations with native people who, for centuries, cultivated them, cooked with them, and cured with them in the Sonoran region of southern Arizona and northwestern Mexico. You won’t find these seeds in packets for sale in your local nursery, but thanks to Native Seeds/SEARCH, a Tucson-based nonprofit organization founded in 1983, these herbs, plus other rare corns, beans, chiles, gourds, melons, and squash, are now collected, preserved, protected, and disseminated.

These hardy heirloom seeds are specially adapted to their environment and remain exempt from corporate packaging; rather, they have for generations been handed down through families and exchanged between neighbors, small farmers, and backyard growers. Planting seeds offered by Native Seeds/SEARCH is like caring for a special piece of history and culture in your garden. Seedlisting, the organization’s catalog, has pages of such biodiverse treasures as the chiltepine, the fiery, scarlet berry that originated in Bolivia and Ecuador and is the ancient “mother of all chiles,” and Mexican teosinte, believed to be the tassled ancestor of corn.

Even better news for those planning travel to Tucson, Native Seeds/SEARCH welcomes visitors to its various locations, where it is possible to follow the life of rare heirlooms from storage in the seed bank all the way to harvest in the field.

First stop is a tour of the seed bank at Sylvester House, where visitors are warmly greeted with cups of herbal tea and a basket of blueberry-Hopi blue corn muffins prior to the tour. On the grounds of the historic adobe, in the 3/4-acre garden, lie baskets of drying squash, pumpkins, and gourds. After a brief and informative slide show explaining the organization’s mission and methods and a question-and-answer period, seed curator and director of conservation Suzanne Nelson opens the door and grants participants entrance into the cool vault. There, in 10,000 jars that fill floor-to-ceiling shelves, are more than 2,000 kinds of precious seed stocks waiting their turn to be “grown out.” The jars contain dozens of varieties of beans and corn, fifty-five varieties of chile, many cilantros, dills, basils, oreganos, and epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides)—a truly awesome treasure chest of the earth’s bountiful possibilities. Most of these seeds have been gathered from Native American farmers and growers in small villages of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Mexico, and from those concerned about the survival of the seeds and the cultural heritage that goes along with them. Tours are given weekly.