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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
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- From: "Douglas Willhite" <drwillhite@earthlink.net>
- To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [Livingontheland] Saving the Seeds
- Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:07:51 -0700
| Saving the Seeds Until the early part of this century, most produce 
was locally grown. Vegetables and flowers were primarily selected for their 
flavor, ability to perform well in a specific environment and 
for local adaptability. It was also important for crops to ripen over a 
long season so harvests could be extended. Many people grew their own produce, 
saved the seeds for the next season and put up much of the harvest for 
winter.  Industrial areas in cities were supplied with produce from 
the outlying areas. Vegetables were all open pollinated. End users that 
purchased vegetables generally had a relationship with the growers with perhaps 
only a corner store in between. The goal of a grower was quality first and 
foremost because her/his livelihood depended on this relationship 
continuing. During World War II, the United Stated made a concerted 
effort to ship large quantities of produce to devastated Europe. After the war 
was over, for the first time there was the infrastructure in place to ship food 
over long distances. The commercial sector began to use this structure to raise 
produce where it could be done most cheaply and get it to markets world 
wide. Today, if you go into your local supermarket to buy 
produce, you will find primarily produce grown far away from you unless you live 
in a vegetable belt (California or Florida). Much of this produce is raised in 
near laboratory conditions. This set of growing methods brings a severely 
different set of selection criteria than did vegetable production pre WWII. Now, 
most vegetable varieties are selected for their mechanical harvesting and 
shipping ability, uniform ripeness, and ability to perform well in a chemical 
environment. Flavor and health enrichment are often secondary. Most seeds now 
used are hybrid. About 
Seeds   * Hybrids: First generation hybrids (F1 
hybrids), have been artificially-pollinated, and are patented, often sterile, 
genetically identical within food types, and sold from multi-national seed 
companies.  * GMO: A second kind of seed are genetically engineered or 
modified organisms. Bioengineered seeds are fast contaminating the global seed 
supply on a wholesale level, and threatening the purity of seeds everywhere. In 
a GMO seed, the DNA of the plant has been changed. A cold water fish 
gene for example was spliced into a tomato to make the plant more 
resistant to frost.  *Heirloom: A third kind of seed are called heirloom or 
open-pollinated seeds. These are genetically diverse seeds that have 
been passed on from generation to generation. For example, with heirloom seeds 
there are 10,000 varieties of apples, compared to the very few F1 hybrid apple 
types.  Here are some sources for finding heirloom seeds 
from seed saving organizations. These organizations 
represent a movement of several thousand backyard gardeners who are searching 
the countryside for endangered vegetables, fruits and grains and maintaining 
their integrity. The Seed Savers 
Exchange  The Seed Savers Exchange (SSE), is a nonprofit tax-exempt organization that is saving old-time food crops from extinction. Kent and Diane Whealy founded SSE in 1975 after an elderly 
relative bestowed three kinds of garden seeds brought from Bavaria four 
generations earlier.  The Whealys began searching for other "heirloom varieties" 
(seeds passed down from generation to generation) and soon discovered a vast, 
little-known genetic treasure.  SSE's members are maintaining thousands of heirloom 
varieties, traditional Indian crops, garden varieties of the Mennonite and 
Amish, vegetables dropped from all seed catalogs and outstanding foreign 
varieties. Each year hundreds of members use SSE's publications to distribute 
such seeds to ensure their survival.  Each winter SSE publishes a 304-page Seed Savers Yearbook 
which contains names and addresses of 900 members and 6,000 listings of rare 
vegetable and fruit varieties that they are offering to other gardeners. Seeds 
are obtained by writing directly to the members who are listing those 
varieties. Native American Seeds Native seeds/SEARCH (NS/S) is a nonprofit seed 
conservation organization working to preserve the traditional native crops of 
the U.S. Southwest and Northwest Mexico. For centuries Native American farmers 
have grown corn, squash, beans and other crops under a variety of growing 
conditions.  The NS/S Seedbank houses, for future generations, the 
seeds of crops and wild plants traditionally used as food, fiber and dyes by 
prehistoric and more recent cultures inhabiting the arid southwestern U.S. and 
northwestern Mexico. NS/S encourages the continued use of these plants in their 
native habitats, and also distributes them widely to home gardeners, researchers 
and free of charge to Native American farmers. Wild relatives of crops - such as 
wild beans, chiles, gourds and cotton - are included in Native Seeds/SEARCH's 
conservation efforts.  NS/S's informative annual seed catalog lists more than 200 
varieties for sale. Each crop listing includes seed saving information as well 
as culture and folklore.  Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Southern Exposure Seed Exchange is a wonderful source for 
heirloom seeds and other open-pollinated (non-hybrid) seeds with an emphasis on 
vegetables, flowers, and herbs that grow well in the Mid-Atlantic region. 
 They support seed saving and traditional seed 
breeding and do extensive germination and purity testing of seeds and 
nursery stock to ensure the highest quality seed 
possible. Browse their mail-order site to find heirloom tomatoes, peppers, ginseng, potato onions, okra, naturally colored cotton, southern-style greens, and much more. Brothers and Sisters, support seed 
saving organizations. Visit their web sites and order 
their catologes. In these times, you must know how to grow your own food, save 
seeds and can fruits and vegatables. It does not matter how small of a garden 
you have. Become a member of an heirloom seed exchange. It is up to YOU to 
save the seeds. -------------------------------- Peace be with you, The Nazarene Way Jesus said, "A farmer took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them about. Some seeds fell on hard soil and the birds came and ate them. Others seeds fell on rock, did not take root, and did not produce. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. But some seeds fell on the good soil and produced enough food to feed an entire nation. Jesus, The Gospel of Thomas Thus saith the LORD; Stand ye at the crossroads and look, and ask for 
the ancient Ways, where the path is good, and walk therein, and ye shall find 
rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16__._,_.___ Help keep the Nazarene Way on line: http://www.thenazareneway.com/donations_tithing.htm Join the Nazarene Way Communions at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Communions Visit The Nazarene Way of Essenic Studies main site: http://www.thenazareneway.com Add your thoughts, words and blessings to our Guest Archive at: http://www.thenazareneway.com/guestbook/guestbook.html | 
- [Livingontheland] Saving the Seeds, Douglas Willhite, 06/15/2008
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