Bill McDorman

Bill McDorman is a native of Ketchum/Sun Valley, Idaho where he still resides. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Montana.

Bill has been lecturing about seeds and seed saving for 23 years at institutions including the University of Montana, University of Idaho, College of Southern Idaho, Brigham Young University-Idaho, University of Oregon and Antioch College. He recently debated the dangers of genetic engineering on Idaho Public Television with the CEO of Novartis, one the world's largest seed companies.

Bill is president of Seeds Trust, Inc. which he founded in 1984. High Altitude Seeds, one of Seeds Trust's mail order departments, remains the world's only mail-order seed company specializing in vegetable and wildflower seeds for high elevations. The current catalog lists seeds for more than 100 wildflowers, 25 native grasses as well as 200 vegetable varieties. The company is known for its Siberian tomato varieties and its drought-tolerant, native landscape focus. It is dedicated to genetic conservation, sells non-hybrid varieties and teaches seed saving.

Bill founded his local chapter of the Idaho Native Plant Society and helped establish The Sawtooth Botanical Garden. He published his first book in 1994 titled, "Basic Seed Saving", which contains seed saving information for 29 wildflowers and 18 vegetables.

Bill recently founded the International Seed Saving Institute which now ships seeds and seed saving information to projects in 15 countries.

Lectures

Feel The Need For Seed

Every garden and every landscape begins somewhere with a seed. Bill passionately explores our rich seed heritage beginning with the last ice age and continuing through WW II. He explains modern threats to our seed inheritance from the green revolution and the terminator gene. You will leave with a renewed appreciation for seeds, the magical living embryos that make modern life possible. You will understand better how to buy seeds and how the modern seed industry operates. You will gain the practical knowledge to begin saving your own seeds.

Basic Seed Saving

An introduction and systematic exploration of seed saving for the home garden and landscape. Bill will introduce basic seed saving terms and concepts and explore specific instructions for the major vegetable and flower families.

The New Reasonable Landscape

Bill has been involved in hundreds of native landscape projects over the last 20 years in the arid, mountain West. Using slides, stories and statistics, Bill will explain how to create what he calls the "new reasonable landscape", a beautiful landscape that minimizes the use of water, maintenance and chemicals.