We're working on our seed orders now. It's almost time to start seedlings
of onions, as well as slow-growing herbs and flowers indoors, so we need
those seeds soon.
Before ordering, we check leftovers from last year. For vegetables such as
summer squash and peppers, the average packet contains enough seeds for
several years worth of plants. If they are stored in a cool, dry place,
many of these seeds will still be good a year, or even two years, later.
Typically, as they get older, fewer of the seeds will germinate, so we
compensate by planting them more thickly. A few types of seeds, such as
parsnips and onions don't keep well at all. These old seeds go into the
compost.
You can find seeds almost anywhere these days, from garden centers to
supermarkets and discount stores. However, since seeds are alive and need
care to maintain their viability, we prefer to order by mail directly from
seed companies. Good seed catalogues are full of helpful information and
offer a large selection. We like to order from the smaller, independent
seed companies that serve this region, carry open-pollinated and heirloom
varieties and use organic techniques. Some of our favorite seed sources,
however, are local gardens and farms, and especially our own farm.
Seeds are critical to our success as gardeners and farmers. They are
compact packages of genetic information and stored food reserves, just
waiting for the conditions found in warm, moist soil in order to germinate
and create tomatoes, carrots, beans and thousands of other delights out of
sunshine, air, water and soil. For most of the last ten thousand years of
human history, seed-saving was something nearly everyone practiced, because
in order to eat and therefore to survive, it was necessary. The grains and
beans which formed the basis of most diets were both seed and food. Grown
in large quantities, the best were saved for planting and the rest were
eaten. Our ancestors did this each year, generation after generation
through the centuries. Variations in climate, soil and techniques from
garden to garden and community to community, accumulated through the years,
creating the incredible diversity which existed over much of our planet
well into this century. These local seeds were integral to life and
culture everywhere. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these varieties
has disappeared.
Seeds for the Longfellow Flint corn we grow came from our friend Mel's
Bloomingfields Farm in Sherman, some years ago. He's been growing this
variety for about two decades, saving seed from the best ears each year for
planting the next. He carries on a tradition and a line of corn, that
began in Central America over 5000 years ago. This particular variety was
growing widely in the northeastern quarter of what is now the United States
when the Europeans arrived. Since wind carries the pollen from a corn
tassel as far as two miles to fertilize another plant, it works best to
save seeds for corn, and other grains, when only one variety is grown.
Beans, in contrast, are primarily self-pollinating. Fertilization occurs
and seeds are formed before the flower opens, so it is possible to grow
many different kinds of beans in a small area and the seeds from each plant
will reproduce their own kind. We have four different types of beans saved
from last year's garden.
Tomatoes and peppers are also self-pollinating, so that we can grow and
save seeds from different varieties of these vegetables, too, if some care
is used. Of course this only works with open-pollinated or non-hybrid
types. Hybrid seeds are the result of a cross between two very different
parents. It is hard to predict how the second generation will turn out.
Seeds from plants that grew in our gardens are likely to do well because
they are adapted to this environment. Seeds have a local nature. Those we
save have a vigor and a readiness to germinate. Our own pepper seeds
always pop up sooner than the ones we buy.
Of course, once we start ordering, it is hard to restrain ourselves. There
are so many delicious vegetables, beautiful flowers and fragrant herbs.
If you would like the names of our favorite seed sources and more
information about worrisome changes in the seed business, send a stamped,
self addressed envelope to Seeds, WSHU, 5151 Park Avenue, Fairfield, CT
06432.
This is Bill Duesing, Living on the Earth
(C) 1999, Bill Duesing, Solar Farm Education, Box 135, Stevenson, CT 06491
Bill and Suzanne Duesing operate the Old Solar Farm (raising NOFA/CT
certified organic vegetables) and Solar Farm Education (working on urban
agriculture projects in southern Connecticut and producing "Living on the
Earth" radio programs). Their collection of essays Living on the Earth:
Eclectic Essays for a Sustainable and Joyful Future is available from Bill
Duesing, Box 135, Stevenson, CT 06491 for $14 postpaid. These essays first
appeared on WSHU, public radio from Fairfield, CT. New essays are posted
weekly at http://www.wshu.org/duesing and those since November 1995 are
available there.
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