Amy Goldman is preserving the agricultural heritage and genetic diversity of heirloom fruits and vegetables.

If your gardening season is short – fewer than 120 frost-free days – direct sowing of tomato seeds in the cold, cold ground is not a viable option. Read more →

“The Heirloom Tomato” book was a prize find at my bookstore and I felt like the luckiest person to get the last copy on the shelf. I carried it around for weeks to work, to friends’ houses, and even to the doctors. Read more →

In her gardens in New York’s Hudson Valley, Amy Goldman does more than tend to fruits and vegetables: She is “growing miracles.”

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Fully ripe disease-free tomatoes are the best candidates for seed saving. Seeds can be saved casually by, for example, squeezing them out in a paper napkin and air drying them, but fermentation is a better route. It removes germination inhibitors and the gelatinous sheath from seeds, and it may treat some seed-borne diseases. Read more →

Collect seeds from standard or open-pollinated varieties only—not from store-bought fruit or F1 hybrids whose seeds may be impure or not breed true. To ensure maximum seed purity, grow melon or squash in isolation from other varieties with which they could cross-pollinate—or learn to hand pollinate. Read more →

There is a growing movement worldwide to preserve the genetic diversity of garden plants. By growing, saving, and handing down heirloom seeds, you become a steward of our diverse and fragile garden heritage. Find out more about seed saving. Read more →

I just received your Heirloom Tomato book from Amazon and I’m gob smacked on its sheer brilliance!  It is so gorgeous.  You have helped elevate the tomato to a higher pedestal.  Thank YOU!  I have a quite a few tomato books and gardening books however your book was the most inspiring. Read more →

I liked tomatoes before but not feverishly.  Since your Martha Stewart segment last year, I joined Tomato Mania and heirloom gardening Yahoo groups.  I was very successful germinating tomatoes last year using a soilless mix.  So the task wasn’t so daunting as purported to be.  I had more tomato seedlings than I had room for. Read more →

In Defense of Food: An Eaters Manifesto. Pollan, Michael, Penguin Press (2008)

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners. Ashworth, Suzanne, Chelsea Green Publishing (2002).

The New Seed Starters Handbook. Bubel, Nancy, Rodale Press (1988).

The Field and Garden Vegetables of America. Burr, Jr., Fearing, The American Botanist (1994) [first published in 1863].

Cooking from the Garden. Creasy, Rosalind, Sierra Club Books (1988).

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties. Deppe, Carol, Chelsea Green Publishing Co. (2000).

Shattering: Food, Politics, and the Loss of Genetic Diversity. Fowler, Cary and Mooney, Pat, University of Arizona Press (1990).

Melons for the Passionate Grower. Goldman, Amy, Artisan Books (2002).

The Compleat Squash. Goldman, Amy, Artisan Books (2004).

The Heirloom Gardener. Jabs, Carolyn, Sierra Club (1984).

Creative Vegetable Gardening. Larkcom, Joy, Abbeville (1997).

Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods. Nabhan, Gary Paul, Norton, W.W. & Co., Inc. (2001).

Enduring Seeds: Native American Agriculture and Wild Plant Conservation. Nabhan, Gary Paul, North Point Press (1989).

HDRA Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. Pears, Pauline, Dorling Kindersley (2001).

The Essential Reference, Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini. Schneider, Elizabeth, William Morrow (2001).

Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply. Shiva, Vandana, South End Press (2000).

Heirloom Vegetables: A Home Gardener’s Guide to Finding and Growing Vegetables From The Past. Stickland, Sue, Fireside (1998).

Genetically Engineered Food: Changing the Nature of Nature. Teitel, Martin and Wilson, Kimberley A, Park Street Press (1999).

Saving the Seed. Vellve, Renee, Earthscan Publications (1992).

Taylor’s Guide to Heirloom Vegetables. Watson, Benjamin, Houghton Mifflin (1996).

A Celebration of Heirloom Vegetables: Growing and Cooking Old-Time Varieties. Yepsen, Roger, Artisan (1998).

The Edible Heirloom Garden. Periplus (2000). Creasy, Rosalind, (One in a
new Edible Garden series completed by Ms. Creasy.)

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties. Creasy, Rosalind, Chelsea
Green Publishing Co. (2000).

Shattering: Food, Politics, and the
Loss of Genetic Diversity. Fowler, Cary and Mooney, Pat, University of Arizona Press (1990).

Melons for the Passionate Grower. Goldman, Amy, Artisan Books (2002).

The Compleat Squash. Goldman, Amy,
Artisan Books (2004).

The Heirloom Gardener. Jabs, Carolyn,  Sierra Club (1984).

Creative Vegetable Gardening. Larkcom, Joy, Abbeville (1997).

100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American
Garden. Male, Carolyn, Workman
Publishing (1999).

Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and
Politics of Local Foods. Nabhan, Gary Paul, Norton, W.W. & Co., Inc. (2001).

Enduring Seeds: Native American Agriculture and Wild Plant Conservation. Nabhan, Gary Paul,  North Point Press (1989).

HDRA Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening. Pears, Pauline, Dorling Kindersley (2001).

The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World. Pollan, Michael,Random House (2001).

The Essential Reference, Vegetables From Amaranth to Zucchini. Schneider, Elizabeth, William Morrow (2001).

Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply. Shiva, Vandana, South End Press (2000).

Heirloom Vegetables: A Home Gardener’s Guide to Finding and Growing Vegetables From The Past. Stickland, Sue, Fireside (1998).

Genetically Engineered Food: Changing th e Nature of Nature. Teitel, Martin and Wilson, Kimberley A., Park Street Press (1999).

Saving the Seed. Vellve, Renee, Earthscan Publications (1992).

Taylor’s Guide to Heirloom Vegetables. Watson, Benjamin, Houghton Mifflin (1996).

Heirloom Vegetable Gardening. Weaver, William Woys, Henry Holt & Co. (1996).

A Celebration of Heirloom Vegetables: Growing and Cooking Old-Time Varieties. Yepsen, Roger, Artisan (1998).

Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC)

American Horticultural Society

American Society for Horticultural Science

Center for Food Safety

Chefs Collaborative

The Cucurbit Network

ETC Group (formerly known as RAFI)

Garden Organic (Henry Doubleday Research Association)

Global Crop Diversity Trust

Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

International Society for Horticultural Science

Just Food

Martha Stewart

Native Seeds Search

National Gardening Association

New York Botanical Garden

New York Restoration Project

Organic Consumers Association

Organic Gardening Almanac

Organic Gardening Magazine

Organic Seed Alliance

Seeds of Diversity Canada

Seed Savers Exchange

Slow Food USA

Polich Tallix Fine Arts Foundry

Union of Concerned Scientists

The Victory Garden