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seed-saving, seed-buying, seed-sharing

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

Kragen wrote:
>There are some things I learned investigating the Terminator technology
>that others here might be interested in.

With great restraint <g>, I'm not going to respond to those *things you
learned* since Geri Guidetti's article (for which I provided the URL)
answers most of them, I think. I hope that anyone even remotely curious
read that.

>So, to bring this back on topic: are there a lot of heirloom-seed
>gardeners on this list?  Any sources near Dayton, Ohio, I should look
>at?

I'm providing a list of resources at the end. I can't say I personally
wouldn't EVER (or haven't) used hybrid seeds or plants, but my strong
preference is for open-pollinated and/or heirloom seeds, for a variety of
reasons. My goal is 100%.  

BTW, all heirloom seeds are by definition open-pollinated (aka non-hybrid),
but not all open-pollinated seeds are considered heirloom. I don't know for
sure what the determinator for *heirloom* is, tho I suspect it has to do
with age of the variety, and perhaps heritage. Heirloom seeds have a
*history* which is often fascinating -- even romantic. Brought over from
Russia; developed by the Amish or Mennonites; handed down for generations
in the same family; originally from Native Americans; first known during
the Civil War; brought to Oregon by settlers; etc. All sorts of interesting
stories.

There ARE advantages to using hybrid seed, I feel obligated to point out,
but not for all crops. Hybrids have been specifically bred for various
qualities (depending on the hybrid itself), including disease resistence in
some cases. The catalog descriptions should offer a clue. For some crops,
corn for example, it's not even easy to find non-hybrid varieties. But
there are non-hybrid and heirloom tomatoes galore! Yum. Conversely, I can't
say I've seen any hybrid herbs. I imagine there's no real money in it,
thankfully -- which will give you a clue as to why you won't find many
hybrid varieties of certain other veggies, the ones not many people grow
(kale, collards, eggplant, the like).

In catalogs, hybrid seeds are (or should be) identified either by the word
hybrid, or F1, which means the first generation. If you can ever find an F6
hybrid, I'm told those seeds CAN be saved and should breed true. But you're
unlikely to find many (any?) of those for sale. Most of the organizations
in the list below offer mainly, and some entirely, OP and/or heirloom
seeds. Some offer certified organic seed.

If you have no interest in saving seeds, the only reasons to use OP or
heirloom seeds is for what an individual variety might offer, I guess, or
for the fun of it. Or, of course, to support genetic diversity and that
particular sector of the seed trade -- reason enough IMO.

For those who ARE saving their own seeds or want to, or for anyone who has
more seeds than they can currently use for some other reason, I recently
found a wonderful place to share those seeds and help people -- the
AgriFuture Foundation. This organization accepts seed donations for rural
woman and victims of natural disasters in the Americas. This initiative
began with some folks on the internet in response to the utter devastation
of Hurricane Mitch.  

The URL is http://www.agrifuture.org  -- click on Sembremos, Seeds of Hope.
OR, you can just send your seeds weighing less than 50 pounds total to: 

AgriFuture Foundation,
1775 K st. NW, # 320
Washington, DC 20006

For more than 50#, contact the foundation for different instructions.

Their website has a list of seeds they especially need, but my impression
from correspondence was that they'd accept any (viable) seeds. I don't know
about you folks, but I had a single oregano plant last year that gave me
more seeds than I could possibly use in my lifetime. I have other seeds to
donate as well. If you're growing OP varieties of just about anything, it
would be fun (IMO) to specifically plan to save some for this organization.


BOOKS on seed saving (as long as we're on the topic):

Seed to Seed, Suzanne Ashworth
Saving Seeds, Marc Rogers
Seed Sowing and Saving, Carole B. Turner  (my favorite of the 3)


Some ON-LINE SOURCES for OP (non-hybrid) and heirloom seeds:

Johnny's		http://www.johnnyseed.com
Shumway		http://www.rhshumway.com
Cook's Garden 		http://www.cooksgarden.com
Shepherd's Garden 	http://www.shepherdseeds.com
Burpee			http://www.burpee.com    (separate catalog of heirloom)
Pinetree Garden Seeds	http://www.superseeds.com
Heirloom Seeds		http://www.heirloomseeds.com
Territorial Seeds Co.	http://www.territorial-seed.com
Gurney's		http://www.MySeasons.com  (not biggest selection tho)
Seeds of Change	http://store.yahoo.com/seedsofchange/

Seed Savers Exchange	http://www.seedsavers.org
This is a non-profit organization devoted to preserving our genetic
heritage. It has 8000 members who grow, save and offer heirloom seeds for
sale at modest price. The $30 membership gives you a year's worth of their
quarterly pubs, which includes this immense and fascinating *yearbook*
catalog of member offerings. There's also a catalog from Seed Savers itself
included as well. Definitely worth it if one is interested in buying or
just supporting OP / Heirloom seeds.

HERBS (especially medicinal):
Richter's		http://www.richters.com/       (unbelievable selection, also
plants)
Thyme Garden		http://www.thymegarden.com/
Horizon Herbs		http://www.chatlink.com/~herbseed/
Garden Medicinals	http://www.gardenmedicinals.com/   (also culinary)

OTHER SOURCES (not on-line -- that I know of):

Sand Hill Preservation Center
Heirloom Seeds & Poultry  [yes, rare heirloom poultry breeds]
1878 230th Street
Calamus, IA   52728
319-246-2299 (Please No Sunday or Monday calls or after 9:45 pm)

Vermont Bean Seed Company
Garden Lane
Fair Haven, VT  05743-0250
803-663-0217

Fedco Seeds 
P.O. Box 520
Waterville, ME  04903-0520
207-873-7333

I'm sure there are other sources, but these are the ones I'm familiar with.
None in Dayton, OH. <g> Actually, now that I think of it, I've bought some
Ferry-Morse seed at Wal-Mart I think are OP varieties, and some of Martha
Stewart's seeds at K-Mart are labeled Heirloom varieties.

Seed-savingly yours,

Patricia

P.S. While grabbing the URL for Seeds of Change, I noticed they have a new
book, Gardening for the Future of the Earth. Here's a link to a description
and an excerpt from the foreward. Looks like another must have for my
bookshelf.  http://store.yahoo.com/seedsofchange/ournewbookne.html


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