Welcome

We are Cindy and Stephen Scott, owners of Terroir Seeds and the newly purchased Underwood Gardens. We have just returned from purchasing and transporting Underwood Gardens from Illinois to Arizona. What a road trip! There is a lot to do setting up for the 2009 growing season, but we wanted to introduce ourselves.

Cindy has her degree in greenhouse management, and has been the resident grower for the family for a long time. She has been collecting articles on soils, seed saving and general growing for over 10 years. Over the course of working for a nonprofit natural history center for over 6 years, she has gained many skills and talents that will be put to good use here! She developed a Grow Native! Plant Sale and Educational Festival that educates gardeners in the Central Arizona Highlands, that is now in its fourth year.

Stephen has a business background, from management of a nationally known rental car agency to warranty administrator for a local car dealership. He is an acknowledged chili-head who loves the hotter side of things and loves to cook. The appeal of the garden and growing is to supply the freshest ingredients for the meals! He has a large interest in self sustainability- being able to do and produce most of what one needs. They are finishing building a greenhouse from recycled materials. The greenhouse will provide a source of year round produce as well as serve as the starting beds for the plants that will be grown in the garden.

Underwood Gardens was founded by Maryann "Mayo" Underwood and her daughter Maren Oslac in 1993 as a family-owned and operated organic seed company specializing in rare and endangered, open-pollinated / heirloom seeds for vegetables, herbs, flowers and "curiosities." We've been growing and saving seed for a long time! As hybrid and genetically modified seeds take over the marketplace and our gardens, we may enjoy a few benefits such as a new color or improved, short-run disease resistance, supposedly improvements on the original plant. But to "improve" a plant in one way usually requires the subtraction of an original characteristic. Generally hybridized versions sacrifice fragrance in flowers, flavor in vegetables, and potency in herbs.

We don't agree with this trade-off! In many cases the original varieties were far superior in looks, flavor and long-term disease resistance.

More benefits of the heirloom plant community are the diversity, the wonderful variations in color, shape, size and most importantly- TASTE! A lot of gardeners that try heirloom seeds find that the taste is the most compelling reason to continue and expand their plantings. They are amazed to find that different tomato varieties actually taste different, unlike the seedlings that they have gotten in the past. This opens up a new world of gardening- one of planting for the kitchen, and planning menus around the garden. This is one of the focal points that we want to develop- the synergy and symbiosis of the garden and kitchen, no matter the size of either. A small window box planting can greatly improve the flavor of the food with fresh herbs and a vegetable or two. As the size of the garden increases, the opportunities to be more creative also expand exponentially! We will be delving into this and more on the website and blog that is being developed.

Another focal point is the soil that everything is grown in. We see that the symbiosis of the best seeds and the best soil will result in the best produce- whether vegetable, herb or flower. One part of the equation is the seed. This has been addressed with the heirloom, open pollinated and organic stock that we use and sell. The other part of the equation is the soil. Once we start growing or building the soil, then magic can REALLY happen! By improving the quality and health of the soil, we improve the quality and health of everything that follows. We find that the produce has higher nutrient content, thus improving our own health and well being. This starts a circle of improvements that branch outward in many areas. We will also look at this more in depth in the website and blog.

We will produce a catalog for 2009. We are doing inventory and hope to mail the new catalog around the first of December. Please let us know your ideas, questions or concerns, as you are an integral part of this company!