Celebrating Genetic Diversity in Plants

---

All of us are familiar with the idea of growing our vegetables from seed each year, yet few of us ever think to do so with trees and perennials.  

Nearly every tree, shrub, and tuberous plant you purchase from the store is propagated by grafting, cutting, or some method of cloning, making it genetically identical to the parent plant.  This is excellent for preserving the desired traits of the original, but it comes at the cost of decreased disease resistance and adaptability, loss of unique traits, and more.

Every one of the varietals now commercially available was once a chance seedling that has been continuously cloned to keep it in existence…putting a pause on that plant’s ability to adapt over time.  This is one of the many reasons that Blue Ridge Farm chooses to propagate nearly all of our nursery plants from seed.  We believe that maintaining genetic diversity helps us breed better, healthier, and more adaptable plants that are well-suited to grow in our northern region.

The genetics of fig trees are about as diverse and complex as apples, but that hasn't stopped us from experimenting!  

Our seeds come from controlled crosses between specific female varietals and persistent male figs.  Even so, the odds of actually producing a seedling that will grow up and make tasty figs is extremely low (around 25%).  

We are currently in the process of growing out the first few batches of seedlings and are excited to see what (if anything) they produce in the coming years as they reach fruiting age.

We specialize in growing northern-adapted Appalachian heirlooms such as the Candy Roaster Squash.  Recently, an accidental cross-pollination led to the discovery of exciting new characteristics in this varietal.  The resulting plants produced squash in excess of 40 lbs, with unique shapes and delicious flesh.

We have been working to select and stabilize this new type, breeding for size, quick maturity, sweet flavor, and a silky texture that remains true to the original North Georgia Candy Roaster.

These "Chocolate" peppers were supposedly once used by the Mayans to flavor their traditional chocolate drink, and we have found that this pepper does indeed pair itself beautifully with cocoa.  It has a truly unique fruity-floral flavor and a heat that is hot enough to burn the lips but still leaves you wanting to say, “Please, Sir, I’d like some more.”

We obtained seeds of this pepper from the USDA Seed Bank and are currently working to create a more northern-adapted landrace, selecting for the traits of early maturity, flavor, size, and disease resistance.

We have been experimenting with these peppers in the kitchen, and have found they add a deliciously spicy note to baked goods.

In 2025, we began growing a gorgeous open-pollinated purple dent corn.  This corn was part of a 10-year breeding project by Kevin Bane to create a South American corn that could be grown in North America’s much shorter season, and we are continuing to refine and select for even earlier maturity.

What makes this corn truly unique and important is that it retains its original aerial root system complete with nitrogen-fixing “goo” - traits that have been bred out of our more modern corn varietals.  In many ways, it is deeply ironic that our society has bred out corn’s ability to fix nitrogen in favor of inundating it with outside chemical fertilizers that end up in our waterways instead.