Old vegetable varieties in a new guise: new website for old vegetable varieties from the SaatGut conservation network East goes online

Just in time for the start of the season on 1 May 2022, the SaatGut-Erhalter-Netzwerk Ost, together with the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin) and the Verein zur Erhaltung und Rekultivierung von Nutzpflanzen (VERN e.V.), is launching a new website on old vegetable varieties. Under the slogan "We bring old vegetable varieties from the gene bank back to the plate!", the seed cultivation and vegetable growing companies of the SaatGut-Erhalter-Netzwerk Ost present useful information about conservation work as well as sources of seed, young plants and fresh vegetables of old vegetable varieties. Farm portraits also offer the opportunity to get to know the gardeners and their work.

"It is important to us to show consumers how much work goes into every old variety before it ends up on the shelves again from the gene bank. The farms in the SaatGut-Erhalter-Netzwerk Ost do a great and fundamental job of preserving biodiversity, which we want to make visible with the website," says Julia Ehrich, project team member at HNE Eberswalde. It is not only conservation organisations and seed-growing companies that are involved in this long-term process, which are responsible for the conservation breeding and propagation of seeds of long-forgotten varieties. The involvement of vegetable-growing businesses with cultivation and marketing trials is also required. Domäne Dahlem, for example, grows the old beetroot variety 'Marner Halanga' on the outskirts of Berlin and markets it in its farm shop. "Customers are curious and enthusiastic. We have been marketing this variety for three years now," says Sieglinde Hohmann, manager of the Domäne Dahlem farm shop. Domäne Dahlem obtains the seeds from the seed cultivation company Keimzelle, which specialises in old and rare varieties with its 3 hectares in Prignitz. "The beetroot 'Marner Halanga' is characterised by its rolled shape and mild, sweet flavour. In addition to flavour and appearance, feedback from the growers is particularly important to us," explains Eve Bubenik, grower at the seed cell. The 23 farms in the SaatGut-Erhalter-Netzwerk Ost currently work in close and lively dialogue with each other.

VERN e.V . is the initiator and co-founder of the SaatGut-Erhalter-Netzwerk Ost, because the preservation of variety diversity is best achieved collectively. The association coordinates cooperation within the network and organises network meetings for further training, the exchange of experiences and the further development of cooperation. The network is open to interested farms.

Anyone who wants to know which farms are involved in the SaatGut-Erhalter-Netzwerk Ost and where the seeds and fresh vegetables of these special old vegetable varieties can be purchased will now find what they are looking for on the new SaatGut-Erhalter-Netzwerk Ost website: Farm portraits and a map with all current sources of supply are available. The individual varieties are also portrayed in detail, including details of their historical origins and characteristics in terms of flavour and appearance. "Each variety is unique and therefore contributes to biodiversity in the fields," says Annika Grabau, project team member at HU Berlin, who has compiled the portraits of the varieties after years of research and results from cultivation trials.

SAVE THE DATE
From 1 May 2022 , the new website of the SaatGut-Erhalter-Netzwerk Ost for old vegetable varieties will go online. Anyone who wants to buy seeds, young plants or fresh vegetables of old vegetable varieties can use the website to find out about sources of supply in their area or visit the SaatGut-Erhalter-Netzwerk Ost farms directly and bring the colourful and tasty diversity into their own garden or onto their plate.

The website was conceived and designed by HNE Eberswalde as part of the ZenPGR research project. The research project is funded as part of the Federal Programme for Organic Farming and Other Forms of Sustainable Agriculture (Bundesprogramm Ökologischer Landbau und andere Formen nachhaltiger Landwirtschaft, BÖLN). The project organiser is the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung, BLE). Project duration is from 01.12.2017 to 30.11.2022.

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