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Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

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  • From: "Norm Cooper" <grapegro@aapt.net.au>
  • To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Livingontheland Digest, Vol 185, Issue 1 question 2
  • Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:59:17 +1100

Hello Dan,
I would be careful before treating a whole field with
aluminium,especially if it is acid soil. Aluminium makes root tips blunt,
whilst calcium sharpens the tips. It is costly to negate the action of
aluminium.
Regards, Norm Cooper

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Today's Topics:

1. Pig Manure (laurie)
2. Re: Livingontheland Digest, Vol 184, Issue 6 (Daniel Conine)
3. The criminalization of Organic Gardening (bruce smith)
4. Seed and Plant Finder (Tradingpost)
5. The VegetablePatch.com (mdnagel@verizon.net)
6. Seed companies have a bumper crop of customers (Tradingpost)
7. Re: Soluble Organic Sulfur Sources (Pete Vukovich)
8. Re: Hog smell study. (Pete Vukovich)
9. Pasture Restoration for Heirloom Poultry (Tradingpost)
10. Saving vegetable seeds: Factors to consider (Tradingpost)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:08:46 -0500
From: laurie <laurie@powellclan.com>
Subject: [Livingontheland] Pig Manure
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <1236517726.30606.5.camel@zx5000>
Content-Type: text/plain

A few years ago, we had the privilege of hosting a farmer who had worked
alongside Joel Salatin.

He told us the "recipe" they were using to keep the hog smell down: over
18 inches of wood shavings and and a handful of compost inoculated with
bacteria 5 friends' compost piles.

This is an article on Joel's Hog raisin'. I don't see the above pearl of
wisdom there, but since "neighbor friendly" agriculture is his forte,
I'll add that too.

http://www.awionline.org/farm/compost.html



------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:50:24 -0500
From: Daniel Conine <dconine@bertramwireless.com>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Livingontheland Digest, Vol 184, Issue
6
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <49B40560.6060605@bertramwireless.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Another suggestion I have heard and it worked on some small spots( but I
haven't tried it on a field) is to use alum.
(aluminum sulfate). In clay soil, it ties up the clay so that it forms
larger particles and that allows more air for the acid-producing
organisms and better drainage to get your other amendments to the roots,
as well as adding some sulfur. Something to do with ionic bonds in the
clay particles and the aluminum. My clay is very heavy and incorporating
organic matter takes many years of work, so I'm trying to keep the heavy
clay in grass, instead.
I don't remember what the recommended rate was. I think it was from Phil
Wheeler.

Dan C.
Belgium, WI
>
> Changing soil pH permanently is a difficult business. Pine needles take a
> long time to break down and do any good. However, enough compost will
> bufffer high or low pH somewhat and allow plants to grow which wouldn't do
> well otherwise. In extreme cases it may be necessary to build new soil in
> raised beds. This is what I do with great results. A lot of NM is
alkaline.
> One solution we saw at the NMSU organic farm at Alcalde was ingenious.
> Their drip system to acid loving brambles has an injector that drips weak
> vinegar at the roots instead of trying to acidify the whole plot.
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
>
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
>
> On 3/7/2009 at 11:11 AM Marty Kraft wrote:
>
>
>> Thanks to you and the pumpkin lady.
>>
>> I currently have a local coffee shop coming once a week with 10
>> gallons of grounds. They spread on one bed and then the next in
>> order. I do that mostly to feed the worms. I've heard conflicting
>> stories about the acidification from grounds. I wonder about pine
>> needles, that they might acidify.
>>
>> I have been tested for zinc, iron, manganese, copper and boron. MU
>> Extension says all high. Boron slightly high. Logan lab test say
>> boron slightly low and my broccoli have hollow stems.
>>
>> Marty
>> On Mar 6, 2009, at 3:20 PM, Pete Vukovich wrote:
>>
>>




------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 17:08:45 -0400
From: bruce smith <cityhomesteader@gmail.com>
Subject: [Livingontheland] The criminalization of Organic Gardening
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID:
<11be319b0903081408j10b419dck3a6e43d48b985c61@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

The criminalization of Organic Gardening
> >
> > Video:
> >
> > http://connect.bioneers.org/video/hr-875-and-s-425-criminalize
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Message: 4
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:35:11 -0700
From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
Subject: [Livingontheland] Seed and Plant Finder
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <200903081735110186.0820945B@mail.lobo.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"


The Orlando Sentinel

Gardeners have no time for nonsense, so they need tools that work.

