Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

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.