21.07.2023 - 22:52 / awaytogarden.com

ray of catalog sun? more organic, non-gmo seeds

IN A TIME OF DARK NEWS ABOUT THE SEED BUSINESS, I’m heartened to see some catalogs on my table giving more real estate to organic seed. But why care? What difference does it make if the tiny seeds I start with were organically grown, as long as when I plant them, I follow environmentally sound cultural practices? If you worry about contributing to pollution that “flows upstream”—and if you want a seed that’s well-adapted to your garden if you adhere to organic methods as I do—it matters more than you’d think. What I’ve been learning:commercial seed is hungry, thirsty, coddled

UNLIKE MANY VEGETABLE CROPS we grow to eat—which are typically picked young and tender, and therefore grown for a shorter time—the same plant cultivated for a seed harvest must be grown to a much older age, requiring much more water, fertilizer, and chemical controls against pests and diseases.

Seed crops are coddled, and regulations on chemical usage when raising them is also looser than on growing the same vegetable for the food market.

Besides the pollution and waste of resources this results in, it fails to do something else really important: It yields seed strains that “expect “ this kind of pampering—not ones that are well-adapted to organic growing conditions in our home gardens, where we (hopefully!) don’t rush in with a chemical at every turn of events, or prop things up on synthetics instead of diligent care for our soil.

Read More: Dr. John Navazio of Washington State University and formerly of the Organic Seed Alliance, now of Johnny’s Selected Seeds, explains all of this and more. progress report: 14,500 organic farmers

THE STATS: “The number of organic farmers has climbed from roughly 3,000 in 1993 to more than 14,500 today,” reports Bob

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