This gardening year marked the advent of my first seed saving year from the garden. Not all has turned out as I expected, but…this is gardening. I have wanted to accomplish this feat for years, but because of past obligations concerning time; I just never did. And I suppose that many of you hobby, and even fanatical gardeners are much the same way. However, if you can at all swing the time…I think you would find it very satisfying.
The most important aspect of saving your own seeds is that you will contribute to saving some of the many species of fruits and vegetables that are disappearing every year due to lack of interest. After all, it’s the grocery stores that determine most of the world market in both supply and demand. And if the Purple Potato is not selling well in your local produce department, then next year the farmer will not grow them and produce something else that will sell; which of course, is the more popular Russet Potato. This is happening more than you may realize. There is an excellent article on Sustainable Nutrition that will open your eyes to the fact that we have lost many of the heirloom fruits and vegetables just because there is not enough of a market to sustain them.
You and I have the unique opportunity of sustaining many of the heirlooms that are available today and we will profit in many ways from their special heritage.
One of the most valuable traits is the fact that we won’t have to buy all of those expensive seeds anymore. Don’t think they are that expensive? Think again! You could be paying as much as $2500.00 a pound for carrot seeds. Here is an interesting comparison by Robert Wayne.
A Quick Comparison of Vegetable Seeds to Silver Dollars
The small seed envelopes available for sale at hardware stores and supermarkets are generally priced between $0.97 to $1.69 per package. Each individual package usually contains somewhere between 100 mg to 3.5 g of seed, with an average of 900 mg of seeds per package. 1000 mg equals 1 gram and 1 gram equals 0.035 standard ounces. Therefore 900 mg equals approximately 0.0315 standard ounces or 0.0287 troy ounces. If the average seed package contains 900 mg of seeds and cost $0.97 then that is equivalent to $33.80 per troy ounce, which far exceeds the current market price of a one-ounce United States Silver Eagle. (Note: $0.97 / 0.0287 troy ounce = $33.80 per troy ounce.)
Therefore, in today’s normal global economy, seeds are more expensive per ounce than pure refined silver. And history has repeatedly demonstrated that during serious worldwide famine conditions, food and seeds eventually become more valuable than gold.
We look at that $0.99 on a package of seeds and think…“ that’s not really to bad” until we look at Robert Wayne’s comparison and then think “ maybe I could save a few of my own seeds”, however; that is not the only benefit. According to Mother Earth News the value could far exceed the initial cost of seed.
Let me first say that in order to save your own seeds, you first have to plant Heirloom Seeds. The main reason of course; is because the big seed companies like Mansanto and a couple others, have genetically changed many of our seeds that have taken both flavor and nutrition from our tables. This is called Genetically Modified Foods. They make the seed this bug proof, and that disease proof along with producing earlier and yielding more until you have a product that looks good…but has little value. And the main point in fact is that these seeds cannot reproduce themselves. They come up once at that's it!
This year I ordered most of my seed from an online Heirloom Seed Company. Now Heirlooms are not that much more expensive than the department store seeds, but the great part is that you only have to buy them once. The initial cost is a little more expensive, but next year I don’t have to buy near as many seeds and because of how seed saving works; I will only have to buy a few packages next year. This is because it takes two years for some of the seed saving process.
If you are just getting started (as I am ) in the seed saving process, then I would go online and look for some books on the subject. There is no end to the supply or information on this art.
Anyway, I had a few problems to start off with some of the seed. They were certainly alright, but some of them were packaged incorrectly which gave me a bit of a surprise, but…that was really quite alright. I would look online, or order some of the Heirloom catalogs and make your choice based upon guarantee and not on price. Some companies will give you a guaranteed growth and some will not even mention it. Look for the obvious!
So far I am very happy with the production and the taste of my Heirloom Veggies. The flavor is fantastic and in my opinion…the yield has been no less from the hybrid junk. I fought off a few bugs, horn worms and a little blossom end rot, but that’s to be expected with Heirlooms.
My advice…plant enough for both you and the bugs and you’ll have more than enough for all of you. Of course, if you use my bug juice; you won’t lose to awful much.
I’ll write a little more on this subject a little later because my garden is just now starting to come to an end and I’m just now starting the seed saving process.
Go Heirlooms!
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