It’s that time of year to get seeds if you haven’t already done so. For self sufficient gardeners there are several important points to keep in mind. First, the issue of GMO vs. Non GMO. While some are singing the praises of GMO, even from an environmental point of view – others are raising a warning as to some potentially serious problems. These include health hazards. Even though some think GMOs are great because in some cases, they preclude the need for pesticides (because they have pesticides “built in”), there have been reports of adverse skin reactions to handling some GMO corn. While this is only one example, many, including this author, believe that there are numerous health problems related to this technology.
Unfortunately, this subject has been presented in an “either – or” way. In other words, it is made to appear that we have a choice to either use pesticides, or go GMO. This approach falls short as there is another alternative – namely the use of harmless yet effective methods of pest control. We’ll look more at that in a future post. For now, let’s look at another important factor when considering seed selection.
While many popular garden varieties come from hybridized seeds, benefits of hybridization must be weighed against the disadvantages in terms of self sufficient farming. The seeds of hybridized varities are, of course, not viable for reproduction, which for practical purposes makes the farmer dependent upon a seed supplier.
So if we’re looking for non-hybridized and non-GMO seeds, where do we turn? A great source book to find such seeds is the Garden Seed Inventory. This volume also helps the gardener identify seeds which are especially suited for specific climate zones. The Garden Seed Inventory is put out by Seed Savers Exchange, a nonprofit organization committed to saving heirloom garden seeds from extinction. The organization was founded in 1975 by Kent and Diane Whealy, and now has nearly 8,000 members around the world. Its headquarters are at Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa.
Tags: self sufficient living
Thank you for your cogent and thoughtful article about seed resources. In addition to the book you recommend I want to suggest an online seed directory that may be useful to some readers. The Organic Seeds Directory contains many sources of good quality seedsman and can be found here:
http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/organic_seeds.htm