Organic Food

Following the Sun – Container Gardening 101

Want to have a garden, but don’t have the space?  Fret not, container gardens are the solution to the woes of urbanites and farmers alike.    Aside from having the ability to produce a significant amount of food within a limited space, container gardens allow you to have full control of what going into your soil.  This could be an easy solution for folks that may not know their soil quality while also protecting your crops from soil-borne pests.  The fact that your garden would be raised also helps with pesky garden critters. It is also a wonderful idea for students and other young people that move often and are hesitant to grow a garden that they will end up leaving the following year, they can simply take their garden with them!

Containers also solve the problem if your garden is lacking sunlight, if your containers are on castors, you can easily wheel them as they follow the sun.  This type of gardening also knows no boundaries, literally.  I have seen full-grown fig, lemon and an assortment of other fruit trees flourishing in wine barrels!  The idea is to do a bit of research and give your plants the room and light they need to grow.  Some vegetables may be compromised if their container is too shallow, such as deep setting root vegetables.  This method of gardening allows you to grow food anywhere from your porch, to your balcony to the sidewalk and even your rooftop!  Take advantage of the vertical space in your container and add trellises, teepees or wire cages.

It is a solution that allows for maximizing productivity and creativity …. containers can be upcycled from old basins, bath tubs, wheelbarrows, wagons, baskets, chairs, cinder blocks, you name it!  The sky is the limit with what you can use to make your container garden out of.  Best of all, the more unique the vessel, the more outrageous your garden will look!  Some things to keep in mind when you are reusing pieces that have old paint on them, it may have lead and you will not want to use it.  Also, another thing to keep in mind is to remember is to drill sufficient holes for drainage, if not you will drown your plants.  It has been suggested to drill the holes 2″ up on the sides, instead of on the bottom – this allows for a extra moisture retention, just don’t over water your crops!  Knowing how your pots hold or release water will also help you gauge the quantity of moisture necessary.  There are solutions for self-watering, make sure you do sufficient research before you take off for the weekend!  Depending on where you live will determine how moist/dry your vegetables will want to be, consult your local Extension office.

These types of gardens add dimension, texture, color and depth to a garden.  You can specialize each container with specific vegetables or herbs.  Perhaps using a few for companion planting vegetables and others create a medicinal, culinary and spice garden!  Think of all the incredible things you enjoy eating and explore the possibilities of growing them, noting beats fresh food right out of the garden!  Consider researching what plants do well together and which ones prefer to be at a distance.   Take into account the amount of sunlight you have available and note to have a water source near-by, watering on a daily basis is key to a successful container garden.  Our Urban Collection/Small Space Garden is geared for container gardens.  These varieties thrive in variable light and space.  When purchasing your seeds, always purchase them from a reliable source, check out our post on the Renaissance of Heirlooms to learn about why growing heirlooms and using open pollinated seeds is so important.  Now is an ideal time to plant your heat loving crops, from seed, in order to enjoy a late summer and autumn harvesting!  Take this opportunity and dig through your garage or attic, thrift-stores of curb side sales and create your container garden today!

Start from Seed – Step by Step

Spring is in full bloom and your excited to get back into your garden or start your first one.  You know you want to start your plants from seed, but not quite sure where to start.  Commencing this venture with the finest seed is an essential part to the success of your garden and the quality of your fruit.  Not all seed is the same, even if it is the same variety – not all seed houses preserve the genetics in the same manner.  A lot of the organic seed sold at local nurseries is actually from China, so always call and ask your seed company where their seeds are grown.  Also, if you plan on saving seed, which we highly recommend, then you want to make sure that you are not buying hybrid seeds.  Take a look at our article on Heirlooms vs. Hybrids, it’s an excellent guide that will help you understand what the difference between an heirloom and a hybrid is.  Always buy open-pollinated seeds.

For those of you that ordered our Living Seed Collections, you have already received them already and you are thrilled, but perhaps not quite sure where to start?  Fret not, follow this simple step-by-step model and your seedlings will be growing in no time.

