Story
The Story of William Henry Maule’s 1913 Seed Catalog
On a March day in 1959 I had a life-altering experience. That was the Saturday that I had decided to go exploring in the old, long abandoned Ebenezer Railroad Station, which was located west of Knoxville, Tennessee.
In the basement, I discovered a world that had remained unchanged for many years. I found stacks of newspapers, magazines and railroad time tables. None of the materials that I found dated later then the 1940s, and everything appeared to be just as it was left long ago. My greatest discovery of the day, however, was a seed catalog from the William Henry Maule’s seed company for the year 1913. In this catalog, I discovered a whole new world of heirloom crop varieties that I had never seen before. I was immediately fascinated by the many illustrations ranging from potatoes, tomatoes, beans, corn, radishes, pumpkins and many others.
My first thought was a desire to grow as many of those old varieties as I could find, but then I realized that at that time there was no source for them, and thus began a lifetime of searching to locate, grow, and save seeds from as many of the varieties as I could find.
It would be many years before I would become the seed saver that I am today. In 1959, we were still many years away from the computer age as we know it today, and researching many of those old varieties was next to impossible. Today, we are a mere click away from pages of information, and if it still exists, I can find it.
The one variety that I had the greatest desire to grow from the catalog was the Tennessee sweet potato pumpkin, which is bell-shaped, white with green mottling and weighs up to 25 lbs.
It took me 31 years to finally locate the Tennessee sweet potato pumpkin, and that was when I became a listed member of the seed saver exchange, and found three members who were preserving and offering seed of this old variety.
I remember receiving seed in January, and being like a child waiting for Christmas. I thought that spring and planting time would never come.
That is the story of how the chance finding of a 1913 seed catalog changed the direction of my life and influenced me to become the seed saver that I am today.
John Coykendall, Master Gardener On a March day in 1959 I had a life-altering experience. That was the Saturday that I had decided to go exploring in the old, long abandoned Ebenezer Railroad Station, which was located west of Knoxville, Tennessee.
In the basement, I discovered a world that had remained unchanged for many years. I found stacks of newspapers, magazines and railroad time tables. None of the materials that I found dated later then the 1940s, and everything appeared to be just as it was left long ago. My greatest discovery of the day, however, was a seed catalog from the William Henry Maule’s seed company for the year 1913. In this catalog, I discovered a whole new world of heirloom crop varieties that I had never seen before. I was immediately fascinated by the many illustrations ranging from potatoes, tomatoes, beans, corn, radishes, pumpkins and many others.
My first thought was a desire to grow as many of those old varieties as I could find, but then I realized that at that time there was no source for them, and thus began a lifetime of searching to locate, grow, and save seeds from as many of the varieties as I could find.
It would be many years before I would become the seed saver that I am today. In 1959, we were still many years away from the computer age as we know it today, and researching many of those old varieties was next to impossible. Today, we are a mere click away from pages of information, and if it still exists, I can find it.
The one variety that I had the greatest desire to grow from the catalog was the Tennessee sweet potato pumpkin, which is bell-shaped, white with green mottling and weighs up to 25 lbs.
It took me 31 years to finally locate the Tennessee sweet potato pumpkin, and that was when I became a listed member of the seed saver exchange, and found three members who were preserving and offering seed of this old variety.
I remember receiving seed in January, and being like a child waiting for Christmas. I thought that spring and planting time would never come.
That is the story of how the chance finding of a 1913 seed catalog changed the direction of my life and influenced me to become the seed saver that I am today.
John Coykendall, Master Gardener
In the basement, I discovered a world that had remained unchanged for many years. I found stacks of newspapers, magazines and railroad time tables. None of the materials that I found dated later then the 1940s, and everything appeared to be just as it was left long ago. My greatest discovery of the day, however, was a seed catalog from the William Henry Maule’s seed company for the year 1913. In this catalog, I discovered a whole new world of heirloom crop varieties that I had never seen before. I was immediately fascinated by the many illustrations ranging from potatoes, tomatoes, beans, corn, radishes, pumpkins and many others.
My first thought was a desire to grow as many of those old varieties as I could find, but then I realized that at that time there was no source for them, and thus began a lifetime of searching to locate, grow, and save seeds from as many of the varieties as I could find.
It would be many years before I would become the seed saver that I am today. In 1959, we were still many years away from the computer age as we know it today, and researching many of those old varieties was next to impossible. Today, we are a mere click away from pages of information, and if it still exists, I can find it.
The one variety that I had the greatest desire to grow from the catalog was the Tennessee sweet potato pumpkin, which is bell-shaped, white with green mottling and weighs up to 25 lbs.
It took me 31 years to finally locate the Tennessee sweet potato pumpkin, and that was when I became a listed member of the seed saver exchange, and found three members who were preserving and offering seed of this old variety.
I remember receiving seed in January, and being like a child waiting for Christmas. I thought that spring and planting time would never come.
That is the story of how the chance finding of a 1913 seed catalog changed the direction of my life and influenced me to become the seed saver that I am today.
John Coykendall, Master Gardener On a March day in 1959 I had a life-altering experience. That was the Saturday that I had decided to go exploring in the old, long abandoned Ebenezer Railroad Station, which was located west of Knoxville, Tennessee.
In the basement, I discovered a world that had remained unchanged for many years. I found stacks of newspapers, magazines and railroad time tables. None of the materials that I found dated later then the 1940s, and everything appeared to be just as it was left long ago. My greatest discovery of the day, however, was a seed catalog from the William Henry Maule’s seed company for the year 1913. In this catalog, I discovered a whole new world of heirloom crop varieties that I had never seen before. I was immediately fascinated by the many illustrations ranging from potatoes, tomatoes, beans, corn, radishes, pumpkins and many others.
My first thought was a desire to grow as many of those old varieties as I could find, but then I realized that at that time there was no source for them, and thus began a lifetime of searching to locate, grow, and save seeds from as many of the varieties as I could find.
It would be many years before I would become the seed saver that I am today. In 1959, we were still many years away from the computer age as we know it today, and researching many of those old varieties was next to impossible. Today, we are a mere click away from pages of information, and if it still exists, I can find it.
The one variety that I had the greatest desire to grow from the catalog was the Tennessee sweet potato pumpkin, which is bell-shaped, white with green mottling and weighs up to 25 lbs.
It took me 31 years to finally locate the Tennessee sweet potato pumpkin, and that was when I became a listed member of the seed saver exchange, and found three members who were preserving and offering seed of this old variety.
I remember receiving seed in January, and being like a child waiting for Christmas. I thought that spring and planting time would never come.
That is the story of how the chance finding of a 1913 seed catalog changed the direction of my life and influenced me to become the seed saver that I am today.
John Coykendall, Master Gardener