Organic Seed Alliance

Putting the power of seed into the hands of growers

Seed Stories ·

Palestine Heirloom Seed Library Update

In collaboration with Jen Williams of Wild Dreams Farm and participants of the 2025 Organic Seed Growers Conference, the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library (PHSL) has completed a collective harvest of banadura baladiyya (Palestinian heirloom tomato). These big, beautiful, pink-hued tomatoes have ancestry in the Beit Omar/Hebron region of the West Bank. As a Ba’al (rain-fed) variety, they are traditionally not irrigated in Palestine; instead, they are seeded in March and later transplanted into a 10-12 inch hole filled with water. The soil around each plant is covered with hay or dry grass, not to be watered for the remainder of the season.

In Washington, at Wild Dreams Farm, the plants were grown in a high tunnel, pruned and trellised. This planting was carried out in remembrance—honoring lives lost in Palestine and within our wider seed community. The seeds from this harvest will continue to be shared through PHSL and its partners, carrying forward a living legacy of resilience and care.

The PHSL Seed Protector Project is also expanding its vital work this year. With the goal of safeguarding Palestinian heirlooms beyond their homelands for the Palestinian diaspora—and with the hope of one day returning them home—the project is stewarding 35 varieties across 37 farms in the United States. These efforts are part of a growing international network committed to protecting and sharing these irreplaceable seeds for future generations.

A headshot of Vivien Sansour, the founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library and a 2025 Organic Seed Growers Conference Keynote Speaker. She is wearing a black lace-patterned dress and large, beaded earrings, and is holding a necklace with a round pendant. The background is a park with blurry trees and people. The photo was taken by Matthew Stover of Delta Creative Agency.
Vivien Sansour, Palestine Heirloom Seed Library Founder and 2025 Organic Seed Growers Conference Keynote Speaker. (Photo by Matthew Stover of Delta Creative Agency)
  • A wide, elevated view of an indoor event space with a tiled floor. A group of people are gathered around a table with a white tablecloth, where two people are exchanging seeds in yellow paper seed packets. Another person with short, dark hair is on the right, looking at the exchange. In the background, other attendees are mingling.
  • A group of four people standing together and smiling in front of a brick building. From left to right: a man with gray hair and a blue shirt, a woman with graying hair in a light-colored shirt, a young woman with a long dark ponytail in a black shirt, and a man with a beard and glasses wearing a patterned vest. They are all holding small paper cups.
  • A group of people standing around a white table at an indoor event. A person in a yellow sweater is on the left, looking down at the table. A person with a headband and a young woman with long blonde hair stand behind them. The person on the right, wearing a black shirt, is seated at the table, helping attendees.

Palestine Heirloom Seed Library and Wild Dreams Seeds collectively planting Banadura baladiyya (Palestinian heirloom tomato) with attendees during the Organic Seed Growers Conference 2025 as part of Vivien Sansour’s Keynote Address.

  • A top-down view of a white plastic bucket filled with a red, pulpy mixture of tomato seeds, skins, and pulp. The bucket is sitting on a white table under bright sunlight.
  • An overhead view of a black crate filled with red and orange tomatoes on a field of dry grass and straw. The tomatoes are Banadura baladiyya, a Palestinian heirloom variety. There are a few green plants visible, as well as a black irrigation pipe running along the ground. A person's feet in green boots and blue jeans are in the foreground, near the crate.

Wild dreams bearing fruit: banadura baladiyya grown to maturity on Wild Dreams Farm.

  • Two large stainless steel pots filled to the top with chopped tomatoes.

Cooking Palestinian tomato stew during the harvest from a recipe provided by PHSL team members in Palestine.

Learn more: https://www.palestineheirloomseedlibrary.com/

Written in collaboration with our partners at the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library (PHSL) 

Aba Kiser

Organic Seed Alliance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. EIN 51-0175667.

© 2026 Organic Seed Alliance. All Rights Reserved.

Privacy Policy

Charitable Disclosure