Choose what you want to grow your seedlings in, are they going into temporary pots where the seedling will be transferred to the ground later or will they be placed in containers where they will stay.  If you are transplanting, consider some of the great biodegradable pots that are available.  We have seen some made from  coir, coconut husks, DIY newspaper, toilet paper rolls and even eggshells!  Using a biodegradable medium will make the transplanting less traumatic for your seedling, if this isn’t an option, transplanting the seedling, will be discussed later.

Soil is the next key ingredient in the success of your garden.  Remember this is the foundation of where your seeds are going to start.  Don’t know why soil is so important?  Check out my blog post on the importance of soil.  Initially though, you will want to use a seed-starting mix and not potting soil.  A mixture that has vermiculite, perlite and peat moss are all an excellent combination.  This mix will facilitate with drainage and proper water retention.  Fill pots 3/4 full of the seed starting mix.

Next is the most beautiful part, when you interact with the very seeds that are going to grow an abundance of food to sustain you and your loved ones.  Read the growing instructions on the seed packet as some seeds have very specific needs and should be planted only during certain times of the year.  Ideally you will not be starting your roots or deep-rooted vegetables in small containers with the intention of transplanting, as they do not like to be transplanted.  If you follow the Moon cycles, ideally you will want to wait until the New Moon to plant your seeds.  Know what the desired depth for planting is – air on less depth and do not compact the soil, this is a very common mistake. Lightly cover your seed with additional starting mix and give gratitude to the miracle that is about to happen.

Once you have set up your flats, generously water them and place them in a warm location (minimum of 50 degrees)  the warmer it is the better their germination will be.  While they are germinating, they do not need light, but they need to stay moist and warm.   Remember the seed is a living an embryo that needs air to breath and water to awaken its state of slumber.  Once they start to sprout, they will need a source of light, either natural light (south-facing) or a grow light, placed just above them.  In either case, protect your vulnerable seedlings from drafts, pets  and any other disturbances.  Lack of light will cause your seedlings to become leggy, a phenomena by which the seedling is trying the reach the light and becomes tall and lanky causing them to become susceptible to the elements once transplanted.

Keeping the soil with a similar moisture level to that of a wrung out sponge is the ideal.  Too much water will drown the seed or cause dampening off, which means there was a high level of moisture and heat which created fungal activity, both situations result in killing the seed or seedling.  A watering-can usually offers an optimal spray with enough control.  Should you forget to keep the soil moist, you may jeopardize your seedlings and their growth may be stunted or they may die. There is a sweet balance of presence that is required of your seedlings as they emerge from the soil and begin to grow their roots.  Sometimes adding a plastic dome or even DIY yogurt cups for individual seeds can help keep moisture and heat in.

Once your seedlings have reached a recommended height, you will want to transplant them as soon as possible.  A big mistake of young gardeners is leaving their starts too long in their transplant pots.  Generally you will want to wait until your seedlings have 3 – 4 true leaves – refer to image below for a reference.  Make sure your garden is ready to receive your seedlings and holes have been made and are ready to be occupied.  If you have your seedlings in plastic 6-packs or non-biodegradable pots, you will want to disturb the roots as little as possible.  Turn it on its side and gently tap.  Always hold the seedling by its true leave and never from the stem or roots.

Make sure you acclimate your seedlings to the elements, a term known as hardening off.  This can either be done by leaving them in a sheltered place for a few hours during the day, over several days.  If you have a cold frame, you can use that as an ideal way to transition your starts from the comfort of your home to the garden.  Once they have fully hardened off they will be strong and ready to be planted in your garden.  Take a look at the diagram, to the left, for an ideal way to plant your seedlings.  Best to transplant towards the end of the day or on a cloudy day, this gives your plants enough energy to recuperate from the shock without having to be in the mid-day sun.

Continue to nurture your garden with water, regular compost and amendments.  Observation is a meditative part of being in the garden that also informs you if your plants need certain attention.  Read local gardening blogs and how-to books to guide you on this beautiful journey.  Prepare for the abundance and enjoy the harvest!

Living Seed company takes root from heirloom seeds

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Paul Chinn / The Chronicle

Matthew Hoffman and Astrid Lindo, owners of the Living Seed Co., grow several varieties of produce and plants in their garden in Nicasio.

