[Homestead] Food costs up sharply--order your seeds
Gene GeRue
genegerue at ruralize.com
Wed Jan 23 15:36:24 EST 2008
On Jan 23, 2008, at 11:48 AM, Gloria Morris wrote:
> I had made up a notebook of various seeds and seed companies, with
> their
> on-line prices, and I've been getting my orders done online over the
> last
> couple of weeks. I've noticed that even the prices of seeds have
> gone up
> since December when I was first collecting the varieties and prices.
Seed price increases are inevitable. When I wrote the review of SEED
TO SEED eight years ago the number of seed companies was diminishing,
943 non-hybrid varieties had become unavailable and prices were
rising. In that year, 2000, ten seed companies already controlled 31
percent of the commercial seed market worldwide. Seed production
globally may well increase but you can be sure that a few monster
companies will control more varieties and prices. Monsanto, Syngenta,
DuPont, Dow and Bayer continue to invest heavily in controlling
genetic varieties.
While most people probably don't understand what open-pollinated
means, many knee-jerk to the words organic and heirloom, so I expect
to see more of those words in catalogs, offered at higher prices, just
as organic produce commands higher supermarket prices. Proof of this
is seen by the fact that the url organicseed.com is owned by giant
Park Seed. Beyond helping soil to become alive, I fail to see any
extra value in hybrid vegetable seeds grown under organic guidelines.
And organic flower seeds? What am I missing? Non-hybrid varieties are
another matter; they have survived partly because they are able to
fend off disease naturally.
Here is that review:
170 of 177 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Save 'em or lose 'em., January 13, 2000
By GENE GERUE "Author, Find Your Ideal Country Home" (Zanoni, MO USA)
- See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Sixty million American gardeners buy their seeds from mail order seed
companies. In the period 1984-1987, 54 of the 230 seed companies in
the U.S. and Canada went out of business, resulting in 943 non-hybrid
varieties becoming unavailable. One answer to the extinction of food
crop varieties is Seed Savers Exchange, the publisher of Seed to Seed.
Begun in 1975, SSE maintains more than 18,000 rare vegetable varieties
at Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa. Another answer is for individual
gardeners to save their own seed from non-hybrid varieties. Varieties
that grow and taste exceptionally well in specific areas can be
planted year after year from home-grown seed. A further advantage is
protection from seed price increases. Ashworth provides definitive
information on seed gathering, processing and storage techniques.
Twenty family entries include taxonomy, pollination characteristics
and techniques, general production and processing techniques. Each of
the 160 species entries includes botanical classification;
pollination, crossing, and isolation; seed production, harvest and
processing; seed viability. Ample black-and-white photographs
complement the text. Hybrid seeds are in the control of large
companies. You can be in control of heirloom varieties that do best in
your garden. Happy eating.
SEED TO SEED is now out of print but Amazon.com has copies available
from second-hand booksellers.
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