seed saving: landraces

Autumn is always packed, but while we're pulling mangel-wurzels and Jerusalem artichokes to store in the root cellar for winter pig feed, and bunching sunflower heads and ears of popcorn to hang in the summer kitchen, we can't forget the plants we have saved for seed: 'Contender' and 'Provider' green beans, Country Gentleman corn, and our beloved magenta- and yellow-flowering mirabilis are just a few of the friends we want to keep with us as we make ourselves a place in this valley. We become people of this place by staying here, and by preserving the scions of the plants that grow here we help those varieties to become native to this place: what we call landraces.