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From their home in a quiet stretch of Marin County near San Geronimo, two entrepreneurs are hoping to take gardening back to a time when an abundance of plant diversity was the norm.

Matthew Hoffman and Astrid Lindo grow, source and sell seeds of rare and heirloom edibles. Their young business, the Living Seed Co., hung up its virtual shingle just last year.

“What’s amazing is 100 years ago, everybody saved their own seed and in just a short period of time, just a couple of generations, all that changed,” Lindo said.

The numbers behind this shift are remarkable, according to a study of crop diversity in the United States by the Rural Advancement Foundation International, a family farm policy and advocacy group. By 1983, the 408 varieties of peas cultivated on American farms some 80 years earlier had dwindled to 25. Sweet corn saw a drop from 307 to 12 varieties.

Lindo and Hoffman are new to farming but have embraced their venture with a quiet energy and intensity that one suspects drove their lives well before they founded the company.

Hoffman, 36, traveled the world for a decade as a puppeteer with Jane Goodall’s Giant Peace Dove Campaign. Lindo, 35, was born in Colombia but moved to Miami as a toddler. As an adult, she studied in Europe and New York before opening an interior design firm in Southern California. They met in 2009 and decided to make a life together.

A new career

Hoffman began thinking about a new career – one that would support the couple’s commitment to helping others live healthy lives and that would support a family, too.

Starting a seed company seemed a natural fit. Hoffman grew up in rural Wisconsin in a family of gardeners and as a young child lived 2 miles off the grid in a two-room cabin.

“Really it just kind of clicked,” he said. “To be able to grow your own seeds for your own garden … seems a really beautiful way to raise a family.”

Hoffman undertook intensive training in New Mexico at the first-ever seed school taught by Bill McDorman, one of the veterans of the contemporary North American seed-saving movement.

His enthusiasm was infectious; within a few months, Lindo decided to set aside her interior design business and immerse herself in the fledgling business. The couple talked with experienced seed growers and farmers, researched catalogs, and scanned gardening forums and blogs online. And then they dug in and began growing their own seed. At the outset, they largely bootstrapped the company. When they decided to expand, they secured loans from friends.

‘So beautiful’

“It was so beautiful,” Lindo said. “To look back, you know, and a year later we’d farmed a third of an acre of painted mountain corn and some squash and tomatoes and lettuce.”

McDorman, director of Native Seeds/Search, a Tucson organization focused on conserving the genetic diversity of crops grown in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, is effusive in his praise of the couple.

“These young kids are way smarter than we were,” he remarked, reflecting on his generation of seed savers in the 1970s. “Matthew and Astrid are indicative of what’s coming, a whole new wave.”

Seed trading among farmers a century ago has its modern counterpart in businesses like the Living Seed Co., he said.

“That’s where the real revolution is happening, in urban agriculture.”

For Lindo and Hoffman, revolution goes hand in hand with education.

“I think part of our responsibility is to re-inspire people to grow out some of these unique varieties and keep them going and keep them fresh,” Lindo said. “A lot of seed companies are taking them off the racks, and so they may just disappear.”

Adapting to location

“You can watch, over the season, which of your lettuce plants or tomato plants did really well, save the seeds from those, plant them again the next year,” Hoffman said. “That’s one of the beauties of seed saving … every time you save your own seeds, you’re adapting it to your location, so that plant’s going to do better each succession.”

Four of the company’s five seed collections include a seed-saving booklet that groups seeds by how easy or difficult they are to save.

You Are What You Eat!

Eating is one the many fundamental actions, for life, that everyone shares.   What people eat is what drastically differentiates us from other cultures and the very thing that brings us together with like-minded foodies.  We are living in a time where a lot of attention is being focused on food, whether it is the amount we are eating, the quality, how miles it has traveled and of course whether it has been genetically altered.  Whatever your interest in food may be, we are living in an exhilarating time in the history of food.

Despite that 1 in 3 Americans is obese and most food found in our supermarkets, if it is not organic, is genetically modified, there is a food revolution happening in the midst of all of this.

As we know, we began as hunters and gatherers.  Eating and cooking solely what we could hunt and harvest.  Through time, technology and the advancements of the industrial revolution things changed dramatically.  We began canning, preserving and freezing.