MotherEarthNews.com/GardenResources offers two tools that help gardeners
find the products they need ? quickly.

The Seed and Plant Finder
(http://www.motherearthnews.com/find-seeds-plants.aspx) searches through
more than 500 mail-order seed and plant companies using a custom search
engine to locate sources for vegetable, flower and herb varieties, and
organic gardening products. Browsing the crop or flower categories tells
you more about available options.

Once you've planted your seeds, the Organic Pest Control and Garden
Products Finder
(http://www.motherearthnews.com/Find-Organic-Gardening-Products.aspx)
searches a select group of university Web sites to diagnose pest problems
and find treatment advice. You also can shop for recommended items from
more than 30 preselected mail-order companies selling organic insecticides,
tools and related products.







------------------------------

Message: 5
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 2009 22:34:23 -0500 (CDT)
From: mdnagel@verizon.net
Subject: [Livingontheland] The VegetablePatch.com
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID:

<691693578.575720.1236569663981.JavaMail.root@vms170009.mailsrvcs.net>
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Message: 6
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:34:16 -0700
From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
Subject: [Livingontheland] Seed companies have a bumper crop of
customers
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <200903090834160984.02E5BD02@mail.lobo.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"




Seed companies have a bumper crop of customers
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2008829989_seeds09m.html

By Erik Lacitis

Seattle Times staff reporter

ELLENSBURG ?

Out here on a farm just off Interstate 90, Greg and Sue Lutovsky hear every
day how the economy is going.

Not so great for everybody else, excellent for them.

America had its Victory Gardens in backyards during World War II ? not
just for the food, but also to boost morale.

Now Victory Gardens are making a comeback: the 2009 Recession version.

Sue is the one who answers the phone at the couple's Irish Eyes Garden
Seeds, which produces more than 400 kinds of seeds (mostly vegetables), as
well as 70 different kinds of potatoes and 25 kinds of garlic.

By some of the questions they get from customers, the couple know these are
first-time gardeners.

"We had one person ask us which way the seed goes in the ground," says Sue.

These days, she's handling 100 customer calls a day, and the family
business expects to gross $1 million in sales this year. Business is up 20
to 30 percent over last year, both in seeds under its own label and seeds
it packages for companies such as Burpee and Park Seed.

The business has a dozen employees packing seeds from shelves full of bins.

In another warehouse, seed potatoes fill big wooden crates, the kind used
in apple orchards. Last year, Irish Eyes produced 160,000 pounds of seed
potatoes, up from 30,000 the year before.

They've already sold out of six varieties of the tubers.

Why potatoes?

Maybe people are reaching back, back into their collective memory, back
when potatoes were a staple food. Irish Eyes gets its name from that
connection, the eyes referring to the eyes in a potato.

"It's the perfect food crop. It's got everything you need. It's a food
source with very little effort. It can be stored a long time," says Greg.
"There are not many things you can harvest in September and still be eating
in June. You could live on potatoes and half a cup of cream and be
healthy."

Some dietitians would argue against a cream-and-potatoes diet, but there is
no denying that many in this country are now in survival mode.

Out-of-state visitors

There is no retail outlet at the 13 acres at Irish Eyes (the couple leases
an additional nearby 90 acres), but customers find it anyway in the
wind-swept Ellensburg countryside.

Greg says the wind is just fine with him. It helps pollinate the crops, he
says, and it keeps the crops dry so fungal disease is almost nonexistent.

Recently, a customer drove from Montana, and another from northern Idaho,
to pick up potato seeds.

"We can ship them to you at the appropriate planting time, probably
mid-April" Greg says he told them.

But the Montana customer, who bought 500 pounds of potato seeds,
"physically wanted them in their hands, I guess afraid we might run out,"
says Greg.

Says Sue, "I think they're scared."

Greg says about the run on seeds, "It's just about everything that's
happening in the world, the stock market, the economy."

The Montana customer, says Greg, is a contractor who does part-time farming
and sells produce at local farmers markets.

With not too much contracting work these days, the farming helps a lot.
Those 500 pounds of seed potatoes will produce 5,000 pounds of potato crop,
says Greg.

Greg says others show that they're newbie gardeners by placing an order
for, say, one-eighth of an ounce of tomato seeds.

"That's like 900 tomato seeds. That's a lot of plants," he says.

Still, there is a simple math about planting your own garden.

"If a person has been laid off, and had a finite amount of money, they're
looking at spending $2 for a head of lettuce that'll last two days," says
Greg. "Or for $2 they can buy a packet of lettuce seeds that has 300 seeds
and eat lettuce all summer long."

Belt-tightening time

It's not just Irish Eyes that has been booming.

A retail garden store like Sky Nursery in Shoreline says seed business is
up "at least 20 percent."

And Burpee, the Pennsylvania-based world's largest seed company, says
business also is up by that much.

Although it came up with the idea too late for this year's print catalog,
on its Web site Burpee sells a "Money Garden" that for $10 puts together
$20 worth of pea, tomato, pepper, bean, lettuce and carrot seeds.

It says the seeds will produce "over $650 worth of vegetables!"

"People are belt-tightening, particularly on large-ticket items," says
George Ball, chairman of Burpee. "It results in an almost Depression
mentality."

But it's not just about saving money, says Bruce Butterfield, research
director for the National Gardening Association.

"I think one place where a lot of people feel they have some small control
over what is going on around them is in their backyard," he says. "It's
this whole sense of, 'I'm gonna have better-quality food, and save money.'
"

And if you don't have a backyard, or you want to garden in the company of
others, P-Patches have proved popular.

In Seattle, the P-Patch program in 2008 had a waiting list of 1,230 for
plots at its 68 sites, nearly triple the waiting list in 2006.

Food-system concerns

It's not just saving money that has increased business for Irish Eyes, says
Greg Lutovsky.

It's also about GMOs.

That stands for genetically modified organisms ? for example, corn that
has been genetically modified to resist insects and diseases.

"People are starting to rebel against genetically modified seeds in our
food system. There is no reason to have fish hormones spliced into a
tomato," says Greg. He says that 95 percent of the seeds Irish Eyes sells
are certified organic.

At Sky Nursery, Andrea Kurtz, 31, an acupuncturist who lives in Phinney
Ridge, is looking over the seed rack.

This is the second year she's having a garden ? Armenian slicing
cucumbers, beets, pole beans, snow peas, lettuce, tomatoes. She's even
going to raise chickens ? three hens for eggs, and later they'll be
slaughtered for meat.

"I like being able to grow what I eat, to pick something and eat it 10
minutes later," she says.

She's among the youngest of the garden crowd, who tend to be baby boomers.

Gordon Smith, 61, and Saphire Blue, 64, are husband and wife who've
gardened for decades. They're retired city of Seattle employees, she a
gardener, he a carpenter. They have two properties, one in Seattle and
another on Vashon Island.

They talk about the joy of eating fresh produce.

But Saphire also mentions why they'll be growing more potatoes this year.

"If we have an earthquake, or in any way have to survive," she says, "you
can trade potatoes with a neighbor for eggs."

That's not a quote you'd have expected to hear a couple of years ago during
the boom times.

But these days, it's not about flipping houses for an easy profit.

Flipping dirt for that bumper bean crop is more like it.

Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com



Most popular seeds

BUSINESS IS UP 20 TO 30 PERCENT over last year at Irish Eyes, both in seeds
under its own label and seeds it packages for companies such as Burpee and
Park Seed. Here are the seeds that sold best for Burpee last year:

1. Green beans

2. Zucchini squash

3. Tomato

4. Lettuce

5. Cucumber

6. Peas

7. Sweet corn

8. Peppers (sweet and hot)

9. Carrot

10. Radish

Source: Burpee




------------------------------

Message: 7
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 00:44:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: Pete Vukovich <pvukovic1@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Soluble Organic Sulfur Sources
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <840512.85204.qm@web52210.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

True lots of lignins in pine needles, but for the most part I've found
relatively wet woodland soil to be very acidic particularly below any
matting organic layer. Coffee grounds have worked for me in both moderate
clay and alluvials, but the soil in my tiny plot right now isn't terribly
alkaline. I think the raised beds are intriguing particularly in colder
climates, with the right mulch I'm told you can keep them 10-20 degrees
warmer than the soil base below.

