C.L. Smith Seed Bank

C.L. Smith Seedbank

In 2016, I founded SOPI — Seeds for Preservation Independence — along with the Sacred Eagle Seedhouse. Both were early expressions of the work I felt called to do: preserving memory through seed. As life shifted, those projects were closed.

Today, I am honored to bring that mission forward again by resurrecting the C.L. Smith Seedbank, named in memory of my grandmother, Carol Louise Smith.

My grandmother was an avid gardener who cared deeply for plants, flowers, and the rhythms of the land. She served as the keeper of my family’s corn — Hurst Reid Yellow Dent — a variety carried through our lineage since 1893. Her seed stewardship, done quietly and faithfully, shaped the foundation of the work I do now.

About the Collection

The C.L. Smith Seedbank currently holds:

• 1500+ landrace and heirloom corn varieties from across the world

• A significant number of tribal and community-preserved seedlines, including Cherokee, Shawnee, Iroquois, Lenape, Tuscarora, Seneca, Creek, Sac and Fox, Illiniwek, and others, are currently being documented with care

• A growing collection of squash, cowpeas, okra, melons, beans, flowers, tomatoes, and regionally-specific vegetable lines

This is a living seedbank, not a static archive. Varieties are grown out in rotation each year at our home location in the Kentucky/Tennessee region to renew vigor and maintain adaptation to the site.

Preservation Practices

• Newly acquired or donated varieties are grown the following season for evaluation and renewal

• Seeds are cycled every 1–3 years, depending on species

• Long-term storage is maintained at approximately 10°F (–12°C) in freezer conditions to preserve viability and prevent insect pressure

• Records and accession notes are continuously being updated and refined as we continue this work

Seedkeeping here is slow, relational, and rooted in respect for ancestors, for land, and for the communities who shaped and stewarded these varieties before us.

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    DONATIONS

How do Donations work? It's easy! Just provide your name and contact information, along with the seed variety name, history, and uses, to me, Stephen Smith, to pre-organize the addition. Once the info is submitted, the seeds will be assigned a unique C.L.Smith Seedbank Identification code and will be entered into our inventory and pre-database. The donor can request seed if they happen to lose it or ever need it. In general, this seed will be banked for almost anyone to access, but special permissions can be filed. 

Once inventory is raised, we may request the donor's approval to offer the variety for sale to help us raise funds for the seed bank and get it into more hands, ensuring it continues and is not further lost. The Seedbank is cold storage, below 20 degrees F, and is meant for long-term storage. However, our mission is to educate and get the seed into other hands because that is the best way to keep a variety going.

NO GM or GMO seed is permitted or will be provided to affiliates, individuals, or companies. Your seed is often your life, labor, and money. We respect this, and the seed is for seed banking and to ensure we do indeed have a better, more secure global food future after GMOs fail.

I, Divine Botanist, and the C.L. Smith Seedbank are happy to receive donations for our seed bank! We encourage anyone who believes they have unique, rare, or even common seeds to contact us and ensure they are preserved for future generations.

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