Meet Ron Thuma, a Kansas maintenance worker who started with just a handful of family seeds in the 1970s; Decades later, he had shared more than 275 varieties

When Ron Thuma began saving seeds in the 1970s, little did he know that he would build one of the country’s best-known heirloom collections. Living in Hartford, Kansas, he simply wanted to preserve a few vegetable varieties that had been grown by his family for generations. That handful of family seeds marked the beginning of a lifelong interest in preserving heirloom vegetables.

Ron spent most of his career outside the commercial agricultural world. He served as maintenance supervisor at the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge for 36 years, where he ensured that equipment was working, facilities were in their best condition, and he helped conserve one of Kansas' most important ecosystems. Throughout that time, however, gardening also played a major role in his life. According to Seed Savers Exchange, Ron became an early Lifetime Member of the organization and helped share more than 275 seeds through it.

Expanding beyond the family collection

Ron was taught gardening by his father, who showed him the value of growing food at home and saving seeds from successful crops. As his father cultivated heirloom varieties, Ron learned more about the world of seeds and old gardening after joining John Withee’s Wanigan Associates, which is a national community that acts in the interest of preserving old garden beans. Through other collectors, Ron was introduced to dozens of varieties that were not available in seed catalogs.

The next significant change occurred when Ron read an article about Seed Savers Exchange in the Organic Gardening magazine. This organization helps individual gardeners exchange seeds and preserve family varieties. As it turned out, the ideas of the organization coincided with Ron’s approach to gardening.

Each year, he carefully selected, grew, harvested, and saved seeds before offering many through the Exchange. As more gardeners requested his varieties, his collection continued to grow. Over time, his annual listings reached hundreds of people, helping keep uncommon beans, peppers, tomatoes, peanuts, and other vegetables.

Preserving garden as well as records

Ron recognized the requirement for preserving seeds to be more complex than simply storing them. Every growing season became an opportunity to observe how each variety performed under changing weather conditions. He kept detailed notebooks recording planting dates, harvest times, yields, weather conditions, and the overall performance of each crop. At the end of every season, those working notes were transferred into permanent binders. Alongside them, Ron maintained thousands of handwritten index cards documenting the history, characteristics, and purity of individual varieties. These records helped him monitor changes from year to year while ensuring that each heirloom remained true to its original form. His son, Josh, also shared the same commitment. Together, the father and son took care of the gardens and the growing collection of records from each season.

Serving the community beyond the garden

Away from the garden, he spent decades serving his community in different roles. In addition to his work at the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge, he volunteered as a firefighter in Hartford, Kansas, for 35 years and later served as mayor for about 15 years. His commitment to public service earned him recognition from the U.S. Department of the Interior, which presented him with the 2009 Interior Environmental Achievement Award for establishing a successful recycling program at the wildlife refuge. After retirement, Ron's garden became one of Hartford's best-known landmarks. Many visited the garden simply to take a look at Ron’s well-tended vegetable rows.

Ron did not view his collection as something to keep for himself. Every variety he cultivated gave someone else the opportunity to continue growing it. Through the Seed Savers Exchange, he was able to distribute seeds that had been carefully propagated, and those varieties of the family could be preserved. Among the varieties, Ron’s favorites were the ‘Apple’ pepper, ‘Missouri Pink Love Apple’ tomato, ‘Henderson Bush’ lima bean, and ‘Ireland Creek Annie’ bean. Some had been handed down through families, while others had been discovered through fellow collectors. By continuing to grow and distribute them, Ron ensured they remained living plants instead of historical names recorded only in old catalogs.