Today, most Americans take very little regard in what they eat, how it is processed, what is in it and most of all, how much of it they eat.  The irony is how much of our eating habits have changed drastically in a mere 100 years.  From our food supply, quantity and nutritional content, to the amount of imported goods we consume.  Perhaps a simple way of addressing this is we went from viewing food as a  sacred commodity to a simplified convenience.

While most of America has accepted that we moved from an agricultural society to industrialized agriculture and embracing that fact that most of our food travels 1500 miles – there is a huge subculture that has sprouted up globally.  This movement touts local, seasonal and organic – backyards are being converted into food forests and front lawns are being torn up to make way for urban gardens!

The movement has taken root in all of America’s largest cities, while infiltrating small towns and growing communities.  It is taking shape in the form of expanding farmers markets, community gardens, edible school yards and even homesteading.  There are several large installations of some of these applications found  in places like NY MOMA’s infamous indie art museum known as PS1.  Annually there is a competition of young architects at the opportunity to build an oasis during their summer installation.  Winners, several years ago, built an urban farm, producing food and raising chickens, right in the middle of Queens!

In the San Francisco Civic Center –  the entire front lawn has been replaced with a garden, in time for the Slow Food festival – and the harvest will coincide with festivities all through Labor Day in 2009.

In downtown Los Angeles, there is an annual Public Fruit Jam in Echo Park – where an art gallery was opened to the public to bring local fruit to make jars of fresh jam.  I attended a few years ago and I brought in green sour apples from my backyard, coupled with figs, lemons and mint to create this outrageous homemade jam!

So what are the advantages to eating local and seasonal?

With local food there are much lower energy costs and the nutritional value of your food is much higher, since the crop was not harvested early.  Most of all, you are supporting your local farmers, your community and a really incredible movement that is taking shape and coming soon to your community!

Swapping recipes, seeds and gardening tips are no longer a thing of the past, but rather a really hip and obvious thing to be doing, now!

Don’t have a yard?  Fret not … food in pots grows incredible varieties!  Don’t have time or the patience to grow your own?  There are Community Supported Agriculture known as CSA’s – where you can have a box of beautiful organic fruits and veggies grown in a local farm delivered to your door weekly!  Check out Local Harvest to see where your local CSA is.

There is that classic adage that you are what you eat.  The reality is that our habits around food have lost their value – and now more than ever, is a critical time to begin asking the right questions and being aware of what you are consuming and most of all, knowing where your food comes from.

We are finding ourselves relying on our community as well as our neighbors.  In essence we are adopting the ways of our ancestors. The need to continue to push the envelope all while looking back and taking in the strides taken by our predecessors!

Planting Seeds 101

So you got your seeds in the mail, you’re so excited … but not quite sure where to start?  Still pondering what seeds to buy?Wondering what the difference between hybrid and heirlooms?Well first think of the space you are working with and plan accordingly.  Since you are ready to plant, hopefully your soil has been amended properly with organic matter or you are starting your garden with an organic soil mix (we would recommend anything that is OMRI certified).  Remember, healthy soil = healthy plants, everything begins in the soil.  If you have not had your soil tested and are not sure what may be in your soil, we recommend raised beds and/or containers.  More info on container gardens coming soon, so stay tuned to my next post Following the Sun – Container Gardening 101.

Some of your varieties will grow horizontally, think squash, while others grow vertically, think peas.  Taking this into consideration is key to a successful garden.  I would recommend finding an unused journal or notebook that you can designate as your garden journal.  This is key to help you remember where you planted things in past seasons.  To keep your soil healthy it is important to rotate your crops, if you are planting heavy feeders.  Rotating can also prevent diseases from being transferred from one plant to another.  Our seed packets are a wealth of information and will inform you if varieties are heavy feeders or not.

