Heritage Seed Swap

[msbear]

Corn, Beans, Peas, everything you would grow in a normal garden. I am only trading them for organic things.

What for? How is an organic seed different from one that isn't? And why couldn't corn, beans, peas be organic?

just curious

 

[wifezilla]

Organic refers to the growing conditions of the plant that makes the seed I thought.

I have organic daikon radish seeds and organic cress seeds. They were actually cheaper than the regular ones since I bought in bulk.

 

[msbear]

I understand what makes them organic... but who really cares and why? Isn't it the way that the fruits are grown that really matter. I like to buy organic greens because I know they are grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers but why sell seeds as "organic?" How does that improve the final product?

 

[HunkieDorie23]

I think the organic thing is too over-rated. Remember last year the First lady planted her "Organic Garden which was a nice thing to do. But then after everything was in the ground and growing it turns out that the whole thing was a sham because of something that the Clinton's had add to the soil when they were in the white house and it could not be considered organic.

Nothing was "WRONG" with the soil or the garden or the veggies, but it wasn't organic. Big freaken deal. But because of the "BIG" organic deal that was made planting the garden then it was perceived as inferior and ruined the whole idea she started out with. And after everything that happened during the primaries you know Bill and Hillary were LOL somewhere.

I don't think we should use chemicals but enough is enough.

 

[dragonlaurel]

Getting "organic seeds" is a guarantee that you wont end up with GMO type seeds. They are not allowed to be labeled organic - no matter what the growing conditions are in the growing stage. Corn and soybeans are Very frequently GMO crops. Get heirloom varieties on those if you don't want GMO.

Organic seeds are not allowed to be treated with fungicides before packaging either.

I thought about going for Organic Farming Certification before but it is so expensive to get certified and you have to do miles of paperwork. That was very discouraging.

Growing the White House Garden with organic methods is still a good idea. Some chemicals are very hard to get rid of in the environment, but why add to it? At least they are trying.

 

[vfem]

Getting "organic seeds" is a guarantee that you wont end up with GMO type seeds. They are not allowed to be labeled organic - no matter what the growing conditions are in the growing stage. Corn and soybeans are Very frequently GMO crops. Get heirloom varieties on those if you don't want GMO.

Organic seeds are not allowed to be treated with fungicides before packaging either.

I thought about going for Organic Farming Certification before but it is so expensive to get certified and you have to do miles of paperwork. That was very discouraging.

Growing the White House Garden with organic methods is still a good idea. Some chemicals are very hard to get rid of in the environment, but why add to it? At least they are trying.

Exactly, you can't control what was there before you (ex BUSH) you may be wading through chemicals... but just because they are already there, at least you are not adding to the problem. Its probably just going to take longer to get rid of the chemicals.

But I could REALLY rant here, but I won't since I'm reading a book that is driving me nutz on the same topic.

 

[dragonlaurel]

I could really rant too but didn't feel like it today. What book, in case I missed it?

 

[HunkieDorie23]

OK well I am going to rant because I can't do it at home. My brother came over last night and then wanted to walk out and look at my garden which is just a big mud thing right now. (History: We are a year apart and have an extreme gardening competition thing going on. ) Anyway, we have extreme opposite gardening ideas. I do what I call natural gardening (not so much organic because of the previous stated reasons) and he is a Chemical Abuser. He said "You should spray your garden now before you till so that you don't have to worry about weeds the first couple of weeks of your garden." When he says spray, he means round up. Yes I am serious. Drives me nuts. He actually sprays the rows of his garden to keep from weeding.

I have tried to talk to him and explain that if you do this it will soak into your soil and be absorded into your plant ..... He says that it doesn't and it says that it is fine for the pets and blah, blah, blah. Is anyone else going crazy reading this because I am crazy typing it.

Another history note. We live in a cancer belt and our father died from cancer at the age of 33. I was 13 and he was 12.

: barnie

 

[897tgigvib]

Seeds that are grown organically for several generations tend to be better to start with for organic gardeners.


It is that selection process at work that makes organically grown seeds better for organic gardeners. They have been SELECTED for several generations to grow well without pesticides or chemical fertilizers.

Seeds that have been grown for generations under chemical conditions are not selected to withstand a few bugs, have not been selected to grow without strong fertilizers, and have not been selected as carefully in general because the organic seed label usually means the seed comes from a smaller family farm, where they know they are expected to produce higher quality seed plants using methods and materials that make the fields appealing to go into personally.

Yes, in general, ORGANIC seeds are better for gardeners who use organic methods. In fact, some of them might just do more poorly being inundated with chemicals. But not many.


It is true that the name ORGANIC has a ton of widely differing definitions. Some definitions count out some bone meals because they are heat processed. That one is too picky to me. If I put my eggshells into my woodstove they are no longer organic because I ashed them?

 

[dragonlaurel]

Hunkie Dorie- Sorry about your Dad. That was way too young to have to lose him. I hope your brother wises up about the chemicals.

marshallsmyth - Good point about the selective breeding.
My budget is tight, so I usually get whatever I can of open pollinated-heritage varieties, then grow them organically. I'd like to step up to the organic seed and see how that works for me.