The SKINNY On Quality Seeds

There are a variety of brands and types of seeds available for purchase at garden centers, the local feed-and-seed and large box stores. Most gardeners have seen identifiers such as: hybrid, heirloom, open pollinated and G.M.O. on packets of seed but do not realize that the differences are buried deeper than the label. The quality of seed is ultimately controlled by it's DNA and the grower who collects it for distribution and sale. The seed grower may be responsible for lower quality seeds because of the variety and selection methods resulting in poor germination rates and weak plants.
Review of Terms:
Hybrid: " an offspring of two plants of different breeds, varieties, species or genera bread for improvements of shelf life, extended travel, to prevent bruising, disease prevention etc."
Heirloom: "a horticultural variety that has survived for several generations usually due to private individuals."
Open Pollinated: "pollinated by natural agencies (as wind or insects) without human intervention." (www.merriam-webster.com)
G.M.O.: Combining genes from different organisms using bio-technology not natural reproduction process. (genomics.energy.gov)

Good Seed Starts With the Grower:
Growers often choose to grow hybrid varieties which means their genetic building blocks have been selected to enhance certain desirable traits. Some of these alterations may be beneficial such as larger longer lasting fruits, disease resistance or drought tolerance. While these characteristics are helpful and profitable, the altered genetic makeup limits the ability to recreate similar successive plants and vegetables from saving their seed. In other words, plants grown from saved hybrid seeds will not breed "true" and will not present the same "enhanced" traits of the parent plants. Open pollinated, non-hybrid heirloom seeds contain genetic material that is consistently reproducible and has a history of being passed from one generation of farmer to the next. In essence, open pollinated, heirloom seeds offer the ability to save seeds to plant the next season. The true essence of recycling!

The grower determines the variety of plant, grows it to maturity and then collects the seed from the vegetable or fruit. The process for seed collection varies by plant species and may require soaking, drying, thrashing and then winnowing. Winnowing is the process of removing husks from seeds by fanning. The seeds that are heavier than chaff remain, lighter seeds with less DNA weight float away with the chaff and land on the growers floor. Unscrupulous growers will package the quality, DNA dense seed as commercial grade for farmers and collect the winnowed byproduct for "seed packet" sales.

In contrast to the micro farmer and home gardener, professional farmers require high quality commercial seed that performs uniformly with a known germination rate. Usually this high grade commercial seed is only sold in large bulk quantities. Farmers who invest thousands of dollars in seed, land, water, time and labor are more willing to sue seed growers for loss of profit and product than a home gardener who spent a dollar on a packet of seed. Gardener's believe it is something they contributed or omitted that results in their plants failing and not the initial seed quality.
Seeds are also adversely affected by the method in which they are stored. The optimal seed storage condition is a temperature of 70 F and thirteen percent air moisture. As the temperature and humidity increase the life span of the seeds decreases. Seed displays are conveniently located at the outdoor checkout counters but vitality of the seeds is being harmed simply by product placement unbeknown to the consumer.

Good Seeds=Good Results:
There are growers who have committed to the "Safe Seed Pledge" which states:
"We pledge that we do not knowingly buy or sell genetically engineered seeds or plants.The mechanical transfer of genetic material outside of natural reproductive methods and between genera, families or kingdoms, poses great biological risks as well as economic, political, and cultural threats. We feel that genetically engineered varieties have been insufficiently tested prior to public release. More research and testing is necessary to further assess the potential risks of genetically engineered seeds. Further, we wish to support agricultural progress that leads to healthier soils, genetically diverse agricultural ecosystems and ultimately people and communities."

Thankfully it is easy to research companies on the internet who have pledged at www.earthlypursuits.com. Purchases of seeds from companies that ascribe to the pledge will assure responsible propagation and procurement practice of high quality seeds. It is beneficial to look for germination rates on packaging. This simple standard shows the seed productivity and is easily left out of labeling on low caliber stock. Check the "packaged for" and expiration date to insure the seed is not old especially on heavily discounted seeds. Avoid packets that are on display outdoors due to unchecked temperatures and humidity. The last tip is to save the package the seed comes in as a reference for those plants that do not germinate, grow or yield well to refrain from buying the same brand in the future.

