Post by macmex on Jun 22, 2021 20:04:42 GMT
Sandhill Preservation Center is the best source for rare varieties of sweet potato. I've known Glenn Drowns since about 1984 and his wife, Linda, since shortly after they got married, which I think was sometime in the late 80s. Together they run Sandhill Preservation Center which is both a seed company and a hatchery of heritage poultry. It's both a business and a mission for preservation (for lack of a better phrase). By that I mean that they strive to make it profitable but they run the "business" for the primary reason of preservation. The main business of Sandhill Preservation Center is to disseminate seeds, plants and poultry which would probably otherwise fade into oblivion.
Glenn might deny it, but he is one of the most organized people I know. One might not notice how organized he is, because he has been doing then nearly impossible for decades, working full time in education, running a hatchery, running a seed company and being both a husband and father. Because of the immensity of these tasks Glenn is seldom available to speak or correspond with those who would wish to do so. Linda has been a huge help, fielding questions and filtering requests.
An example:
In about 15 years ago our family was moving to Oklahoma. I wanted to grow corn for cornmeal in our new location and I knew that it could be really windy. So I called and chatted with Linda. I explained what I needed and what I would prefer in a corn. Linda asked a few questions (Including "How's your family?) and then told me that it might take a few days, but she'd get the inquiry to Glenn and get back to me. Within a week I had the answer I desired. It took that long, not because Glenn didn't care, but because he needed that much time to find the time to actually sit down and consider the question! Link discussing the outcome of my inquiry.
Disadvantages to dealing with Sandhill Preservation Center:
1. They take neither on-line nor credit card payments.
2. Sometimes (not always) orders may be delayed in being filled.
3. With poultry, it's often not possible to simply order 25 of a given breed. Some of their breeds are so rare, and so little in demand, that they cannot afford to maintain a large enough flock to just pop off orders of that size. One time, when launching into a rare breed I had to get a couple of shipments from them, each with "filler chicks" which seriously tempted me NOT TO FOCUS on the rare breed I intended to raise!
4. Sandhill Preservation Center is in Iowa, where the weather warms up later than many who want slips prefer. I repeated hear complaints that folk cannot get slips from them at the time they wish to plant. This cannot be helped. The Drowns do all they can, even starting slips in a heated greenhouse. But Calamus, Iowa can be downright frigid at times, in the spring.
Advantages to dealing with Sandhill Preservation Center:
1. When you do, you are supporting a business whose primary purpose is preservation.
2. When you purchase from Sandhill Preservation you just might be supporting the continuing existence of a rare breed or variety of food crop. Literally, Glenn and Linda never willingly drop a variety, even if it isn't profitable and even if no one orders it for years at a time.
3. Through Sandhill Preservation Center it is possible to obtain varieties of seed, sweet potatoes and poultry that literally are not available ANYWHERE else. In light of this, I usually think of a purchase from them more as a "start" of a seed stock or of a breed of poultry.
4. I know of no other source for such tremendous diversity in sweet potato varieties. Sandhill is it. Duck Creek Farms used to be about as complete, and worked in tandem with Sandhill Preservation Center, but they no longer deal in sweet potatoes.
In regard to Sandhill Preservation Center as a source of sweet potatoes. I would encourage everyone to support their efforts. If they can't get you slips in time for your desired planting, consider getting some to grow your own "seed stock" for the coming year. I've done this a number of times and it works quite well. Be THANKFUL there is a Sandhill Preservation Center!
Additional comments are welcome.
Glenn might deny it, but he is one of the most organized people I know. One might not notice how organized he is, because he has been doing then nearly impossible for decades, working full time in education, running a hatchery, running a seed company and being both a husband and father. Because of the immensity of these tasks Glenn is seldom available to speak or correspond with those who would wish to do so. Linda has been a huge help, fielding questions and filtering requests.
An example:
In about 15 years ago our family was moving to Oklahoma. I wanted to grow corn for cornmeal in our new location and I knew that it could be really windy. So I called and chatted with Linda. I explained what I needed and what I would prefer in a corn. Linda asked a few questions (Including "How's your family?) and then told me that it might take a few days, but she'd get the inquiry to Glenn and get back to me. Within a week I had the answer I desired. It took that long, not because Glenn didn't care, but because he needed that much time to find the time to actually sit down and consider the question! Link discussing the outcome of my inquiry.
Disadvantages to dealing with Sandhill Preservation Center:
1. They take neither on-line nor credit card payments.
2. Sometimes (not always) orders may be delayed in being filled.
3. With poultry, it's often not possible to simply order 25 of a given breed. Some of their breeds are so rare, and so little in demand, that they cannot afford to maintain a large enough flock to just pop off orders of that size. One time, when launching into a rare breed I had to get a couple of shipments from them, each with "filler chicks" which seriously tempted me NOT TO FOCUS on the rare breed I intended to raise!
4. Sandhill Preservation Center is in Iowa, where the weather warms up later than many who want slips prefer. I repeated hear complaints that folk cannot get slips from them at the time they wish to plant. This cannot be helped. The Drowns do all they can, even starting slips in a heated greenhouse. But Calamus, Iowa can be downright frigid at times, in the spring.
Advantages to dealing with Sandhill Preservation Center:
1. When you do, you are supporting a business whose primary purpose is preservation.
2. When you purchase from Sandhill Preservation you just might be supporting the continuing existence of a rare breed or variety of food crop. Literally, Glenn and Linda never willingly drop a variety, even if it isn't profitable and even if no one orders it for years at a time.
3. Through Sandhill Preservation Center it is possible to obtain varieties of seed, sweet potatoes and poultry that literally are not available ANYWHERE else. In light of this, I usually think of a purchase from them more as a "start" of a seed stock or of a breed of poultry.
4. I know of no other source for such tremendous diversity in sweet potato varieties. Sandhill is it. Duck Creek Farms used to be about as complete, and worked in tandem with Sandhill Preservation Center, but they no longer deal in sweet potatoes.
In regard to Sandhill Preservation Center as a source of sweet potatoes. I would encourage everyone to support their efforts. If they can't get you slips in time for your desired planting, consider getting some to grow your own "seed stock" for the coming year. I've done this a number of times and it works quite well. Be THANKFUL there is a Sandhill Preservation Center!
Additional comments are welcome.