On Friday the 13th, We Peruse Seed Catalogs

With heavy, cold winds today, we stayed inside as much as we could. Quite a change from our first winter here, when I was so frenetically concerned with progress, I sent Phil out to build fence in similar weather. He remembered today, after he brought a hay bale to the cows, how long it took for his chilled hands to thaw out, after he struggled to put up five cattle panels. Today, five cattle panels takes him perhaps 15 minutes, especially if he's not out working in the cold wind.

While I made dinner, I listened to a lecturer emphasize the importance of school gardens, in part as a way of providing hope to the young people of today. My favorite catalog for this area, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, hasn't arrived yet (I'm guessing the postal service lost it, so I have another one on order), but the boys and I had a rousing discussion over dinner.

What to look for in a catalog? Preferably, you want one that produces seeds close to your environment. That's why Southern Exposure is my favorite choice: their place is about an hour from me.

Also important to us: a catalog that proudly refuses to sell genetically modified seeds (find a list of GM-free seed catalogs at the Safe Seed Resource list). Which leads us to another interesting topic.

While heirloom seeds have been grown for over 50 years, and open-pollinated seeds reproduce naturally (so you can save them year to year), hybrid seeds have been, basically, inbred. They have, generally, advantages of size, uniformity of appearance, and sturdiness during transport, which make them good candidates for commercial growers. However, the brilliant and fascinating William Woys Weaver makes a good case for the improved nutrition, taste, and interest of the open-pollinated varieties. I try to use open-pollinated seeds. Last year, I had a difficult time sourcing organic onion seeds, and so opted for hybrid onions; this year, I hope to use no hybrids.

But worse than all are genetically modified seeds. These "frankenseeds" have had bits of foreign genes shot into their genetic material, randomly. Just like I would prefer not to have a bit of fish genes spliced into my genetic code, I imagine the tomato doesn't much appreciate it, either. The apparent benefit to GM seeds is that a person can spray the plant with glyphosate and the plant won't die. This makes farming and growing very easy: plant, spray, harvest. However, despite whatever "evidence" is offered for the non-persistence of glyphosate in the environment, I don't believe it.

And Jeffrey Smith has produced several well-documented books on GM foods. Avoid genetically modified foods at all costs.

So open-pollinated, maybe heirloom seeds are the way to go. Beyond that, organic seeds have been grown with (hopefully) a dedication to healthy soils, healthy crops, and healthy people. Biodynamic seeds (such as those from Turtle Tree) have gone beyond organic, incorporating the influences of the stars and planets in their cultivation. (Does that seem too bizarre? I think the butterfly effect is fairly well known, in which a small change at the outset can result in large changes in the end. Using the cosmos, like the effects of the moon, makes sense to me.)

The boys and I then spent some time looking through various catalogs. We had to figure out the various symbols, but Isaiah enjoyed the flower and herb sections of one catalog; Jadon looked at an entire flower catalog. He and I both drooled over some of the more striking displays: lupines, fuchsia, dahlia, astrantia. Amazing the colors and diversity.

Although we didn't get far enough in our conversation to talk through actually selecting which vegetables we think we might like to grow, and then choosing varieties based on need and taste, I was surprised by their enthusiasm with the "magazines," as Isaiah called them. When finished with the flowers, Jadon actually sat and read descriptions, one after another, in the Seeds from Italy catalog: a family business that started the year we finished the American Revolution (1783!) and has remained in the family ever since.

It's the first time I've felt like this coming growing season is something to look forward to. After the colossal flop of last year, I haven't been much interested.