Many ethnic groups preserve seed as part of their heritage. According to Karin, one
of the best ethnic groups at preserving seed heritage are the Italians, who save seeds
from tomatoes known to make the best sauces and pastes.
Karin Buchan Shares
Fascination With Heirloom
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
BLAIRSVILLE (Indiana Co.)
Heirloom vegetables and fruits
are attracting new interest among
gardeners.
taste, flavor, and diversity
are wonderful,” said Karin Buchan
of Blairsvillc. “You can't purchase
such a wonderful array of taste,
color, and variety in a grocery
store.”
To be considered an heirloom
plant, the variety must have been
introduced at least SO years earlier.
Many heirloom varieties have
been brought to America by immi
grants. Women often stitched
seeds in the hems of their garments
or hid them in their undergar
ments.
Karin became a vocal fan of
heirloom gardening about five
Jim McMath shows how his antique ginseng digger throughout Pennsylvania, but
works. The nursing rocker belonged to Jim’s grandmoth* most chenshed ones are
• ArMsMeth a*id»is«ouer»l6<Kyeare«old»
Gardening
years ago. “After I saw the size of
the plant and realized what I had
paid for it, I thought I must have a
hole in my head,” she joked. But
that first taste convinced her that
heirloom vegetables were definite
ly worth pursuing.
After that, she kept finding more
and more varieties that she wanted
to try. The crop was so prolific that
the family couldn’t use them all so
she decided to try and sell some.
Things took off from there.
Karin has a greenhouse with
more than 100 varieties of toma
toes an# SO varieties of peppers.
People like the heirloom variet
ies, but they don’t want to bother
growing them from seeds. Karin
fills this gap by growing the plants
and selling the starters.
“The neat thing about my green
house is that customers can buy
only one plant rather than a six
pack like many greenhouses
insist,” Karin said.
In addition, she has many variet
ies of flowers and other
vegetables—all grown with organ
ic methods.
Some may ask if heirloom veg
etables taste so great, why aren’t
the seeds and plants readily
available?
“They are not as disease resis
tant as many newer varieties,”
Karin said. But she hastens to add
that they can be grown without
using any pesticides.
"The secret is in using crop rota
tion and soil testing in the fall.
Some plants grow better in certain
zones than in others” she said.
Karin sells plants for 35 cents
each compared to $2-$3 charged
by most gardening centers for heir
loom plants.
(Turn to Page B 3)
fpMESTEAD
Antique Collectors
Keep Farm History Alive
GAIL STROCK
Mifflin Co. Correspondent
SHIRLEYSBURG (Hunting
don County)-Jim McMath of
Huntingdon County stands in
the wide archway between the
kitchen and addition of his
17705-era stone farmhouse. No
matter which way he looks back
the hallways or into the kitchen
or addition he sees antiques.
What began as a hobby more
than 30 years ago has slowly
turned the McMath home into a
museum in its own right. Jim
and his wife Barb have collected
more than 400 antique farm
toys, 100 plus milk bottles, and
many antique tools and house
hold gadgets. They've restored
10 tractors plus an assortment
of farm implements. Jim and
Barb have collected antiques
Karin Buchan of heirloom vegetables. She has a green
house with mdre than 100 varieties of tomatoes, 50 varieties
of peppers, and other fruits and vegetables—all grown with
"onic method!
Not all seeds saved are to produce food. Many beautiful
flowers are grown from seeds passed down through fami
lies. To be considered an heirloom plant, the variety must
have been Introduced at least 50 years earlier.
practically in their own back
yard.
"That's called a hanging
kerosene reflection lamp," Jim
says pointing to a lantern sus
pended from a rafter. "It came
from my great-grandparents,
and it hung in my aunt's
kitchen. My great-great-uncle
carried this pistol holder in the
Civil War."
From shelves that frame a
great stone fireplace, Jim picks
up a rare porcelain-lined iron
bucket made in 1874 or 1875. "I
found this in Mother's attic. It
had bricks of ore inside. I'm
guessing it is a vegetable steam
er."
Tow of the family's most
prized antiques are a fork and a
flail, hand carved from oak by
Jim's great-uncle. In the front
parlor sits a complete case of
Workman soda bottles pur-
chased from Barb's aunt. Her Peanut in a bubble of water. He
~ jiupts. fptfver ported, qt.tjie hoi,- ,. ~ > . ft ?*?*
or, ai
tling plant in Mount Union. The
case is designed to store the bot
tles upside down. Their Bossier
cabinet with original jars and
spice wheels was built in 1917
and purchased in Shirleysburg
at the former Rockview
Academy. But Jim and Barb's
interest in antiques goes beyond
family heirlooms.
"I like to buy local things, of
families I knew, to have pieces of
their lives," Jim reflects. Many
of the pencils in his extensive
bullet pencil collection are from
what were once local businesses
G. W. Crissman & Sons, a John
Deere dealer in Milroy and
Belleville; Ehrenzeller Lime,
McVeytown: Meadows Country
Scrapple, Holidaysburg; M. C.
Packing Company, Reedsville;
Atlantic Breeders; Morton Salt
(When It Rains It Pours!); and
several 1950 s pencils with Mr.
are woi