Favorite suppliers:
Seed Savers Exchange: www.seedsavers.org
Seeds of Change: www.seedsofchange.com
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange: www.southernexposure.com
Park Seed Company: www.parkseed.com
Territorial Seed Company: www.territorial-seed.com
Resources:
"Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times." Steve Solomon. (2005) New Society Publishers.

WWW.SeedSavers.Org

More Tomatoes Please!

Extending The Season #1

The last of the yellow pear tomatoes are ripening and the vines are fading quickly. The reality of sweet flavorful home grown tomatoes is wilting with the vines due to extreme summer heat and varying amount of rain. A quick look at the anemic pale tomatoes in the store selling for three dollars a pound tugs on the wallet and dries the taste buds. Seeds have been saved from the ripened tomatoes but to start plants from seeds takes approximately three months before setting fruit.

How do we capitalize on the existing plant growth this season and advance the time line for picking tomatoes earlier? Urban Garden Magazine published a timely article in the Jul/Aug issue titled "The Tao of Taking Aeroponic Cuttings" as the perfect answer. Although the article addresses propagation for use in an aeroponic system similar principles are applicable in the garden. Cuttings from strong plants provide exact genetic copies of their parent plant and offer an avenue for a "perpetual state of growth." www.urbangardenmagazine.com

Four easy steps to taking a cutting: (p 67-68)
1)Use a clean sharp knife or scissor to clip the stem with growing tip in tact of soft wood plant.
2)Remove excess stem by cutting at a 45 degree angle.
3) Excise most leaves except 4 or 5 around growth tip. The cutting will expend less energy in supporting leaves and put it into root growth resulting in a stronger plant.
4) Apply rooting hormone to the stem of the cutting with a cotton swab. Rooting hormone seals the cutting's edge to reduce shock and promote root growth. There are multiple rooting hormones available commercially and organic home brewed recipes are available online to accommodate the bio-conscious gardener.

Planting your cutting:
5) Prepare clean pots or seedling tray with soil-less mixture of 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 perlite and 1/3 peat moss. This mixture will not contain soil borne pathogens that may damage budding roots.
6) Moisten soil with water.
7) Make a hole in the soil with pencil. Place cutting in the hole. This ensures the hormone remains on the stem and is not removed by pushing the plant into the soil.
8) Water cuttings regularly. The roots should form within 14 day and will be ready to transplant into garden beds or could continue to grow in larger containers.
9) Turn compost into soil in planting hole. Cuttings were buried deep, almost to first leaves.

It will be interesting to document the decrease amount of time needed for bloom set if any. There will be additional posts with pics to see the development.

Then There was Chimchurri

"The Year of the Herb" continues to be prolific. The oregano and parsley have matured along side of the basil which leaves us in a similar predicament of having an abundance of fresh herbs to be preserved. Chimchurri is a South American sauce most famously used in making churrasco steak. It's primary constituents are parsley and oregano. The recipe chosen was very basic to accommodate ingredients already in the kitchen and was found at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chimichurri. Three cups of Chimichurri was processed and then placed in snack sized zip lock bags and frozen.

Chimichurri Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup firmly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, trimmed of thick stems
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 2 Tbsps fresh oregano leaves (can sub 2 teaspoons dried oregano)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp red or white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Method

1 Finely chop the parsley, fresh oregano, and garlic (or process in a food processor several pulses). Place in a small bowl.

2 Stir in the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Adjust seasonings.

Serve immediately or refrigerate. If chilled, return to room temperature before serving. Can keep for a day or two.

Serves 4.

It is defrosted, stirred and used on steak, chicken, pork, potatoes or in eggs. Delicious!

Basil to Pesto

In March of this year we posted our involvement in a local spring garden festival. At the spring fest we were selling vegetable and herb seedlings. An abundance of herb seedlings remained after the show and instead of throwing them in the compost pile we decided this would be the "Year of the Herb" and planted all of the herbs in the garden. The sage, parsley, oregano and basil established themselves and stretched toward the sky.