If she's satisfied she has a good nutrient balance (like it sounds) ,
acidifing it may not contribute to nute-lock. From what I've read its not
uncommon to see different labs give different results for micronutrients
(some basing it on indirect findings of alkalanity and aluminum content
others using more direct measures).

Never had hollow stemmed broccoli are the stems green or dark? That does
sound like a boron defeciency.




--- On Sat, 3/7/09, TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net> wrote:
From: TradingPostPaul <tradingpost@riseup.net>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Soluble Organic Sulfur Sources
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Saturday, March 7, 2009, 9:42 AM

Changing soil pH permanently is a difficult business. Pine needles take a
long time to break down and do any good. However, enough compost will
bufffer high or low pH somewhat and allow plants to grow which wouldn't do
well otherwise. In extreme cases it may be necessary to build new soil in
raised beds. This is what I do with great results. A lot of NM is alkaline.
One solution we saw at the NMSU organic farm at Alcalde was ingenious.
Their drip system to acid loving brambles has an injector that drips weak
vinegar at the roots instead of trying to acidify the whole plot.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 3/7/2009 at 11:11 AM Marty Kraft wrote:

>Thanks to you and the pumpkin lady.
>
>I currently have a local coffee shop coming once a week with 10
>gallons of grounds. They spread on one bed and then the next in
>order. I do that mostly to feed the worms. I've heard conflicting
>stories about the acidification from grounds. I wonder about pine
>needles, that they might acidify.
>
>I have been tested for zinc, iron, manganese, copper and boron. MU
>Extension says all high. Boron slightly high. Logan lab test say
>boron slightly low and my broccoli have hollow stems.
>
>Marty
>On Mar 6, 2009, at 3:20 PM, Pete Vukovich wrote:
>
>> A couple things might also be worth considering besides sulphur
>> depending on how big this is.
>>
>> 1) Soil from woodlots is typically going to be more acidic than
>> tilled. If you've got that and check it out, you might want to mix

>> in some. Same goes for pond tailings/bottom detritus, if you've
got
>> those you might want to vacuum them up.
>>
>> 2) If you're small and have local coffee shops coffee grounds make

>> darn good acidifying agents.
>>
>> 3) Too much solubility of acids will lock up things like iron, and
>> calcium (or magnesium? I can't remember) have you had your
>> micronutrients looked at? Maybe a dumb question, you probably know
>> more about balancing these things than I do anyway.
>>
>> 4) Be careful of the bentonite based granulated sulphur stuff, I
>> think this may contribute to structure issues if your tilling. I
>> don't know for sure yet, but I'm suspicious it might if you
have
>> substantial variation in soil temp and rainfall.
>>
>>


_______________________________________________
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Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland




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Message: 8
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 01:10:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Pete Vukovich <pvukovic1@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Hog smell study.
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing
<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <45580.38353.qm@web52206.mail.re2.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

I think there's some of the city vision of the country in it, and probably
too many hogs per acre too. I grew up around hog farms myself, and until
they started packing them in we never noticed much of a smell. I spent a few
days on a farm last week with a few of everything which was covered by well
managed compost and there was no scent at all. Perhaps only 5 or 6 hogs to
an acre, but the dogs smelled more than the hogs, and they only smelled when
they got wet.? I don't think spraying ozone will eliminate health concerns,
but I can expect if there's an ozone spray lobby somewhere it will be high
on the list of recommendeds.



--- On Fri, 3/6/09, Don Bowen <don.bowen@earthlink.net> wrote:
From: Don Bowen <don.bowen@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Hog smell study.
To: "'Healthy soil and sustainable growing'"
<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Friday, March 6, 2009, 11:11 AM

> >Its funny I've never found hog manure or hogs smelled on a well
managed
> >farm. Of course any small farmer who makes good use of the manure can
> tell
> >you this, or the federal government can spend 100's of millions
trying to
> >think up goofy ways to make industrial farming smell like normal
farms. I
> >bet we can all guess where the federal government will head here.

