Seed preservation is at the heart of The Diggers Foundation and our seed bank is a treasure trove of heirlooms that we have acquired over the last 44 years.

Donations by members, other seed companies and overseas seed savers has filled our seed vault with an abundance of varieties to test and trial each and every year. If they stand up to our tests, we put these heirlooms back into production and then share them with you, our members.

Space is limited and each variety must be grown in isolation to enable seed saving, so what we choose to trial each year is restricted, but no less exciting, and selection is just as thrilling as the results.

Members’ heirlooms are a valuable donation

This year saw four members’ seeds enter the trial program: a collard, a bean and two broad beans. Further trials are needed, but results have been encouraging so far, and updates will be shared once the trials are completed.

We gratefully received over 20 unique submissions from members, one an entire seed collection comprising over 40 different seeds, some dating back to 1956.

Seed integrity

Each year we also grow a selection of our own seed to ensure our supply is true-to-type (grows and produces a crop that is as described). Any discrepancies are taken seriously, and we return to the seed vault to grow out mother stock to ensure seed is as described. Tomatoes ‘Red Fig’ and ‘Wild Sweetie’ were discovered to have variability several years ago, but these are now true-to-type and available to members once again.

The return of a lost line Long term Diggers members would remember when we sold peanuts, and we have now put these back into production after gaining seed of an heirloom variety from a peanut seed bank here in Australia. Hopefully it will be available to members by 2024.

What’s scheduled for 2023

This summer we have already selected our tomatoes and pumpkins to trial, six of which have come directly from member submissions.

Thanks to our members for your continued support and generous donations of seed – you have contributed to saving these precious heirlooms for generations to come. Together we can connect the past to the future.

Tomato trials

Tomatoes have always been at the core of our seed list. Our love of heirlooms started with tomatoes, and our release of ‘Tommy Toe’ to the world in 1993. This year we sifted through the 250 tomato varieties held in our seed vault and selected 20 to grow in our trials. These were then incorporated into our annual tomato taste test to see how they compared and, happily, several rated in our top 10.

Undeniably an unusual year for tomatoes, this year saw many favourites slide down the ranking while several varieties from the seed vault took their place at centre stage. Two of these tomatoes have been released this year – ‘Black Plum’ and ‘Soldaki’, with ‘Mary Irving’ scheduled to be released in 2023.

#1. Tommy Toe

#2. Soldaki

#3. Amish Paste

#4. Mary Irving

#5. Black Plum

Written by Marcelle Swanson, Diggers horticultural editor, sustainable farmer and author.