Initially the lower leaves of the herbs were clipped, wash and laid out to dry to be used later in the year once the plants had faded. As the basil reached eighteen inches it began to flower. It's productivity was prolonged by trimming out the flower heads but action was needed to capture the succulent flavor. After scouring canning cookbooks and multiple websites it was disappointing to learn that herbs are best preserved by freezing and the National Center for Home Food Preservation does not recommend home canning of herbs.

How much frozen basil can one family use? Ready made pesto however is a completely different story. It can be spread on garlic bread and grilled cheese sandwiches, rubbed on meats before cooking, added to pasta and seafood or stirred into salad dressings.


Pesto it is! The leaves were removed from twenty basil plants which was a whopping 72 cups once it was cleaned of all stems and washed three times.

Recipes were scouted for the basic ingredient requirements at http://judyskitchen.blogspot.com and http://thesaucycoq.com for Basil Pecan Pesto and combined with personal modifications. The Pecan pesto recipe was chosen instead of traditional pine nut recipes due to the expense of the Pine nuts and volume of basil that was available. With the modifications and combination of ingredients the final recipe was as follows:

• 4 cups Basil
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan and Romano cheese (equal parts)
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• handful toasted pecans
• 3 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• snack size zip lock bags

1. Wash and remove stems from basil.
2. Spray cast iron skillet with spray olive oil. Toast pecans on medium heat until fragrant. Remove and set aside
   
3. Grate equal amounts Romano and Parmesan cheese
4. Juice limes (1-2)
   
5. Remove skins from garlic cloves
   
6. In food processor coarsely chop basil, garlic and pecans.
7. Add cheese, olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pulse briefly to blend.
8. Scoop from processing bowl with 1/3 cup measuring cup into snack sized zip lock bag.

Makes 1 cup finished pesto. Place bags flat in freezer defrost whole bag or break off small pieces of frozen pesto to defrost and use as needed.

Vegan pesto was made as first and second batch without adding cheese. All other ingredients were the same. Variation number 2: add spicy hot pepper flakes (habenero and purple Peruvian hot peppers). Variation number 3: add 3 additional tablespoons of coarsely chopped peppercorns to pesto just before last pulse.

72 cups of basil= 18 cups of pesto (vegan, regular, peppercorn and spicy varieties). Plenty to share with the five households in our family. To give as gifts, defrost, stir and transfer to small jar. Top with fresh olive oil to cover in order to prevent oxidation and bitterness. The pesto will store in the refrigerator for two weeks. The process from the start of trimming leaves to packing the zip lock bags into the freezer was six hours in total. The final price is about $1.25 per cup versus $4-10 dollars for a store bought jar. Our friends and family will not need to buy pesto for at least a year!

Bio-Conscious

Approximately five years ago a word that was reserved for those products that were perceived as most wholesome and closest to nature started to appear on food packaging with flaming speed. Huge corporations were plastering the term in a variety of bold fonts and colors to lure the public into buying a "healthier" product. The word "organic" was bastardized and diluted by the FDA and USDA because large companies had recognized a budding niche in the grocery industry. Consumers were voting with their dollars by buying products that were grown without the aid of hormones, antibiotics, chemical fertilizers, growth stimulants and insecticides. They were becoming aware agribusinesses and farm corporations were not responsibly using fertilizers and insecticides as evidenced by the accumulation of these additives in the water in addition to other poor farming practices resulting in the degradation of the environment. Agribusiness and grocery corporations wanted to cash in on the new "organic" niche but could not do so with their mono-cropping and petrol-chemical laden practices. Hence, the government relaxed its definition of the terms "Organic and Natural" in November 2005. (Hawken, Paul 1993. The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability) (www.ams.usda.gov)

ORGANIC ORGANIC ORGANIC

Thousands of years of study, recording, seed selection, variety refinement, yield enhancement, advancements in machinery, speedy shipment, and technology have enabled a small group of farmers to feed a majority of Americans. This evolution has increased yields and minimized labor resulting in fruits and vegetables that withstand transport but lack true variety, many rich flavors and possibly contain modified genes, residual pesticides, hormones, chemicals and fertilizers. As home gardeners we want to minimize the use of chemicals while maximizing yield, variety and flavor. This is easy when we live on the land our food comes from. We have a vested interest in maintaining our soil quality and protecting our water while developing tasty nutritious food.