I grew up on a farm and raised hogs as a 4H project. I also worked on a
neighbors brood operation. I can tell you that there ways to reduce the
stink but not completely eliminate it. My brother is working on some dry
litter projects using Coconut husks but that is less for odor control than
to reduce contaminated water runoff on small Pacific islands.

But this is an age of selfishness. People want cheap industrialized food
but do not want to see, smell, or hear anything about the process. A prime
example is a dairy farm near where I used to live. It had been there since
sometime in the early 50s but by the 90s nearby orchards had been sold and
turned into a golf course and very expensive mcmansion trophy houses. The
people complained about spraying the liquid waste on nearby fields, never
mind there was no smell, they just did not like the sight of spraying brown
water. It offended their vision of what living in the country was. Their
vision formed by countless TV commercials of black and white cows munching
in green fields near a red barn could not be reconciled by reality so they
did what selfish people often do, they called up lawyer friends. The dairy
had to defend itself but was forced out of business.

Don Bowen KI6DIU
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html

_______________________________________________
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http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland




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Message: 9
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:08:15 -0700
From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
Subject: [Livingontheland] Pasture Restoration for Heirloom Poultry
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <200903090908150046.0304D631@mail.lobo.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"


Pasture Restoration for Heirloom Poultry
http://www.permaculture.org/nm/index.php/site/Heirloom-Poultry-Pasture/

What now is a diverse chicken pasture was an old monoculture grass field.
Focus was placed on introducing perennial woody plantings, poultry forage
and groundcovers. We experimented with chicory, various brassicas
(radishes, mustards), comfrey, alfalfa, vetches and clovers. After few
years of tweaking, we now have a fenced irrigated rotational pasture with
four grazing areas.

Every other year we raise 25-35 chicks for meat. We harvest our chicken
ourselves, following a ritual of thanking them for the gift of good food.
Some of our friends or students join us to help and to learn what it means
to harvest your own meat. To raise chicks, we have been using chicken
tractor system: a large light weight cage that we move across the chicken
pasture for controlled grazing. We cannot leave our chicks in the tractor
overnight: too many predators in our area, but we train them to go to the
chicken house and back to the tractor, just by simply following us. The
training takes 3-4 days and a lot of running around and cursing. But the
chicks eventually figure out to follow us; straight into the tractor!

Favorite Chicken Breeds:

* Araukana (lays green eggs, very alert to predation)
* Dominique (good layer, tasty meat)
* Cornish Rock (best mama of all breeds! Gets broody and brings up
wonderful chicks)
* Australop (good layer and tasty)



Favorite Turkey Breeds:

* Bourbon Red
* Royal Palm
* Rio Grande Wild


Bourbon Red (pictured on photos in the left bar) is an elegant and
beautiful breed. They are good breeders and never fail to procreate, and
the females are excellent mothers. All our males have good predisposition
and don?t get aggressive as turkey males tend to do (except with the male
we have this year? his name is Stalin).
Royal Palm turkeys are beautiful and gentle. They don?t grow as large as
any other breed, in fact they are the smallest turkey of all. They are also
devoted moms and fend for themselves very well.
Wild Rio Grande breed is spectacular and very self-sufficient. However, we
did not have much lack with keeping them - they tend to wander off.

Commercial Breeds
We once made the mistake of purchasing a commercial breed of chickens.
These grew at an astounding rate, resulting in crippled birds, which were
so unhealthy as not to be able to walk, pooping under themselves???
We found the idea of eating their meat very unappealing, yet this is the
breed commonly found on the shelves of food stores. This experience led us
to looking into heritage breeds to find healthier, happier poultry that fit
into our philosophy of animal husbandry. Since receiving our first heritage
birds we have learned that they are better moms (commercial breeds don?t
maintain broodiness), are a lot more alert to predators, are healthy, live
longer, and produce significantly more delicious meat and eggs.

