Seed selection and saving
In this new climate we need to protect and improve our soil to grow sufficient crops. However, good land doesn't do much good without good seeds. We must protect and improve the seeds we need to grow those crops in this changing climate to survive and thrive.
As a gardener I’ve long been interested in growing the best vegetables possible. Before high school I had a good size garden. With paper route money I subscribed to Organic Gardening and Farming for ways to improve my garden. I tried the hybrid seeds and plants sold in the mass market and generally didn’t find them significant better, and commonly not as tasty, as heritage/heirloom varieties.
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| I hope he had good yam cuttings for his garden with the work he is doing |
These varieties allowed me to save seeds that were true. I could select the plants that did well in my microclimate and select for taste, color, early production, whatever. I wanted plants that didn’t require the chemicals or coddling sometimes needed by high performance commercial hybrid varieties.
I liked saving some of the seeds I needed. (I would buy biennials seeds, e.g. carrots and others I didn’t want to save seed from, e.g. lettuce.) In addition, I belonged to a co-op that promoted a seed exchange so I could trade for other varieties.
Small farming and gardening
I’m NOT against hybrid strictly speaking. It’s just that the hybrid might have been selected for standard size, shelf life and other factors that I didn’t need as a home gardener most interested in flavor.
There are cases when hybrids can mean the difference between profit and loss for farmers. However, these hybrids might require growth conditions not generally present in poorer areas without the import and purchase of fertilizers and other chemicals.
I’m not a fan of taking genes from one species and slamming it into another. In my opinion GMOs have too many unknowns, too much cost, and are too closely tied to an industrial system of buying additional chemicals and restricting seed saving. The fewer industrial chemical involved in our food supply the better. As I said, I subscribed to Organic Farming and Gardening before I entered high school.
In the developing world importing these seeds and other agricultural products are expensive and can be disrupted by economic, political, or environmental factors. Saving seeds of local cultivars provides resilience and closes a loop in the local economy. Local and regional agricultural experts could supply biennials and other seeds tailored for growing conditions while maintaining a seed bank for important landraces.
Farmers and gardeners on the edge have to know their land, environment, and crops very well. However, they might not have capital to invest in commercial seeds and such. They are able to develop local cultivars, landraces, by selective breeding and seed saving to produce crops with desired characteristics and that thrive in their local environment. I think farmers should be encouraged to leverage this skill and activity.
Charlie Brown need not apply. I love Charles, but I’m not interested in saving his Christmas tree. It never should have been grown to market in the first place. Poor weak plants should be purged. Don’t produce well? Purge. Don’t produce the quality or characteristics desired? Purge. I don’t want their seeds and I don’t want their pollen. Productive plants that can resist pests and disease are better than those that have to be nursed along.
I’m skipping over a lot of important information such open versus closed pollinators, cross verses self pollinators. Also methods of actually saving seeds, such as those from pulses (e.g. dried beans) versus fruit seeds (e.g. tomatoes).
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| If I wanted taller stalks of millet (used for fodder and fences) I would select from the higher plants, otherwise if I wanted more efficient plants I'd select from the shorter plants |
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| However, the millet will be sold or used for pito, so it doesn't matter - harvest all |
Plant selection
Generally speaking I’m interested in early production with the taste, color, texture, and such. I’ll plant more seeds than needed and then with little mercy I’ll rip out any young plant that doesn’t keep up with the others.
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| That smaller okra plant in the middle, even if because I bug ate it - was removed after the picture was taken. |
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| That (long red spike half way up the first plant) is the first okra pod and will go to seed |
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| I have no idea which ears would best be saved |
If I was farming on a small scale I’d still select and mark the best plant specimens. If I was growing something like corn or millet I would go first and select the ears from the plants I was interested in saving. Those behind me would then harvest the rest of the crop.
Vacuum storage
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| Traditional way to keep yams during the dry season in the Upper West Ghana is in deep holes |
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| These bundles of millet will the hug away from rodents |
In order to extend the life of the seeds and to prevent pests from causing trouble the dried seeds can be stored in a vacuum. Echo Community other others have various low cost vacuum methods suitable for developing countries. Mylar bags and oxygen absorbents might also be used, something I’ll talk about when I get to food storage.
This post just touched on seeds and crops. In the Caribbean I’ve wondered about the limited variety of seeds in local seed stores and of certain products in the market. I like scanning hundreds of seeds in catalogs for new varieties of interest. For example, I would typically grow several different kinds of tomatoes even in a very small garden and that’s nothing compared to a friend in Missouri who grew over 20 tomato varieties. Farmer markets were also a good place to see different fruits and vegetables.
Seed selection in agriculture stores and products in the markets here are a bit more limited. Maybe four varieties of tomatoes. I understand that there are different market demands here, but think they are missing out on. You can’t change everything.
Love always,
John
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