Now its time to plant!  If you are direct seeding, planting in the soil, you will want to make sure there is ample space between everything (each variety needs an allotted amount of space). Don’t be too paranoid and use a ruler in the garden; gardening is more organic than that, no pun intended.  If you over-seed, you can eat your mistakes, but crowding your vegetables can also compromise their nutrient intake and can ultimately stunt your crops.  There is a fine balance so just have fun!  There are some seeds that can be broadcasted, instead of being planted individually.  As those seedlings start coming up and growing their first “seed leaves,” start to rogue (pluck out) the weaker ones.  As the leaves of the seedlings begin to start touching, rogue those out as well, over-crowding is a disadvantage when the roots and the growth of the plant become compromised.

Make sure that you have followed the directions on each seed packet, about how deep each variety should be planted.  Each seed packet is choke-full of great info that will help guide you to yielding a great harvest!

After all your seeds are tucked away in the earth, remember to sprinkle them generously with water.  This is what will awaken your seeds, this is where magic happens!  The soil must continue to stay moist for germination to occur, this means watering every day.  Should the soil dry up, you may risk having lost those seeds.  Remember you are nurturing this tiny seedling to emerge into the world, it needs your love and care … and even your song, so don’t be shy!  If you are starting some of your seeds indoors, don’t forget to harden-off your seeds before planting them in the soil or moving them outside, that means exposing your seedlings to colder air little by little.  Some folks use a cold frame, which is also great solution.

Continue to nurture your plants until the completion of your harvest.  Plan accordingly if you plan on saving your seeds.  You may want to grow extra plants, so you can enjoy some of the harvest and save the seeds.  Use your Basic Seed Saving book that we provided for you for the best information on how to properly save your seeds.

Storing your Seeds

Remember seeds, are living embryos, they should not be left in a hot place, ie: your car or a hot garage.  As long as the seeds are being stored in a cool and dry place, they will be fine.  We recommend keeping them stored in the Mylar envelop the come in.

Try to keep them out of direct sun and moisture when you are in the garden planting.  If you choose to store them in the refrigerator, they can last from 4 – 10 years (depending on each seed’s viability).

If you do choose to use the fridge as your seed storage facility, make sure that the zip lock part of the envelope is sealed.  When you do use the seeds, just let the Mylar bag sit out at room temperature until for a couple of hours, to let the seeds get to room temperature, to avoid moisture condensation forming in the seeds inside.

Premium Heirloom Seed Collections

Organic, Rare and Heirloom Seed Collections

The Living Seed Company is an heirloom seed company dedicated to supporting families, friends and communities growing healthy food and saving their seeds.

To take some of the guess-work out of gardening we have developed collections of organic heirloom vegetable and herb seeds, suited to your region and growing needs.

All of our seeds are open pollinated, non-GMO, untreated, organic or grown on small natural farms and were selected for their versatility in the culinary arts.

The Founders Collection Our original widely adapted collection suited for most climates

• 22 Varieties of heirloom seeds  + Basic Seed Saving booklet   BUY NOW

Northern Collection Our long season collection, suited for shorter climates

• 22 Varieties of heirloom seeds + Basic Seed Saving booklet   BUY NOW

             

Southern Collection Our short season collection is suited for longer climates

• 22 Varieties of heirloom seeds + Basic Seed Saving booklet   BUY NOW

          

Urban /Small Space Collection This mini collection is perfectly suited for Urban settings or small gardens and even container gardens

• 13 Varieties of heirloom seeds + Basic Seed Saving booklet   BUY NOW

           

Salsa Collection  Our salsa collection is suited for all the fresh salsa lovers out there!

• 7 Varieties of heirloom seeds + salsa recipes   BUY NOW

The Renaissance of Heirloom Seeds

Seed saving and seed knowledge became an integral and sacred part of ancient and modern civilizations.  A ritual that was naturally passed on from generation to generation, from neighbor to neighbor.  Seeds became such an innate and valued part of civilization that they were used as a form of currency throughout the world.  Seeds were considered a fundamental part of every day life.

For 12,000 thousands years, our ancestors labored over cultivating wild varieties, to arrive at varieties with the perfect texture, taste, vigor and resistance, all while adapting them to their location and climate.  This genetic diversity was characterized by countries, regions and towns – which with its own characteristic and flavor. There was a time when we marveled at the rich distinction between communities and cultures for their seed stock & food varieties.

