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  • From: jamesdavid Sneed <harvestcircle@hotmail.com>
  • To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] safe seed sources
  • Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:02:12 -0700


After my earlier message about the declining safety of our seeds, I felt it
necessary to list a couple more sources, who, while not testing their
material after harvest, feel very secure about what they are offering folks.
Both George Stevens of Synergy Seeds in Willow Creek California and Tessa
Gowans of Seed Dreams in Port Townsend have dedicated their lives to
preserving and distributing the safest seed thay can, and are meticulous and
honest about assessing the sites at which their seeds are grown.
There are undoubtedly others. A rule of thumb for beets, chard and mangels is
that the seed must be grown at least two miles from any other members of that
species that may have gone to seed. Garden beets, mangels, chard and sugar
beets all cross with each other, and since the gmo sugar beets inserted genes
into the neighboring chard and beet fields for at least a few years before
being discovered, a seed grower is even endangered by nearby gardnes in which
chard or beets grown from untested seed sources have been allowed to go to
seed. Most off-the-shelf seed packets fall into this category, so if your
neighbor buys beet or chard seed at the local feed or hardware store, it
could contaminate your seed.
A solution is to offer your neighbors some free seed from your tested
varieties, in exchange for them not growing the suspect seed. Generosity can
work wonders in communication.

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