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Gardens for the Future, by JLM
There are many reasons to make open pollinated ["heirloom variety"]
seeds an integral part of your gardening experience and food storage.
If
seeds
are
collected
from F1 hybrids, the plants grown from those seeds will generally not
have the characteristics that you desired in the parent plant. Open
pollinated seeds allow the gardener the option of saving seed and growing
the plants you like, year after year. In the April 1991 issue of National
Geographic, in an article titled, “World Food Supply at Risk”,
the authors point out past failures of agriculture being based on only
a few varieties. Such disasters include the 1970 corn blight that destroyed
much of the US crop and the potato famine that killed over 1 million
in Ireland. Such disasters are not new. The article also states that
there is evidence that a blight destroyed much of the maize crop around
900 AD and probably caused the collapse of the Mayan civilization.
I would recommend a trip to the library since the article is a good,
sobering and interesting read, as is the October 1998 National Geographic
on population and feeding the planet. Several organizations, such
as The Seed Savers Exchange, have been established for education and
as sources for open-pollinated seed. I find it a bit of a chuckle that
many people put such an emphasis of a year’s supply of food,
but do not store usable seed, canning supplies and the like. What if,
for hypothetical example, a flu pandemic in the US occurred and the
duration was more than a few months? What if there was a new disease
outbreak in our food crops, for example a new fungus attacked our wheat
supply in a wet year? The trouble with genetically identical (hybrid)
crops is that they would all be at risk. That is the primary risk one
runs with most of your caloric food base being dependent on one or
two grain or starch crops.
The US used to be ready for such a crisis, but not anymore.
From
WorldNetDaily
From Jeff Rense
When one thinks of the recent ‘mad cow’ concerns here in
the United States, one realizes that even today, agricultural disasters
can still happen as is illustrated by this
short article from the Seeds
Trust web
site.
The current trend of some large agricultural conglomerates is to develop
hybrid/biotech seeds that will not germinate when collected seed is
replanted, or have the plant ‘self-destruct’. This technology
now has several patents. For a look at the ‘terminator gene’ being
developed for use in several crops, such as cotton, see the
article from University of Indiana on the Terminator Gene.
It is easy for me to see both sides here. If the company spends millions
of dollars to develop a new, higher yielding strain; they will want
to protect that research at least until the money is recovered with
some as profit. The trouble is illustrated by that oil rapeseed farmer
in Canada (Percy Schmeiser) whose fields were planted with his own
stuff and then his fields were contaminated with the genetically modified
rapeseed. Even though he never planted the stuff, he found himself
in court. The company (Monsanto) sued him (successfully!) when their
gene was found in his crops, Even though he grew his own seed and his
was contaminated. Shows a break down of common sense in the judiciary,
which is no big surprise. The other problem is that by having terminator
seeds, it allows direct corporate control of farmers by a corporation
or government. In other words, they control what you can grow to insure ‘customer
loyalty’.
For more on Percy Schmeiser see:
Percyschmeiser.com/
Sierraclub.ca
Currently only a handful of companies control most of the US seed and
nursery market.
A recent Countryside
and Small Stock Journal article titled “Do
you know where your seeds come from? You may be surprised…. The
Gardening Game”. The article highlights this consolidation [of
seed vendors] in the US market place.
Sources of open pollinated/heirloom seeds:
http://www.seedstrust.com/
http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://www.seedsave.org/
http://www.rareseeds.com/
http://www.victoryseeds.com/
http://www.bountifulgardens.org/
http://www.abundantlifeseed.org/
http://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/
JWR Adds: A wide assortment of heirloom seeds
are also available from The
Ark Institute
Unique/heirloom plants and nursery stock:
http://www.treesofantiquity.com/
http://www.onegreenworld.com
http://www.raintreenursery.com
An Internet search for heirloom seed or open-pollinated seed will turn
up many more sources.
Basic "how to" instructions for saving seeds:
http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://www.seedsave.org/
Several books on saving seeds, including:
Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
by Suzanne Ashworth
Seed Sowing and Saving: Step-By-Step Techniques for Collecting and
Growing More Than 100 Vegetables, Flowers, and Herbs (Storey's Gardening
Skills Illustrated) -- by Carole B. Turner
Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener's & Farmer's Guide
to Plant Breeding & Seed Saving -- by Carol Deppe
Saving Seeds: The Gardener's Guide to Growing and Storing Vegetable
and Flower Seeds -- by Marc Rogers, et al
Books on gardening and edible landscape design:
“
How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method”, Rodale
Press, out of print, but easy to find at used bookstores or e-bay.
How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and
Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can
Imagine by John Jeavons (Paperback - Mar 2002)
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison and Slay Reney-Mia
Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway
and John Todd
Greenhouse Gardener's Companion: Growing Food and Flowers in Your Greenhouse
or Sunspace by Shane Smith and Marjorie C. Leggitt
Designing And Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally by Rosalind
Creasy (Foreword), et al.
http://www.foodforeveryone.org/
http://www.gardensimply.com/
http://www.carryongardening.org.uk/
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/perma.html
http://www.permacultureactivist.net/
http://www.foodnotlawns.com/
http://www.cwo.com/~bart/perm_links.htm
http://www.sherrysgreenhouse.com/
Also refer to the extension service of your state university.
The some articles on plant disease threats:
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050924/food.asp
Dangerous Wheat Disease Jumps Red Sea.
http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=108
VOA News
Then you add into the fray the mess politics can make of crops and
farm policies. Worst case:
From The Christian Science Monitor
From
The Daily Telegraph