Flock Composition
Presently our flock consists of chickens, ten or more guinea fowl and
turkeys. Guinea fowl are an excellent watch bird, making a loud ruckus when
anything unusual takes place. They prefer protein to vegetative diet, i.e.
really enjoy catching grasshoppers and caterpillars. The turkeys also
patrol the land as a grasshopper control squadron, which, also, seems to be
their preferred food. Chickens are more interested in scratching the soil
surface, looking for seeds. In combination, the medley serves functions of
pest control, land security, fertilization of soil, mild weed control and
production of meat and eggs.

Partial Chicken pasture plant list:

* Nanking cherry
* Sand Cherry
* Siberian Pea Shrub
* Day Lily
* Apple
* Plum
* Raspberry
* Mulberry
* Black Locust
* Sea Buckthorn
* Pasture Grass
* Alfalfa
* Apricot
* Strawberry clover
* Brassicas
* Hairy Vetch
* Comfrey




------------------------------

Message: 10
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:57:01 -0700
From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
Subject: [Livingontheland] Saving vegetable seeds: Factors to consider
To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <200903090957010265.03317CBB@mail.lobo.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"


Saving vegetable seeds: Factors to consider
(Courtesy of Seed Programs, Inc.)
http://www.foodsresourcebank.org/resource_materials.asp?id=170
David A. Bender, Ph.D.

Dr. David Bender is Vice President-General Manager of Seed Programs Inc. He
has over 20 years of experience in vegetable physiology and production as
head of the vegetable research program at the Texas A&M Agricultural
Research and Extension Center in Lubbock, Texas. For more information on
saving seed, you can contact Dr. Bender at bender.spi@nts-online.net


The development of agriculture from prehistoric times to the present was
built on the selection, collection, and replanting of seeds from superior
plants. Even in a time of specialized commercial seed production, advanced
plant breeding, and emerging biotechnology, farmer-saved seed may be the
least expensive alternative for producing some crops. These techniques are
of particular interest to subsistence farmers worldwide, where economics or
logistics make it difficult to buy suitable planting seed. At the same
time, a number of biological and technological factors make saving seed of
many vegetables extremely challenging.


Type of plant

Seed is most easily saved from plants where the seed itself is eaten,
typically grains. These seeds are generally harvested when mature and dry,
and require relatively little processing prior to being replanted. Dry
beans, peas, and other vegetable legumes fit this category, but most other
vegetables are harvested for their fruits or vegetative parts, so special
effort is required to collect and dry seed.


Biennials

A number of vegetables, including most of the root and bulb crops (carrot,
beet, onion, leek), and the crucifer family (cabbage, broccoli, kale,
cauliflower), are biennial plants that require two years to produce seed.
These plants produce only vegetative growth the first year, and most
require a period of cold weather with temperatures between 0 and 7?C to
induce seed stalks in the second year. Thus seed production is impossible
in tropical areas unless the bulbs or roots are refrigerated to simulate
natural chilling. Some tropical types may produce seed naturally, but
saving seed is difficult.


Hybrid seed

Hybrids are produced by crossing two carefully selected parent lines to
produce seed combining the best characteristics of each. Hybrids often
exhibit better productivity, uniformity, vigor, and pest resistance than
open pollinated varieties. However, seeds collected from these hybrids
produce plants with a variety of characteristics totally unlike their
hybrid parents. Saving seeds from hybrid plants is sure to result in
disappointment, and is not recommended.

Open pollinated seed

Plants which are allowed to pollinate naturally, without being manipulated
in any way, are referred to as open pollinated. Open pollinated varieties
result from repeated selection of superior plants from within the same line
until essentially identical genetically. However, within this group, we
must consider self pollination, and cross pollination. Some plants, such as
legumes and tomatoes, self pollinate naturally, and so seed collected from
these plants will produce plants identical to the parents. Others, such as
corn (maize) and vine crops (cucumber, watermelon), have their pollen
spread by wind or insects (usually bees). In these varieties, if the plant
is pollinated by other plants of the same variety, the resulting seed
should produce plants identical to their parents and be suitable for
saving, but if pollination was done by a different variety of the same
species, the resulting seed will produce plants with a mixture of
characteristics depending on both parents, and this will not be suitable
for saving.