Many culinary distinctions are still seen throughout our country and throughout the world.  It is these flavors and these foods that give a place its heritage, its culture and a palpable expression of a place. It is the biodiversity of a region reflected in form that we can savor.

Up until very recent history, we had approximately 7, 000 different species of plants, raised as food crops.  Even in North America alone, Native Americans used an astounding 3,000 –  5,000 food plants. Since 1903, we have lost 96% of the commercial vegetable varieties, a loss that is being experienced throughout the world at every dinner table.  This change in recent history has brought about a homogenization of our global diet, creating a one size fits all model that is suppressing cultures throughout the globe.  Today 15 plant and 8 animal species are now relied upon for about 90% of all human food.

Disease or climate change can decimate one of the handful of plants and animals we’ve come to depend on to feed our growing planet, we might desperately need one of those varieties we’ve let go extinct.

Seeds are the storehouse for the history and evolution of man-kind.  Seeds are the first and last link to the food chain.   It is in the seed that life resides.  Seeds are a miracle that can self-replicate hundred of times, each time becoming stronger, more resilient and adapted to a local region.  Seeds are the natural expression of life – abundant and free and they are the ultimate expression of the development of humanity and civilization. Seeds were carried over borders, on horses and boats, sown in seams or stashed in pockets. Plants and seeds have used animals and humans for the advancement of their own specie and the dissemination of its own genes.

Throughout history, humans have been selecting the strongest, diverse, best tasting and most desirable plants and saving their seeds for propagation for future generations. The genetic pool evolved with the careful selecting and saving of seeds, thus began the relationship between farmers and the magic of the seed.  Farmers realized, that by saving seeds from the most vigorous plants, they would be conserving and selecting the genetic diversity of the strongest plants, naturally passing that DNA to their offspring, resulting in stronger yields and tastier crops.

Over time, farmers began to breed and propagate varieties that were specific to their heritage and region, writing their history through food and sharing it with their seeds.  These seeds began to adapt to their particular regions, soils, weather and even to the farmers themselves.  The brilliance of the seed is demonstrated in the act of precise adaptability to its environs while building a genetic bank that is unique and site specific.  Year after year, the vigor of these plants continues to strengthen, creating prized seeds that begin to tell a story of themselves.

Each seed variety carries a story, a story of dedication, love and care.  These stories are usually associated with the seeds and passed on, for generations where they begin to be referred to as heirloom seeds – seeds with a lineage, seeds with a story.

Saved seeds were traded among neighbors and communities, thus preserving genetic and biodiversity of a region. But as elders passed away, these heirloom varieties were being lost or forgotten.  There has been an erosion in the diversity of the foods we eat and in the tradition of specialty varieties has been declining while heirloom crops are getting lost in a mire of corporate hybrids. Thousands of native and heirloom varieties have disappeared and continue to do so. We must celebrate the cultural significance of endangered plant species and preserve them.

We have seen Indigenous displacement and the need to retain seeds as the cultural value and as the mandala of a culture.  Honoring a time-old tradition that involves self sustenance and food and seed sovereignty.    It is said that the best hope for securing food’s future may depend on our ability to preserve the locally cultivated foods of the past.

Not so Edible: The Science, Fiction & Facts of GMOS Part III—Seed Savers Sowing Hope

BASIL Planting Calendar

Heirlooms vs Hybrids

Over the recent months, we are often been asked what the difference between heirlooms and hybrids. The answer is quite simple and straight forward.  Heirloom traditionally means that the seed variety has been bred for its  desirable traits, superior taste and vigor, having been passed down from generation to generation.  The common timeframe for a seed to be considered heirloom is usually 50 years and represents that it is an open pollinated cultivar, not hybrid or genetically modified.  Heirlooms are, in essence, a treasure, as they are packed with genetic information. The ritualistic tradition of seed saving,  that has been occurring in our civilization for millennia, was developed using heirloom, open pollinated seeds. Many folks are familiar with the term open pollinated, but are not sure what it represents. In short, open pollinated varieties are non-hybrids and are originated from two open pollinated parents that will create an offspring similar to the parent plant with desired characteristics.  Open pollinated seeds produce offspring that are true-to-type and are pollinated by the wind, insects, birds or other natural ways, they naturally adapt to your local micro climate, your soil and to you, hybrid seeds do not, as they are static.  Open pollinated seeds are not hybrids or are genetically modified.

