Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Why Organic Seed

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: road's end farm <organic101 AT linkny.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Why Organic Seed
  • Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2005 19:41:07 -0400


On Aug 5, 2005, at 8:09 PM, Allan Balliett wrote:

Marty - Once you have used organic seed produced by an organic
seedsman (from a small seed supplier), you won't ask this question
again. It's vitality speaks for itself.


Organically-grown seed produced by people who know and care what they are doing is indeed excellent seed. I've had very good luck with it.

However, please don't judge organic seed by the results you may get from some of what's currently on the market. The USDA is requiring organic seed for all certified growers unless the variety is unavailable as organic seed; which would have made sense if organic seed production had been more common when they did this. As it is, this has brought some people into the organic seed market who either have no commitment to and understanding of organics, or don't understand seed production, or both. I have had, since that regulation went into effect, seed that didn't germinate; seed that germinated poorly; seed that germinated but that produced poorly; and (three times) seed that was not the variety it was sold as (having apparently crossed with something else in or near the producer's fields). Buying from a reliable seed company doesn't necessarily protect you, though it helps; the problem is with the producer and it may take the seed company a while to realize the problems and get things straightened out.

I expect this will cease to be a problem eventually, as people learn what they're doing and the ones who don't care get weeded out by the refusal of growers to keep buying bad seed. But right now the situation is iffy. Try to buy from a seed producer who has some experience with organic seed production.

The other reason for buying organic seed is of course that cumulative damage done to the ecosystem anywhere along the line is likely to come back and clobber us eventually; so reducing this damage at any point in the system is a good idea.

-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page