Planning your garden

Roger started his gardening adventure when we moved to Waipahu. Before ordering, he did some research and decided that for us, Heirloom seeds were the way to go. He found this company:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company

(line above is a link - click and it will take you to their site)

This is where we got our first seeds from and they have a huge variety of veggies in their catalog. If you get the chance, check out their site and their history - pretty impressive. Google is such a wonderful thing, isn't it? 

ANYway...back to our topic. Just what are Heirloom Seeds? Some of you may know, and others may not ... so I will explain why not all seeds are the same. 

The first one we will talk about is called " 1st Generation Hybrids" or F1 for short. These seeds are: hand pollinated, Patented, often sterile (that means if you plant these seeds, the fruits/vegetables you grow will not produce baring seeds), within food types they are genetically identical and they are sold from multinational seed companies.

The next kind of seeds is genetically engineered. These really scare me. By means of bioengineering they have altered the DNA of the seeds so that the plant i.e. can be more resistant to frost or that bugs stay away or that they last longer once picked.

This is such a new science and we have no idea what this may do to us, or our children or our unborn children in generations to come. They do this kind of thing because they can - doesn't mean it's a good thing.  Like I said - this REALLY scares me.

Now we come to the heirloom or open-pollinated seeds. This is the way that nature intended seeds to be to evolve. Pollinated by chance, means there is a huge gene pool - 10,000 varieties of apples, compared to the very few F1 hybrid apple types. Adjusting themselves as the world around them changes, from one generation to the next.

So, if you planning on growing a vegetable garden, be sure to do your research and choose wisely. 

On a side note - if you are getting ready to order your seed catalog, you might also want to check out:

Landreth Seeds

(line above is a link - click and it will take you to their site)

This the oldest seed house in America. Due to a chain of unfortunate events they are in jeopardy of losing everything. You can read more here. I personally purchased 4 catalogs and passed 3 out to friends and kept one for us. Spread the love and give a gardening friend a Landreth Seeds catalog! FWIW - I'm not getting anything for this...I just think it is a shame and would like to help.