Open pollinated vegetables produce true-to-type seed only when fertilized
by pollen of the same variety. It is easy to maintain the purity of
legumes, lettuce, tomatoes, and other self-pollinated vegetables. Pollen of
other vegetables is distributed by wind (beets, corn, spinach) or insects
(a majority of other vegetables), so in seed production care must be taken
to keep the flowers isolated from pollen of another variety of the same
vegetable. Isolation distance of at least 1,500 meters between different
varieties of the same species is recommended for all cross pollinated crops
which are to be harvested for seed. Cross pollination can also be prevented
by timing plantings so different varieties are not flowering at the same
time. Vine crops are particularly prone to cross pollination, and strange
types of squash and melons can be produced from seed produced where
different vine crops are grown in close proximity.


Seed maturity

Fully mature seed is required for subsequent germination and growth.
Pumpkins, winter squash, melons, tomatoes and some peppers contain mature
seed at normal harvest maturity. On the other hand, seeds of summer squash,
cucumbers, eggplant, snap beans, and green bell peppers are usually
immature at the stage these vegetables are eaten. When growing these
vegetables for seed it is necessary to leave the fruit on the plant well
beyond normal harvest maturity. Peas and beans must be kept on the plant
until pods and beans are dry.


Seed processing

Plants that produce seeds in a moist environment like a fruit often also
produce chemicals in their tissues that prevent the seed from germinating
while still on the plant. Thus it is essential that the seed be cleaned to
remove all fruit tissue to eliminate these inhibitors. For example, the
gelatinous tissue surrounding mature tomato seeds will completely inhibit
seed germination. Tomato seeds must be removed from the fruit, fermented
for several days, then carefully washed and dried. Other seeds must also be
washed to remove plant tissue and sugars that promote growth of molds and
fungi. It is critical that all seeds be thoroughly dried at moderate
temperatures and not exposed to direct sunlight.


Pest control

Seeds are an important source of food for some birds and insects. These
pests often will feed on seed before it is mature and dry, so the seed and
seed stalks may need to be protected until the seed is ready for harvest.


Seed-borne disease

Certain bacterial and viral diseases can be carried on seed from one year
to the next. A plant may become infected late in the season and still
produce a crop, but if the seed becomes infected on the plant, the disease
organisms may attack the seedling after germination and kill or seriously
stunt the subsequent crop. Proper sanitary practices are important to
prevent transmission of certain diseases to the next generation. Seed
should never be harvested and saved from plants which have symptoms of
disease.


Seed Storage

Once seed has been successfully produced and processed, it must be stored
properly to maintain germination and vigor. The seeds are living organisms,
and their life processes must be slowed as much as possible to minimize the
drain on food reserves in the seed and maintain the integrity of the seed
coat. Heat and moisture are the two greatest enemies of stored seed. Heat
speeds biological processes, depleting stored energy resources. Moisture
activates enzymes in the dormant seed, beginning the germination process.
This pre-germination activity depletes the energy reserves in the seed, and
weakens or kills the seed before planting.

To maintain viability and vigor from one planting season to the next, seed
must be kept cool, at least below 70? F (21?) and preferably cooler.
Seed must also be protected from moisture, including high humidity.
Desiccant materials can be included in the storage container to absorb
atmospheric moisture. If this is done, a barrier should separate the seed
from the desiccant so that the seed does not come in actual contact with
the chemical. Seed is attractive to insects and rodents, so it is also
important to save seed in a sealed container. A screw-top glass jar with a
rubber seal can exclude both moisture and pests.

Summary

Farmer-saved seed is often considered an important component of sustainable
agricultural development. Grains, which dry naturally, are grown in large
blocks, and generally have large stored energy reserves, lend themselves to
such a system. Vegetables encompass a wide range of plant families with a
variety of growing requirements, pollination strategies, seed types and
climatic adaptations. Their seeds are often small with small carbohydrate
reserves, and are thus less resistant to environmental influences. While
seeds of a few vegetables can be saved by the novice, it would be difficult
for most gardeners in developing countries to produce, process, and store
seed of the range of vegetables needed to supply adequate nutrition.
Greater sustainability might be achieved by increasing productivity of
gardens, allowing growers to sell some of their produce and buy good
quality seed every year.




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  • Re: [Livingontheland] Livingontheland Digest, Vol 185, Issue 1 question 2, Norm Cooper, 03/09/2009

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