Are Organic Seeds Worth Extra Expense?
 (Read 50+ times)
By Pat Merewether
|
|
|
Are organic seeds worth the cost? Yes. Money isn’t everything and if you consider health and peace of mind important, then they’re a bargain. You can find reasonably priced organic seeds if you do a bit or research, or even get them for free if you have gardening friends, neighbors or family.
The ‘bioengineered’ plants scare me. I’m sure they will produce more profits for the big corporate farms, but I wonder what their overall effect will be a hundred years from now. With things like disappearing bees and bats, I worry about the future. It’s not what we know about these alien hybrids that scares me, it’s what we don’t know - yet.
I’m waiting for Stephen King to come out with a new book about it, not that I need to be frightened than I already am.
Many organic seeds are also heirloom seeds as well. This means they have been used in gardens by generations of families and cultures without any hybridization or ‘changes’. These are becoming more popular for gardeners and whole sites are dedicated to selling and swapping the seeds. Last year I planted the “Brandywine” tomato seeds I collected from plants a friend gave me the year before. The germination rate was nearly 100%, unlike the low germination rate I’ve gotten from store-bought seeds. The plants were very robust and produced way more tomatoes than I’ve ever gotten from other tomato plants I’ve purchased.
Often, organic plants are also ‘native plants’ which means they grow in your particular growing zone and area naturally. This also means that they will probably live long and prosper in your garden, as the soil and climate conditions are perfect for them. Many states are encouraging gardeners and landscapers to use native plants to replace many that have been destroyed by developers. Organic seeds are best for these plants, because you want the pure and natural element that Mother Nature planted in your area in the first place.
Success is a high point of organic seeds. I’ve found, as I mentioned above, that the germination rate is much higher from organic seeds. Also, the plants seem to be stronger and healthier and a little ‘wilder’ than plants grown from non-organic seeds. Many seeds that have been hybridized may produce fruit that look prettier and keep longer before spoiling, but to me they have no flavor and the texture is sort of off. Tomatoes and cucumbers are prime examples of this. Flower seeds that I collect from my organically grown zinnias, dill, marigolds, garlic, tomatoes and squash are very prolific and sturdy. Plus, it gives me such a great feeling to plant ‘my own’ seeds in the spring, and it certainly helps my budget. The price of seeds is ridiculous lately and it seems they put fewer in the packets every year.
Some plants have to be planted that are not organic if you want the effect of certain flowers. One big example is Heavenly Blue Morning Glories. You will only get the large, lovely, true blue flowers if you plant the hybridized seeds. Seeds that come up after that revert back to the wild variety, which are smaller and purple. They are lovely vines and beautiful flowers, but not Heavenly Blue.
Research your seeds before you purchase them or plant them, to make sure you’ll end up with what you wanted. I know I planted what I thought was a “Nasturtium” plant from seeds a friend gave me, and ended up with vines that I thought were going to devour the universe! They were beautiful, and they were nasturtiums, but vines! Have fun!
|
Author Bio Box: Pat Merewether
Experience
Didn't really find what you were looking for?
|
|
|
| |
|
|
![[Valid RSS feed]](images/rss.gif "Subscribe to our XML Feed for RSS")
