Sources of Organic Garden Seeds

Sources of Organic Garden Seeds

Article by John Wishley

If you intend to sell USDA Certified Organic produce, you must use organic garden seeds to grow your vegetables and plants. Organic garden seeds are completely natural and grown under the same organic conditions as your vegetables. Organic garden seeds come from either open-pollinated plants or hybrids, but they may not come from genetically modified stock. All organic garden seeds must be GMO-free.

You might be thinking why it matters if the seed comes from a plant that was grown in chemically altered soil, or if pesticides were used on the plant. Pesticides and chemical fertilizers can alter the DNA of plant seeds. The seeds may not germinate well and they may not produce well. Not to mention the impact of such food produce on your health.

Heritage Organic Garden Seeds

Heritage organic garden seeds are organically grown seeds from old, non-hybridized varieties of plants. Hybridized varieties of plants have been developed to produce specific qualities, which generally enhance the characteristics of the plant. Hybridized produce may be larger, juicier, more colorful, more flavorful, and more insect-resistant or may have a longer shelf-life than the original varieties of the plant. Hybridization is an ancient agricultural practice, and it has produced many wonderful plant varieties.

Hybridization does have some problems, though. The biggest problem is that you can’t save the seed from hybrids, because they don’t breed predictably. Growing plants from hybrid organic garden seed often has unpredictable results – the growing plants could have any mix of characteristics from the parent plants, but won’t have the characteristics of the hybrid.

Another problem with hybridization is that we are in danger of losing some varieties of plants. If the plants fail to develop certain characteristics, they aren’t grown. And the genetic stock becomes lost. Nearly all of the organic garden seeds available in the US are hybridized seeds. If the parent stock is lost, we may not have a source of new seed.

Heritage Organic Garden Seeds

Many gardeners are unanimous in the opinion that vegetables grown from heritage organic garden seeds are more flavorful than hybridized vegetables. So, many organic gardening followers prefer to use heritage organic garden seeds for their gardens. Basically, heritage organic garden seeds mean that you save the seeds from your plants to be used the next year. You can also join a seed-saver group and trade heritage organic garden seeds with other people. By saving and trading heritage organic garden seeds you can preserve older varieties of plants, and even provide a “back up” source of seeds whenever it might be required.

About the Author

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