An organic farm
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History

My name is Amy LeBlanc. My husband Michael and I live here in western Maine at Whitehill Farm. Our farm has been Certified Organic by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association since 19??.

Many years ago, while first canning and freezing food for my family, I became frustrated with the varieties of tomatoes sold for home canning and processing. In 1985 we returned to Maine to live and garden...during a trip to the local health food store, I found a basket of VERY STRANGE sausage-shaped tomatoes on the counter. The clerk told me the tomato lady brought them to sell...and could tell me no more! Two years later I found that tomato lady at the Common Ground Country Fair, and learned that the strange tomato was a Hog Heart Paste tomato. With her inspiration and a little steering towards Seed Savers Exchange, I began a search for the perfect, no-nonsense canning tomato!

As a result, during the last 15?? years I have grown perhaps 200 paste tomato varieties, 450 slicing, beefsteak and cherry varieties, and have begun to sell tomato and pepper seedlings each spring. The search has been absolutely fascinating. I've tasted and cooked with tomatoes that come in colors and shapes that are anything BUT round and red! I've learned their histories, read stories about the families that saved the seeds, delved into some biology, learned to save tomato seeds myself, and most importantly, found how much there is yet to learn!

And since we are avid salsa fans, my search has evolved into heirloom peppers as well, both sweet and hot. We've also begun to explore the amazing world of garlic and the incredible array of heirloom garden vegetables.

I have explored dozens of seed catalogs and I've found that buying heirloom and untreated vegetable, flower, and herb seed can be a frustrating experience. There are many companies, many prices, many sizes of packages (mostly too large!), and often confusing information. Some companies are quite open about their geographic focus...others simply ship all over the country with one set of instructions - "one size fits all" - leaving no room for the dramatic differences in regional climates and growing seasons. Some companies are very personal, regardless of size; others simply ship seeds. Some companies have a dedication to customers interests as well as their money; others cannot find a way to answer any question, let alone an out of the ordinary question.



Goals

The recent developments by companies such as Monsanto, of Genetically Modified (GM) foods by introducing genetic material that is foreign to the host plant, has put the search for heirloom seeds into an entirely different light. Adequate testing, labeling, and the consumers right-to-know seem to be outside Monsanto's self-defined responsibilities to the human race. As a result there is a new need for careful choices in the sources of our food seed.

The Council for Responsible Genetics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was founded in 1983, and is comprised of scientists, lawyers, public health advocates and citizens concerned about the social, ethical and environmental impact of new genetic technologies. Their work has, among many other things, resulted in the Safe Seed Pledge. This pledge has been signed by many of the same seed companies that I have explored in my search for heirloom seed sources.



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