Hybrid Seeds, or Heirloom Seeds?

If you're thinking about planting a garden, the winter months are the time to get started planning, plotting, ordering seeds. Browse through some catalogs or look online for ideas.  One question ask is whether you want to use hybrid seeds or non-hybrid/heirloom seeds?

Hybrid seeds are created by artificially cross-pollinating two plants to create an improved plant. Perhaps one that has greater resistance to disease, or tolerates drought. However, a major drawback is that you cannot "save" seeds from hybrid plants because they don't reproduce reliably. Instead, you have to buy new hybrid seeds every year. And, hybrid seed plants often need special fertilizers and chemical pesticides in order to flourish. One other reason I don't prefer hybrids is that due to the time it takes to create a reliable hybrid seed, there aren't that many varieties of each type of plant available, so your gardening choices are limited.

Heirloom seeds, on the other hand, can be saved from year to year, allowing you to save money and also invest yourself more deeply into your gardening. Heirloom seeds tend to adapt to their environments as well - learning to fight off pests, or withstand a drier climate, and so on - they tend to be hardier. Also, heirloom seeds come in lovely varieties, so the choices of colors, sizes, and flavors of your flowers and vegetables is nearly endless. Heirloom seeds can make experimenting in your garden much more fun!

We'll talk more about the benefits of heirloom seeds, and how they can be organically gardened as we go throughout the year.

Want to be a Gardener? Think Again!

The latest government control plan is to take over your home garden, roadside farm stands, and small farms that grow heirloom crops.

Read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life written by Barbara Kingsolver, her daughter & husband. Not only is this book entertaining, educational, and insightful, including many fine recipes and tips on gardening, but it also shares with the reader how the big three giant seed conglomerates like Monsanto have destroyed the vegetable/seed industry with modified seeds, and have created virtually a triangular “tri-opoly” in the farming business! The food grown from these seeds is poor quality, lacks proper nutrition, contains byproducts & chemicals that are harmful to humans and animals, even some people are ALLERGIC to them –

THINK: Why do you think there’s a commercial campaign out right now to make High Fructose Corn Syrup seem “okay”? Because with all the corn that farmers have to grow (b/c it’s one of just a few government subsidized crops!), there’s more corn than the market demands, meaning farmers have to turn it into SOME marketable product, and VOILA: High Fructose Corn Syrup!

THINK: Is it any coincidence that we’re noticing so many more people with Celiac disease and other food allergy diseases in the past decade? This could be the result of growing up eating foods made primarily with these modified seed/plant products.

Now, the government wants to control your backyard garden, farm stands, and small farms! Don't be fooled - they are pushing through this bill quietly while everyone is distracted by what is happening on the international stage. All you have to do is look at who is behind this bill (and who their spouse is - oh, he's the head of Monsanto! How surprising!) to see the deception! Read the following articles to find out more.

ARTICLES:
Monsanto's Dream Bill Op Ed News March 9, 2009"Congressional Bill HR 875 - introduced by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto. The bill is essentially a giant gift package for Monsanto, mandating the criminalization of seed banking, prison terms and confiscatory fines for small farmers and 24 hour GPS tracking of their animals, and of "industrial" standards to independent farms...." (click article title to read more)

Cryptogon March 9, 2009 - Say Hello to H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 - a Step-by-Step Breakdown of the bill.

Campaign for Liberty March 6, 2008 - Explanations of various parts of the bill and actions you can take.

Please - This could be the last year you enjoy a fresh, juicy, nutritious tomato out of your own garden or from a local farm stand! Save our Seeds! Take action today!

Things you can do (Source: Campaign for Liberty March 6, 2008)

1. Contact your members at 202-224-3121 and ask them to oppose HR 875 and S 425.
   While you are at it ask them if they personally have read the legislation and what their position is? If they have not read the legislation ask them to read it and politely let them know that just because other Representatives are not reading the legislation and voting on it does not mean they can do the same.
2. Get in touch with local farmers and food producers by attending a local farmers market and asking them how business is.
3. Attend a local WAPF meeting, this is a good start to learning about what is going on in farming and local & state initiatives.
4. Check out the Farmers Legal Defense Fund
5. Find out who sits on your states agriculture and farming committee and contact them with your concerns.
6. Continue to contact your elected officials and let them know your position on legislation and why.
7. Get active at the local and state levels, this is the quickest way to initiate change.