permaculture

[venaurafarm <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

On 12/21/2012 7:50 PM, Jason Gerhardt wrote:
> Seeds of Change was owned by Mars for a long while before they went
> downhill. Eventually the higher ups at Mars got tired of losing money
> (which they were), so they closed the research farm and fired a lot of the
> old crew who kept up the good work. Good news is Steve Peters who ran
> research and seed buying at SoC is now managing Family Farmers Seed Co-op.

What great news! This is the best thing that could have happened given 
the closing of SSE by Mars. I was hoping they would donate the land and 
seed producing facility to the Permaculture Institute which is also in 
New Mexico.

> I'm not trying to trash Johnny's in entirety, as they at least still have a
> research farm, but their major emphasis on hybrids takes a lot of control
> out of the farmers hands, and subsequently shifts production to China. Most

From now on I will grow no hybrids at all; only open pollinated, from 
here on out, starting this winter.

> hybrid seed is produced in China as the hand labor involved in hand
> pollination, pollen gathering, and rougeing is significant and costly in
> the US. Also, the production methods for non-organic hybrids are nasty.

That is understandable.

> Lots of biocide all around to keep such in-bred plants going. It is
> essentially a life-support system of chemicals. When we buy that seed, we
> support those practices. OP is the way to go, and it is likely some of
> Johnny's OP seed is US produced, in fact I know growers who supply them.

No more hybrid crop seeds for me. Never again.

What role do you play at Family Farmer Seed Cooperative (FFSC) 
http://www.organicseedcoop.com/, Jason?