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Peace Seeds
A few years after encounter his PhD in Molecular Biology from Rockefeller University NYC , Alan Kapuler embraced counterculture and moved to a commune in southerly Oregon .
It was there ( in the early 1970 ’s ) , hoping to assist bring home the bacon for the grouping , that Alan first begin to garden and sell seeds . “ We did n’t lie with anything about business , we did n’t know anything about saving germ , and we knew nothing about horticulture , ” he recalled .
Many thing had exchange for Alan since then , let in the fact that he is now widely considered to be an expert in the champaign of industrial plant breeding . Alan spent more than 40 years collect unique seeds , researching amino group dose contents in tomatoes , and breed nutritionally various varieties , all in the name of promoting better health . Kapuler collaborated with Dr. Sarangamat Gurusiddiah PhD ( the boss of the Biochemistry Lab of Washington State University ) deal 100 of analyses for gratuitous amino pane in organically raise flower , fruit , and vegetables .
Together, Alan and Linda have donated almost 140 varieties of heirloom seeds to Seed Savers Exchange.
In 1975 Alan Kapuler , his wife Linda , and their friend Alan Venet founded what would later on be calledPeace Seeds . Although they did n’t have much money to save in the early days , Alan and Linda acknowledge the grandness of preserving heirloom germ .
In 1981 , they invested $ 100 to become Seed Savers Exchange lifetime members . Their ejaculate catalogs have always focus on a wide variety of open - cross-pollinate seeded player including rarefied heirloom potpourri along with Peace Seeds originals .
Alan first set forth breeding ‘ Rainbow Inca ’ seraphic corn when he realize the health potential in breeding multi - colored vegetables . “ I knew that the yellow ( in the corn inwardness ) was zeaxanthin or lutein , which were two Carotenoid pigments that go to protect our eyes from photo - wrong as we get older … [ and ] that purple color is anthocyanin-3 glucoside — that ’s a destitute radical lying in wait , so if you eat that corn it meliorate your health ! ”
Alan Kapuler threshes evening primrose seeds in the yard of his Corvallis, Oregon home.
Alan “ Mushroom ” Kapuler passed away on November 11 , 2023 .
Seed Savers Exchange has led the heirloom seed trend since 1975 , urge on a generation of seeded player companies to specialize in rarified , regionally adapted , delicious , and irreplaceable open - cross-pollinate varieties . Many of these companionship were institute by our own Seed Savers Exchange members . Rather than allowing heirloom and historical varieties to vaporize or go unnoticed , these member launched an uncoordinated , constitutional , and tenacious resistance to the fade of heirloom seeds . This first wave of heirloom seed companies did not offer germ catalogs in response to consumer demand . Instead , they created it .
This is the storey of one of nine diminished seed company and a few of the change they have preserved . While each and every one of their backgrounds is as unparalleled and bold as the variety they portion out , they all have one thing in coarse : the passion for sharing seeds .
Alan originally collected ‘La Ribera’ Tagetes erecta marigolds in southern Baja California, and grew them for decades through Peace Seeds. The photo above shows the same variety grown by his daughter, Dylana Kapuler, and her partner, Mario DiBenedetto, for their company Peace Seedlings (who consider themselves to be the next generation of Peace Seeds).
Bios save , interviews , and symmetricalness by Kelly Loud with help from Sara Straate .
extra thanks to the follow citizenry : Alan and Linda Kapuler , Suzanne Ashworth , Craig Dremann , Steve Sando , Mike and Denise Dunton , Tom Wagner , Joanne Ranck - Dirks , Sue Ellen Majer , Bill McDorman , andGlenn Drowns .
Updated September 2024
Alan first bred ‘Rainbow Inca Sweet’ corn in hopes of improving eye health.
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Seed Savers Exchange is a tax - exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit system consecrate to the conservation of heirloom ejaculate .
