Forgotten Vegetables, Modern Superfoods & Seed Saving

Senior Happy Hour — Treats, Topics & Activities

Thursday, September 24, 2026 • 12:00–1:30 p.m.
The Urbana Free Library — Lewis Auditorium

Explore old-fashioned vegetables, surprising modern superfoods, and tomato seed saving. Fresh tomatoes + pre-fermented seeds will be part of today’s hands-on activity, plus sign-up for free Mather garden and hydroponic kits.

Forgotten Vegetables

Skirret • Salsify • Good King Henry • Sea kale • Orach • Cardoon • Rampion • Scorzonera • Lovage • Jerusalem artichoke • Mangels

Older crops were often chosen for hardiness, storage, unusual flavors, edible greens or roots, and perennial growth.

Explore: 20 Forgotten Vegetables • 15 Forgotten Vegetables • 17 Forgotten Vegetables

Edible “Weeds”

Purslane • Lamb’s quarters • Dandelion • Chickweed • Plantain • Amaranth • Violet • Red clover

Some garden volunteers are edible greens and herbs. 10 Common Weeds That Are Actually Expensive Superfoods • Old Farmer’s Almanac

Safety: Never eat a wild plant unless you are certain of its identification and that it is safe to eat.

Modern Superfoods: Examples

Purple tomato: High in anthocyanins. In a 2008 pilot study, cancer-prone mice fed 10% freeze-dried purple tomato lived about 28–30% longer on average than standard-diet mice, with delayed cancer progression. Animal study; human benefit unknown.
Purple potatoes: Anthocyanins throughout the flesh; one small human study found reduced arterial stiffness after two weeks.
Broccoli sprouts: Easy to grow indoors in days; rich in glucoraphanin/sulforaphane precursors. Human research is still developing.

Save Your Own Tomato Seeds

  1. Use seeds from a fully ripe tomato.
  2. Ferment seeds + gel for a few days.
  3. Rinse away gel and debris.
  4. Dry completely.
  5. Label and store cool and dry.

Today: fresh tomatoes + pre-fermented seeds.

More Modern Superfoods

Black currants: Dark berries rich in anthocyanins and vitamin C; perennial and suitable for Central Illinois.
Aronia (chokeberry): Hardy perennial shrub with dark, nutritious berries; tart and astringent.
Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes: Bred for high beta-carotene; human trials show improved vitamin A status. An example of biofortification.
Black rice: Anthocyanin-rich dark grain; early human studies are exploring cardiometabolic and cognitive effects.

Free Mather Garden Kits

Grow-It-Together (G.I.T.) Garden Kits are free for Illinois residents age 55+.

Sign up: mather.com/gardensignup
Refresh Kits: programs.mather.com/refresh-kits
Videos & instructions: mather.com/git-resources

More Resources

Purple tomato: Norfolk Healthy Produce • WIRED

Seed saving & biodiversity: Farmer’s Footprint

Full Resource Page

QR code for https://zguru.us/ul
zguru.us/ul
Scan for expandable research notes, videos, growing information, and links from today’s program.
Take-home idea: Grow something unusual. Eat something colorful. Save a seed.