Bio: "...dealing with living organisms and vital processes."
Conscious: "perceiving, apprehending, or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or
observation." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

Bio-Conscious: Dealing with vital processes of organisms with controlled thought and observation.
Advancements in agriculture and farming are not all insidious. In fact, many of them are assets and thus require consideration for use in our plots. For instance, plant varieties that are heat or drought tolerant can produce higher yields in some climates. Additionally, the development of organic practices such as companion planting, composting, fertigation (liquid compost teas applied to leaves), and natural insecticides like pyrethrins and soaps all warrant employment to minimize reliance on petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides. Physical barriers like row cover have been created to allow sunlight and rain to penetrate and regulate temperature but also keep bugs out. Being conscious and managing of all of these components are prudent to a gardener who is optimizing yield with the least environmental impact. However, when an epoch invasion of potato beetles readily decimating plants with your yield and traditional organic methods are failing it would be acceptable to spray a pesticide on the affected plants. Cautiously following the manufacturers' instructions and treating only the infested plants, not widely broadcasting or overhead spraying all of the crops like larger operations. In other words, acting in a bio-conscious manner means to practice organic farming processes with the sparse and responsible utilization of petroleum based products. We do not consider genetically modified organisms/seeds to be bio-conscious due to the lack of knowledge of long term effects on the environment and people.

We are bio-conscious gardeners. To hone the practice means spending a lot of time observing our treasured plants, fertilizing with compost and manures, protecting our soil with green manures, planting flowers amongst the vegetables and fruits to encourage beneficial insects, identifying problems early and using non-organic products only when complete crop loss is at risk and as a last resort.

Garden Varmints!

It has occurred to me that the battle of the varmint is ever changing. It has been a challenge to every gardener, farmer and plants-man since their first planting. The source of the trouble varies not only according to season but also according to the type of animal. The customary squirrel can be outsmarted by a child's pinwheel, an owl decoy or a quiet pellet rifle. Raccoons and bunnies can be trapped with a cage or completely kept outside the garden with an electrical fence around its perimeter. But what do you do with the two legged garden varmint? Yes, the child is cute as she is walking down the street but somehow as she leans and stretches over the fence that harbors the "Danger, don't play here" sign to reach the last of your small berry patch she looses her innocent appeal! Caught in the act of helping herself and briskly asked not to pick the berries the little girl exclaims, "They taste good and the other little boy has jumped over the fence to get them before too."

Of course, this would probably not present a problem if the berry patch was larger or if we were not attempting to grow as much of our food on our micro plot as possible for personal consumption. Dissuading and admonishment did not seem to have much of a discernible impact on the little girl. In fact, she continue to try to reach the berries for a few more minutes. She will surely return when no cars are in the drive way. Perhaps George Orwell correctly wrote "four legs are better than two."

Onions are IN

Red, Spanish and sweet onions planted in the fall have begun to show their scapes and will be ready to harvest soon. The last of the spinach has been plucked over the last week before it succumbed to the warmer temperatures. The potatoes were planted eight weeks ago and the "earlies" are blooming. The rest of the vegetable seeds have been in the soil for five weeks and the vegetables and fruits are springing forth on the tomatoes, beans and tomatillos. The cucumber and zucchini are following closely behind. Meanwhile, friends in Kentucky are just beginning to plant their spring garden and we are weeks from harvesting! In fact, a shipment of seed potatoes that was on back order from a grower was delivered this week and we forwarded it to our noted friends in Kentucky because it is too hot, wet and late in our season to grow them here in Florida. Living in the South has its advantages!