Post by alkapuler on Feb 22, 2009 14:53:27 GMT -5
This is dedicated to a great seedsman and wonderful person Curtis Showell of Bishopville MD who died at the beginning of 2008 at age 54. He was an extraordinary man, an indefatigable seedsman and remarkable collector of cucurbit seeds with extensive knowledge and interest in watermelons, cantaloupes, and squash.
We collaborated for more than two decades and spoke on the phone hundreds of
times, discussing cultivars, techniques and the ironies of the SSE. He was well
known and highly respected in Europe and Australia, virtually unknown in this
country. He was the seedsman for several east coast native Amerindian tribes
and sent me hundreds of accessions, most wrapped in the cellophane of old
cigarette packs. So for the past several years I sent him boxes of 500 #5 manila
coin envelopes so he could distribute seeds. After sending him a box in
December 2007, he sent me a packet of C. maxima Hopi While Jack O’Lantern
No. 2 Strain on the back of which he wrote “This is my way to say Thank You!”
Some of the recent seeds he sent me were Watermelon-Cream of Saskatchewan,
Watermelon Early Klondike, Watermelon-Showell Ice Box, Melon-Small Persian,
Melon-Kosarga, Melon-Charkovskaja, Grapes-Heirloom Delaware Red.
The last two packets of seeds he sent me before he died were Muskmelon-Showell Maryland and Watermelon Orange Flesh- Showell Southern Sweet.
He was a great man and unsung genius of the seed saving tradition. I will
dearly miss his 11 PM phone calls, his unique dialectic slang and the kind
intonation of his voice.
We collaborated for more than two decades and spoke on the phone hundreds of
times, discussing cultivars, techniques and the ironies of the SSE. He was well
known and highly respected in Europe and Australia, virtually unknown in this
country. He was the seedsman for several east coast native Amerindian tribes
and sent me hundreds of accessions, most wrapped in the cellophane of old
cigarette packs. So for the past several years I sent him boxes of 500 #5 manila
coin envelopes so he could distribute seeds. After sending him a box in
December 2007, he sent me a packet of C. maxima Hopi While Jack O’Lantern
No. 2 Strain on the back of which he wrote “This is my way to say Thank You!”
Some of the recent seeds he sent me were Watermelon-Cream of Saskatchewan,
Watermelon Early Klondike, Watermelon-Showell Ice Box, Melon-Small Persian,
Melon-Kosarga, Melon-Charkovskaja, Grapes-Heirloom Delaware Red.
The last two packets of seeds he sent me before he died were Muskmelon-Showell Maryland and Watermelon Orange Flesh- Showell Southern Sweet.
He was a great man and unsung genius of the seed saving tradition. I will
dearly miss his 11 PM phone calls, his unique dialectic slang and the kind
intonation of his voice.