Heirloom vegetables have been relatively new to the average consumer as of the past 10 – 20 years, but  have been an integral in creating the global food heritage we know of today.  Heirlooms are generally characteristic of their unique appearance, outstanding flavor and texture and of course a compelling history.  Many people are surprised to learn that there are thousands of heirloom  varieties unknown to the public and many of them disappearing.

So why are treasured heirloom varieties disappearing?  Currently, 75% of the global seed market is governed by 10 companies, uniformity, mass production, perishability and transportation are essential in their business model. These represent some of the many characteristics of heirlooms, from their quirky appearance, to their delicate nature and of course their inability to be mass-produced.  The reality is that it took our ancestors 10,000 years to establish the array of foods that are available to us, a mere 100 years we had 96% more varieties to choose from.  So why are heirlooms so much better?  They conserve the genetic diversity of crops, preserve history and culture, promote bio-diversity and  strengthen our eco-system through building soil and creating disease/pest resistant and drought tolerant seeds.

The graph to the left gives an amazingly stark contrast to what has happened in our food system over such a short period of time and the sparse variety that we are left to choose from.  The empowering part about this is that we are at the neck of the hourglass, that point in history, where we can make the right choices that are going to allow our future generations to continue to enjoy rare and delicious vegetable and fruit varieties.

Farmers markets are a wonderful place to begin to  acquaint  yourself with what varieties are being grown, but if you truly want to see what is available, seek out heirloom seed catalogs.  If you are gardener, consider only growing heirlooms and begin to explore some varieties that you may not have ever heard of or even considered, but you can be assisting in the reclamation of many of these treasured seeds.  Most of all, save your seeds and share the with others.  This knowledge is integral in the art of gardening and needs to be reclaimed.  Keep in mind that many of these  heirloom vegetables are not organic, do not let that hinder you from purchasing them.  All you need to do is grow them our for one season organically, save the seed and you technically have an organic seed!  Another wonderful way to support the genetic diversity in our food system is by supporting your local farmers market and/or CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), both support small-scale farms and your local economy.  Not sure where to find those near you?  Check out Local Harvest.

There has been much talk about hybrids lately, both good and bad and ultimately it is a decision  that should be made, understanding what that means.  Hybrid seeds originate from two different parent plants of the same specie, that were genetically crossed to create the hybrid offspring.  Seeds of hybrid varieties can be sterile or commonly fail to breed true to type, usually resulting in plant varieties that you do not know what you are going to get. Hybrids are generally referred to the acronym F1 (means first generation or filial offspring). Either F1 or the word hybrid has to be on the packet or plant to prove that it truly is a hybrid.

Hybrids can be stabilized, which means that the variety can begin to cultivate offspring that are more true to type.  Stabilizing or de-hybridization can take about 8 generations of growing it out, until it gets to a point where the offspring are clearly stabilized.  A common example is the famous Early Girl hybrid tomato, a now stabilized hybrid that became popular among home gardeners for its characteristics in early fruit ripening.  Although it is considered stable, it is still marketed as a hybrid.  It would not be conducive for seed companies to change the classification because then gardeners would begin saving their own seeds and opt out from buying that variety year after year.

These modern hybrids have been developed by large corporations to suit their needs and demands, as they have been bred to yield high while compromising hardiness, pest resistance, flavor and quality.

Generally the hybrid market sets a barrier to the re-integration of seed saving for the simple fact that companies make it very difficult to save hybrid seeds and you generally would not want to.  It is a market that is also dominated in Asia, making the seeds you purchase, adapted to a very different climate and soil.  Keep in mind that Organic seeds can be hybrids, know who you are sourcing your seeds and your starts from.

There is a lot of information available to us and learning  about it, makes us better consumers.  Here at The Living Seed Company, we believe every gardener should have the right to save their own seeds.  Check out our newly created FAQ sheet or frequently asked questions, where we have compiled some of our commonly asked questions on the basis of seed differentiation – enjoy and pass it on!

The greatest service which can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.  – Thomas Jefferson