Grandma’s Guide to Growing Non-GMO

My family is wheat proud. My great, great, great grandparents traveled from Germany to United States, through Ukraine, seeking cheap land and religious independence. They brought the famous “winter wheat” to the farmlands in America. They worked long, hard days farming vast tracts of rich land in Kansas to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.

A hard work ethic has been passed down through the generations, but the seeds haven’t. Farmers used to produce seeds and guard their crops, but agriculture has been reduced to breeding seeds in research centers by government organizations – or worse, by Monsanto.

To maximize profits, Monsanto required farmers to buy new seed every year instead of saving them, so that traditional seed lines became less available. Up until Monsanto’s new era of agriculture, farmers were able to buy seed and claim a royalty, saving successive generations of seed for planting on their own farms – and passing down the generations.

No longer does the American farm breed and save their own corn, canola or soybean seeds.  They don’t dare.  And now, literally hundreds of years and generations of traditional plant breeding have been lost forever.  If farmers want to keep their farms and continue being farmers, they must agree contractually not to save successive generations of seed, but instead buy new seed yearly.

To ensure profitability, Monsanto protects its soybeans, corn, cotton and canola genes with contracts from farmers and are generous to prosecute if there is any seed infringement or contract violation.

Basically, all the crops the farmers grow are literally owned by a few multi-national corporations.  You must not only buy their seed, but you may have to pay for the right to grow it, too. It is no longer possible to save pure, non-GMO open-pollinated seeds anywhere that GMO seeds are sown. And if you save seed or propagate any of the plants vegetatively or save its seed, you may find yourself face to face with a lawsuit and a very real threat of going to jail for patent infringement.

Options are disappearing…so are the farmers. They are going out of business they can’t make it in the face of markets manipulated by corporations. These corporations are being to resemble the tight grip my ancestors tried to escape.

Enjoying Organic Garden of ‘Eatin

If you want to protect America’s food sources, save farmers, decrease the amount of pesticides you and your family consume, and to help protect the environment from overloading with toxic chemicals, then avoid genetically modified foods.

But, buying organic produce can get a bit expensive. Luckily, there’s a way to grow your own delicious, fresh non-GMO produce: organic gardening! This can be anything from a small area with a few shelves, some pots, potting soil and to larger, more elaborate set ups with automatic irrigation, grow lights, etc.

Safe seeds are the most important part of a GMO-free garden. Although most vegetable seeds on the market are not GMO, it’s good to take the precautionary measure of buying the safest seeds possible. Look for seeds from companies that have taken the Safe Seed Pledge, which say that the company is committed to providing non-GMO seeds.

The companies listed HERE have signed the Safe Seed Pledge and are committed to preserving the integrity of out seed supply.

If you plant a garden and order from a seed catalog, here’s a quick guide to help you decipher organic, hybrid and open-pollinated seed descriptions.

Organic Seeds

Free of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, food additives, irradiation, or biosolids. Organic seeds can be heirloom and/or hybrid, but are never genetically modified.

Heirloom Seeds

For a seed to qualify as heirloom, it must have been around for the last 50 years or so.  These seeds usually have an amazing flavor compared to conventional produce. Heirloom seeds have been “open-air pollinated,” which means the wind or insects have helped fertilize the seed.

GMO Seeds

“Frankenseeds” as they are more affectionally referred to, are created when a scientist inserts genetic material from another plant or species to add a characteristic that is not naturally there. Until this is outlawed, we are the guinea pigs of a huge experiment.

Hybrid Seeds

Not to be confused with GM seeds, hybrids are naturally bred for beneficial characteristics like disease and insect resistance, new flower types, improved vitamin content in vegetables and grains.

Recycle your Food! 

Looking for a simpler way to grow a garden? Re-growing food from your kitchen scraps is a good way to do it! Most of us can roll up our sleeves with a surprisingly small amount of effort. There are heaps of different foods that will re-grow from the scrap pieces that you’d normally throw out. Start small, even with just a single plant or two. It’s fun. And very simple … if you know how to do it.

Just remember, the quality of the “parent” vegetable scrap will help to determine the quality of the re-growth. Make certain you buy local (if possible) organic produce, so you know your re-grown plants are fresh, healthy and free of chemical and genetic meddling.

The following foods will re-grow from scrap pieces you would normally throw away!

• Leeks – Stick it in a glass jar with a little water and the greens will grow back. Snip as you need.
• Ginger – plant in potting soil
• Celery, Romaine Lettuce & Cabbage – Place the white root end in a shallow bowl of water, then plant in soil when leave appear.
• Potatoes – Plant dry potato with “eyes” in deep soil.
• Sweet Potatoes – Bury all or part of a sweet potato under a thin layer of soil in a moist sunny location. Takes up to 4 months to be ready.
• Garlic – Plant it, root-end down, in a warm position with plenty of direct sunlight.

Community Supported Agriculture

Yet another alternative to fresh, organic produce is through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). (CSA) is a new generation of growers who make fresh, high quality sustainably and organically grown produce available and affordable to consumers.

By creating partnerships between local farms, neighborhood groups, and consumers, communities are provided with growing, and knowing, healthy food.

A local or regional farmer offers certain produce current with the growing season, usually in “shares,” bags or boxes. This arrangement allows the farmer to receive funds at the beginning of the season when buying seeds. In turn, the public has access to ultra-fresh food, with all the flavor and vitamin benefits.

For a comprehensive directory of CSA farms available in your area, search this database.

Heirloom Rights

Whether you have a big garden, a little garden, a market garden or a food plot for self-sufficiency, protecting your right to grow and save non-GMO seeds begins at home. Natural systems must be protected so that they can produce healthy food.

I hope you have had a wake-up call about the dangers of GMOs and the dominance of big corporations to patent life forms. Don’t bow to the pressure! My ancestors were caretakers of seeds. Now you can, too!

Your turn…

What other non-Monsanto owned, non-GMO seed companies do you know of?