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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Food costs up sharply--order your seeds
  • Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:36:24 -0700


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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