Neko-chan
Lovin' The Homestead
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- Thread starter Neko-chan
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me&thegals
A Major Squash & Pumpkin Lover
I think some simply don't advertise. For example, a company selling rice may advertise it as gluten-free, and another may not. They're both GF, but not both are labeled that way...
dragonlaurel
Improvising a more SS life
I buy some heirloom seeds that aren't advertised that way too. May as well save the $ where we can and use it on other ones that were harder to find.
I agree with Moolie. At some point (not all that long ago; certainly within the time that I have been actively gardening) someone started advertising their older open pollinated seeds (OP) as heirloom veggies, to differentiate them, I suppose, from newer sorts, and more and more seed companies have jumped on that bandwagon. It sounds so much better, doesn't it? More wholesome somehow, like something that Grandma would have had in her garden (and, of course, she very well may have had 
). But, in the process of this advertising, the idea has emerged that anything that isn't *heirloom* may be nasty hybrids, which have also now begun to be thought of as the same as, or at least as bad as, GMO/Monsanto. Which is not necessarily the case.
If you want to grow plants from which you can save the seeds you will need OP seeds, which can be older varieties (*heirloom*) or newer varieties, of which there are some around. Hybrids are just two varieties that have been crossed to produce stronger/prettier/hardier/etc. offspring - these crosses can be helped along by farmers/plant breeders with their sexy little paintbrushes, taking pollen from one plant, and introducing it to another plant; or they can happen quite naturally with the help of bees/moths/the wind. You could save the seeds of these hybrids too, but it would be a toss up as to how good the resulting plant would be. And then there is GMO, which is putting genes from absolutely foreign material into the cells of plants, and is done in a laboratory - and could never be the result of a chance encounter with a bee (in the first instance that is; already manufactured GMO crops, as Moolie points out, are crossing with non-GMO sorts out in the field)
I buy open pollinated seeds by preference, though sometimes hybrids are really the way to go in certain circumstances - in a borderline growing zone, for instance, the extra hardiness of some hybrids makes it more likely that one will actually get a crop. My understanding is that GMO seeds are not (yet) available for gardeners, though perhaps I am wrong in that.
). But, in the process of this advertising, the idea has emerged that anything that isn't *heirloom* may be nasty hybrids, which have also now begun to be thought of as the same as, or at least as bad as, GMO/Monsanto. Which is not necessarily the case. If you want to grow plants from which you can save the seeds you will need OP seeds, which can be older varieties (*heirloom*) or newer varieties, of which there are some around. Hybrids are just two varieties that have been crossed to produce stronger/prettier/hardier/etc. offspring - these crosses can be helped along by farmers/plant breeders with their sexy little paintbrushes, taking pollen from one plant, and introducing it to another plant; or they can happen quite naturally with the help of bees/moths/the wind. You could save the seeds of these hybrids too, but it would be a toss up as to how good the resulting plant would be. And then there is GMO, which is putting genes from absolutely foreign material into the cells of plants, and is done in a laboratory - and could never be the result of a chance encounter with a bee (in the first instance that is; already manufactured GMO crops, as Moolie points out, are crossing with non-GMO sorts out in the field)
I buy open pollinated seeds by preference, though sometimes hybrids are really the way to go in certain circumstances - in a borderline growing zone, for instance, the extra hardiness of some hybrids makes it more likely that one will actually get a crop. My understanding is that GMO seeds are not (yet) available for gardeners, though perhaps I am wrong in that.
Emerald
Lovin' The Homestead
On a gardening forum I am a member of we all did a bit of researching and found that the seeds that are sold by walmart under the American label and are .20 are usually the more common older heirloom seeds... like the Rutgers and Brandywine tomatoes they had. I only found a couple that stated that they were hybrids. In fact the Muncher cucumbers I got for the twenty cent packs where some of the best I've grown in a long time.. Open pollinated too.
With a bit of help most OP or Heirloom veggies can be saved for the next year and be pure seed that reproduces the same fruit the next year.
Once you get a few nice OP veggies saved you can start trading for those that you don't have. That is how I built up my collection.
I figure that the more variety's we keep going the better the world will be. And safer with all that genetic diversity!
With a bit of help most OP or Heirloom veggies can be saved for the next year and be pure seed that reproduces the same fruit the next year.
Once you get a few nice OP veggies saved you can start trading for those that you don't have. That is how I built up my collection.
I figure that the more variety's we keep going the better the world will be. And safer with all that genetic diversity!
It has to do with intellectual-property law. Basically, there's no protection, so the competitive advantage of a seed-distribution company is its catalog, selection, and service.Neko-chan said:
I hope there's enough money in it that these companies can survive. It's all fine and good to think extreme SS thoughts, but I think we all need an economy. I want to be able to buy seeds, canning-jar lids, etc.
me&thegals
A Major Squash & Pumpkin Lover
According to Wikipedia: "An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, or (especially in the UK) heirloom vegetable is a cultivar that was commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but which is not used in modern large-scale agriculture. Many heirloom vegetables have kept their traits through open pollination, while fruit varieties such as apples have been propagated over the centuries through grafts and cuttings. The trend of growing heirloom plants in gardens has been growing in popularity in North America and Europe over the last decade."
I'm not sure what that would have to do with intellectual property. As heirloom seeds just WERE and were not developed, how could someone fight for the right to name them or claim them as heirloom? Another place mentioned heirloom as non-hybrid and in production for 50 years or more.
I'm not sure what that would have to do with intellectual property. As heirloom seeds just WERE and were not developed, how could someone fight for the right to name them or claim them as heirloom? Another place mentioned heirloom as non-hybrid and in production for 50 years or more.
It's the modern hybrid seeds that have been trademarked, not the heirlooms. In cases where a seed company developed a particular heirloom variety, there may still be a trademark on the name, but it's impossible to track seed savers so there's no teeth to the name trademark on an OP seed variety because the name doesn't matter, only the viability of the seed. The name only serves to identify it, and people will continue to use the name for convenience.me&thegals said:
