5 ms·

Lets also not forget that the heritage varieties by nature are not hybrid seeds which means that seed can be kept from the plants and planted the following year

Lets also not forget that the heritage varieties by nature are not hybrid seeds which means that seed can be kept from the plants and planted the following year. If you take most commercial seed stock it's hybridised resulting in the seed stock being tied to suppliers and not being replantable. without trying to sound like a paranoid nutbag from abovetopsecret.com, the latter is a serious risk to the food chain. The moment someone allows hybrids to be patented, we all starve. Monsanto are actively working on this. I've been growing about 200kg a year of non hybrid heritage vegetables for about 10 years in the London suburbs. Totally different to the crap they sell in the supermarkets.

micheljansen 14y ago
Any advice on getting started? How do you bootstrap (get seeds etc.)?
- chadyj 14y ago
  Amazon has a large selection of Heirloom seeds, but there are many other niche clubs out there that trade the seeds globally. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=heirloom+seeds http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dap...
- DanBC 14y ago
  You search for societies aimed at sharing seeds. There are weird EU laws around selling seeds - any seed has to be on a list and many heritage seeds are not. Thus, people do not sell seeds, but sell access to a club through which you'll get seeds. (http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/members/seed_saving/introduction.php http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/members/seed_saving/introduc...) (http://www.ukabc.org/seedawrd.htm http://www.ukabc.org/seedawrd.htm) (http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/articles/psss-want-to-buy-some-seeds http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/articles/psss-want-to-buy...) I did some voluntary work on an allotment, and I met some of the old geezers working on nearby plots and we'd share potatoes and tomatoes. It was great fun, and we got some great food from it.
- Alex3917 14y ago
  This book on tomatoes has gotten pretty good reviews: Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato There are a bunch of sites where you can get 300+ different tomotato species, and there are also some websites that list all the various seed companies from around the world. Also, the NYT just had a favorable interview with the author of Heart Of Dankness, a new book about growers who travel to exotic countries to find new landrace strains of marijuana and then breed them to compete in the cannabis cup. That requires a much larger commitment to the craft that just growing tomatoes though.
- ticks 14y ago
  There are quite a few forums out there that do seed swaps/parcels for established members. You can often get rare varieties for very little cost, while passing some of your own collection on for others to grow. It is probably something to try later on, but worth joining gardening forums that do it (so that you can have enough posts) to take part.
tsotha 14y ago
There's nothing wrong with hybrids for commercial agriculture - we couldn't grow enough food to feed everyone without them. They're tougher, grow faster, and yields are better. There are seed banks where natural varieties are saved, and you can bet Companies like Monsanto have a seed library that covers just about everything on the planet you can grow from a seed (or a bulb or a cutting or whatever). But for home gardening I stick to heirloom varieties as myself. They're harder to grow, but it's not like you're using commercial farming techniques. If you get a good variety you can trade with your friends. It's a pain to dry seeds, though, and sometimes you go through all the trouble and for whatever reason they won't sprout when you plant them.
- IsTom 14y ago
  we couldn't grow enough food to feed everyone without them We'd just eat more potatoes compared to wheat/fruits.
- gouranga 14y ago
  We could grow enough with no problems at all. The issue at the moment is we throw food away by the boatload. We also tend to grow epic amounts of money crops and livestock and nothing else. There's plenty of land to grow non hybrids worldwide. To be honest I've found the heirloom varieties, especially tomatoes, easier to grow. They don't seem susceptible to the mainstream pest and virus infections. We use a dehydrator to dry seed. Works wonders :) I've seen a good 70% germination rate. We plant 2 seeds of everything per cell to guarantee success. In some cases such as chillis we germinate in sealed ziplock bags first.
  - JumpCrisscross 14y ago
    >We could grow enough [food] with no problems at all Productivity of American agriculture has "tripled" from colonial times, "the result of many factors, including use of fertilizer, and pesticides, introduction of farm machinery, development of hybrid strains, and increased knowledge about farm management practices" [1]. Switching back to archaic modes of production would mean regressing towards a time "when 9 out of 10 working persons were employed on a farm" (versus 3% today producing a domestic surplus). As the article linked to notes, we need to modify our practices in light of changing energy and ecological realities. A lot of promise towards resolving these issues comes from genetically manipulating our food sources. An essentially Luddite reaction that flies in the face of the broad opinion of the academic agricultural and food science communities isn't rational. [1] http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/facts-slides-self/facts/mod-ag-grw85.aspx http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/facts-slides-self/facts/mod-ag-g...
tezmc 14y ago
I'm not sure I'd say that most commercial seed stock is hybridised. I'm in the UK too and in my experience most varieties you can buy are still the kind where you can harvest seeds and plant again the following year. That said, I ignore the hybrid F1 varieties too. Mainly because I enjoy harvesting my own seeds and selecting the best (or weirdest mutations) each year that are best adapted to conditions where I live. Hybrids can be pretty expensive too and you generally only get a few seeds.
- gouranga 14y ago
  Try http://www.realseeds.co.uk/ http://www.realseeds.co.uk/ - great people and very cheap and generous.
  - tezmc 14y ago
    Thanks for reminding me about them! I ordered a catalogue from them a couple of years ago but never got around to ordering anything. I'll definitely take another look.
    - gouranga 14y ago
      Good stuff - I recommend their 'Cherokee Trail of Tears' beans, 'Frise Vert Fonce' Parsley and 'Reine des Glaces' lettuce (which is the most awesome thing I've grown in quantity - I spilled some seed in my lawn and loads popped up so I left them as well!).

