Diane Ott Whealy is the Co-founder and Vice President of Education of the Seed Savers Exchange (SSE), a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1975. SSE is a grassroots network of about 10,000 gardeners, orchardists, chefs and plant collectors who maintain and distribute heirloom varieties of vegetables, fruits, grains, flowers and herbs. In 1986 Diane helped to develop Heritage Farm, SSE’s scenic 900-acre headquarters near Decorah, IA. Heritage Farm is a unique educational center designed to maintain and display collections of endangered food crops. SSE has more than 24,000 rare vegetables varieties in their collection that is maintained at Heritage Farm. Diane has also founded the Flower and Herb Exchange where members offer more than 2,000 heirloom flowers and herbs. Each summer, a portion of the collection is grown in the certified organic preservation gardens for seed renewal for SSE’s seed bank. For the past fifteen years, Diane has designed, planted and interpreted large decorative gardens that surround the barn at Heritage Farm