YORKTON — On a quiet rural property just outside Yorkton, Warren Crossman is cultivating more than a garden; he’s growing a living collection of food history.
This year alone, Crossman has planted 62 varieties of potatoes and 35 types of beans, many of them heirloom or hard-to-find varieties gathered over years of careful searching and seed sharing.
“I do it partly just for the fun,” Crossman said with a laugh. “But I also like the stories that go with them, where they’re from, how they got here, and to help protect the diversity.”
Despite a late start to the growing season due to weather, Crossman said his potatoes, planted June 1, are beginning to emerge and should mature if conditions remain favourable.
Across his garden beds, each variety is carefully labelled, with three plants per type, about 220 hills in total. He tends them largely by hand.
“When people ask what kind of equipment I use, I tell them, ‘a shovel,’” he said.
A garden rooted in history
Crossman’s collection includes well-known varieties such as Yukon Gold and russets, alongside rare and unusual potatoes with unique characteristics, including one he simply calls “Ukrainian.”
“It came from someone who immigrated many years ago, and it’s unlike anything else I’ve seen,” he said. “In the spring, it has variegated leaves, so you can actually spot it in a field right away.”
Many of the varieties also carry multiple names, depending on where and how they were grown, something Crossman has come to appreciate through years of research and trial.
“Sometimes the same potato has different names, or different potatoes end up with very similar names,” he said. “There’s a lot of history, and sometimes confusion, built into them.”
Beans, too, and plenty of them
While potatoes may take centre stage, beans are a close second in Crossman’s garden.
“I’ve got beans, beans, beans,” he said.
From pole beans climbing several feet high to compact bush beans, his collection includes a wide range of shapes, sizes and colours. One of the most unusual is a tiny variety called “Little White Rice,” prized for its exceptionally small size.
As with his potatoes, Crossman grows beans from a mix of sources, sometimes discovering that seeds shared under different names may in fact be the same plant.
From garden to table
Much of the harvest ends up in the kitchen, where Crossman’s wife, Kathy, experiments with different ways to prepare the produce.
“She likes to try different things,” he said. “She’s always cooking something.”
Kathy Crossman shared one of her go-to dishes, a three-bean salad made with a mix of dried beans, fresh herbs and a simple vinaigrette. Like many of their meals, it highlights the flavour and variety grown right outside their door.
The Crossmans shared their recipe for the dish:
THREE-BEAN SALAD
Preparation: All dried beans should be soaked overnight in water to help them cook faster. Boil until soft before using. Beans can also be frozen after boiling for later use.
Ingredients:
- 15 oz Great Northern white dry beans or cannellini beans
- 15 oz Appaloosa dry beans or other kidney beans
- 15 oz garbanzo beans
- ½ red onion, finely chopped and soaked in water to reduce sharpness
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped, about 1 cup
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar, adjusted to taste
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Method:
In a large bowl, combine the beans, celery, drained onion, parsley and rosemary.
In a separate bowl, whisk together vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Pour dressing over the bean mixture and toss to coat.
Refrigerate for several hours to allow flavours to develop.
The couple largely cook their harvest fresh rather than preserving it, though surplus potatoes are often shared with others in the community.
“In some years, I’ve given potatoes to 30-plus families,” Crossman said. “There’s always more than we can use.”
Growing into a passion
Crossman’s extensive garden didn’t happen overnight. After moving to the area in 2008, he started with a typical backyard garden before gradually expanding.
“Every year, I’d find something new and just add to it,” he said. “Sometimes I’d ask people if they had a variety I didn’t have and if they could spare a seed potato.”
That steady growth has now reached what he calls his practical limit.
“Sixty-two varieties is probably my max,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, planting, hilling, weeding and storing everything.”
Even so, he remains passionate about the process, describing gardening as both labour and therapy.
“It’s good therapy,” he said. “But it’s also a job forever.”
Sharing knowledge and food
Beyond his own garden, Crossman is an active volunteer in Yorkton, including helping manage a community garden, organizing seed-sharing events and supporting newcomers preparing for Canadian citizenship.
He also encourages new gardeners to start simple.
“Potatoes are a great place to begin,” he said. “They’re productive and versatile.”
For beginners, he recommends familiar varieties such as Norland, Yukon Gold and russets, along with easy-to-grow beans.
A growing legacy
For Crossman, gardening is about more than just food. It’s about preserving biodiversity, sharing with others, and maintaining connections to history, community and even family.
Among his plants is a patch of McDonald seedless rhubarb, grown in memory of his mother.
“That’s one I keep for sentimental reasons,” he said. “She used to grow it, so I grow it too.”