micheljansen 14y ago

Any advice on getting started? How do you bootstrap (get seeds etc.)?

chadyj 14y ago
Amazon has a large selection of Heirloom seeds, but there are many other niche clubs out there that trade the seeds globally. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=heirloom+seeds http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dap...
DanBC 14y ago
You search for societies aimed at sharing seeds. There are weird EU laws around selling seeds - any seed has to be on a list and many heritage seeds are not. Thus, people do not sell seeds, but sell access to a club through which you'll get seeds. (http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/members/seed_saving/introduction.php http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/members/seed_saving/introduc...) (http://www.ukabc.org/seedawrd.htm http://www.ukabc.org/seedawrd.htm) (http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/articles/psss-want-to-buy-some-seeds http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/articles/psss-want-to-buy...) I did some voluntary work on an allotment, and I met some of the old geezers working on nearby plots and we'd share potatoes and tomatoes. It was great fun, and we got some great food from it.
Alex3917 14y ago
This book on tomatoes has gotten pretty good reviews: Ripe: The Search for the Perfect Tomato There are a bunch of sites where you can get 300+ different tomotato species, and there are also some websites that list all the various seed companies from around the world. Also, the NYT just had a favorable interview with the author of Heart Of Dankness, a new book about growers who travel to exotic countries to find new landrace strains of marijuana and then breed them to compete in the cannabis cup. That requires a much larger commitment to the craft that just growing tomatoes though.
ticks 14y ago
There are quite a few forums out there that do seed swaps/parcels for established members. You can often get rare varieties for very little cost, while passing some of your own collection on for others to grow. It is probably something to try later on, but worth joining gardening forums that do it (so that you can have enough posts) to take part.

tsotha 14y ago

There's nothing wrong with hybrids for commercial agriculture - we couldn't grow enough food to feed everyone without them. They're tougher, grow faster, and yields are better. There are seed banks where natural varieties are saved, and you can bet Companies like Monsanto have a seed library that covers just about everything on the planet you can grow from a seed (or a bulb or a cutting or whatever). But for home gardening I stick to heirloom varieties as myself. They're harder to grow, but it's not like you're using commercial farming techniques. If you get a good variety you can trade with your friends. It's a pain to dry seeds, though, and sometimes you go through all the trouble and for whatever reason they won't sprout when you plant them.

IsTom 14y ago
we couldn't grow enough food to feed everyone without them We'd just eat more potatoes compared to wheat/fruits.
gouranga 14y ago
We could grow enough with no problems at all. The issue at the moment is we throw food away by the boatload. We also tend to grow epic amounts of money crops and livestock and nothing else. There's plenty of land to grow non hybrids worldwide. To be honest I've found the heirloom varieties, especially tomatoes, easier to grow. They don't seem susceptible to the mainstream pest and virus infections. We use a dehydrator to dry seed. Works wonders :) I've seen a good 70% germination rate. We plant 2 seeds of everything per cell to guarantee success. In some cases such as chillis we germinate in sealed ziplock bags first.
- JumpCrisscross 14y ago
  >We could grow enough [food] with no problems at all Productivity of American agriculture has "tripled" from colonial times, "the result of many factors, including use of fertilizer, and pesticides, introduction of farm machinery, development of hybrid strains, and increased knowledge about farm management practices" [1]. Switching back to archaic modes of production would mean regressing towards a time "when 9 out of 10 working persons were employed on a farm" (versus 3% today producing a domestic surplus). As the article linked to notes, we need to modify our practices in light of changing energy and ecological realities. A lot of promise towards resolving these issues comes from genetically manipulating our food sources. An essentially Luddite reaction that flies in the face of the broad opinion of the academic agricultural and food science communities isn't rational. [1] http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/facts-slides-self/facts/mod-ag-grw85.aspx http://psep.cce.cornell.edu/facts-slides-self/facts/mod-ag-g...

tezmc 14y ago

I'm not sure I'd say that most commercial seed stock is hybridised. I'm in the UK too and in my experience most varieties you can buy are still the kind where you can harvest seeds and plant again the following year. That said, I ignore the hybrid F1 varieties too. Mainly because I enjoy harvesting my own seeds and selecting the best (or weirdest mutations) each year that are best adapted to conditions where I live. Hybrids can be pretty expensive too and you generally only get a few seeds.

gouranga 14y ago
Try http://www.realseeds.co.uk/ http://www.realseeds.co.uk/ - great people and very cheap and generous.
- tezmc 14y ago
  Thanks for reminding me about them! I ordered a catalogue from them a couple of years ago but never got around to ordering anything. I'll definitely take another look.
  - gouranga 14y ago
    Good stuff - I recommend their 'Cherokee Trail of Tears' beans, 'Frise Vert Fonce' Parsley and 'Reine des Glaces' lettuce (which is the most awesome thing I've grown in quantity - I spilled some seed in my lawn and loads popped up so I left them as well!).