Creating a Seed Legacy with Seed Saver's Exchange 

Michael Washburn is currently serving as the Preservation Director of Seed Savers Exchange. Michael and the Preservation Department work to preserve and distribute a collection of over 20,000 seed varieties. They also manage over 1000 varieties of apples trees, an allium collection and 700 plus varieties of potatoes and sweet potatoes. Michael is a long-time
gardener/farmer and has worked in both urban and rural farm settings. His most
recent gardening work was as the Culinary Garden Manager at Blackberry Farm in
Walland, TN. There he worked alongside the long time Seed Saver Exchange Member
John Coykendall. Together they grew an array of southern crop varieties for the
two on site kitchens and worked on increasing rare and endangered heirloom varieties
for several individuals and organizations. Michael has a passion for traditional farming techniques and focuses much of his own work on preserving heritage
grains.