For many people, seeds are daunting - whether understanding the difference between them, knowing when to plant them, or even how to harvest them for future plantings. I have been there - still am in some degree. But, with the growing concern over genetic modification these last many years, as well as my interest in gathering my own, I have begun to put pieces of understanding together. Of course, having the vast knowledge base of Azure at my fingertips hasn’t hurt at all!
When I was preparing to write this article, Sarah Isitt of Azure's Sarah’s Starts said that she continuously gets questions from customers about the difference between seeds that are heirloom, hybrid, open pollinated, GMO, etc. She suggested that a clarifying article along those lines might be helpful. "Wonderful", I thought, because while I have been gathering seeds little by little each fall over the years, this yearI made extra effort. I think I collected maybe 20 different types from my garden’s harvest, and was able to share those with friends and family over the holidays.
What’s so special about that? Well, they’re baby steps. First, I grow organically - not certified or anything, but without the use of chemical pesticides or herbicides. All the seeds I have purchased or planted on my place were non-GMO, heirloom or open pollinated, so I know their sources were not artificially manipulated. By growing in that manner, I felt confident – empowered even, to gather and pass on those little gems to people who might otherwise just grab the first seed packet they see on the store shelf for the coming gardening season. Whereas that used to be "ok back in the day”, that thought to me now is downright scary on the grand scale. So… I began taking baby steps.
Because I am still a bit of a novice at the seed gathering and storing part – on any sort of scale anyway, I’ll focus on seed options. Let’s look at the terms heirloom, open pollinated, hybrid, and GMO. Keep in mind that these short articles are always meant as broad strokesto fuel your continued research. Each area of exploration here has countless published research papers and informative articles that dive deep into the specifics. My intention is to offer a platform for understanding, from which you can springboard into more thorough comprehension. For those of you who are already seed and plant aficionados, I hope to give you someseedsfor thought from which to grow your continued exploration as well.
HEIRLOOM
An heirloom plant is a cultivar that has not changed or been changed in recent history. A specific line of demarcation for when something can be deemed “heirloom” is a little unclear - some say 100 years, some say 50, still others use the end of WWII . Another way people like to think of heirloom seeds is in a more traditional sense of the word, like the way you think of a prized possession that is passed down through generations- a beautiful desk, a grandfather’s musket, seeds that “originated” from your great grandmother’s garden. Before modern history, that IS how people got their seeds in large part – they passed them down. To be an heirloom plant, in addition to the substantial length of time as a cultivar, it must also be open pollinated (see below). Moreover, because of their genetic diversity, heirlooms tend to vary in size and shape.
OPEN POLLINATED
Without the need for human intervention, an open pollinated plant produces offspring that reliably reflect the traits of the parent. They are pollinated by insects, birds, wind, water, or humans. They either self-pollinate where they don’t need another plant of the same species to produce (think things like lettuce, peas, beans, etc.), or they need another plant of the same species to cross-pollinate, (think corn, squash, beets, etc.). There is no restriction of pollen flow between plants, so there is greater potential for genetic diversity within open pollinated plants which allows for increased plant adaptability in changing conditions – weather, soil, location, etc. An important thing to keep in mind with the cross pollinators is to not grow different varieties in close proximity to one another- particularly if you are intending to save the seed. Have you ever planted pumpkins and zucchinis too close together and ended up with a pumchini? Or, is it a zu-kin? (they do taste fine though ;-) ) Open pollinated plants are not necessarily heirlooms- it depends on when the variety was established, i.e. when it became true to type.
True to Type plants are those that consistently produce offspring that closely resemble the parent, generation after generation. This is the crucial piece to understand when differentiating between open pollinated and hybrid varieties. It generally takes 6 to 10 generations for a plant to become true to type.
HYBRID
A hybrid is a cross of two genetically distinct individuals. This can happen naturally in the wild, and it is a common practice for humans to facilitate. For literally thousands of years – throughout agricultural history pretty much, mankind has been crossing plants to get the best of both worlds so to speak. Maybe one type bears more fruit, and another is hardier, but the cross between them yields something that is both hardy and fruit laden. People focus on traits that are appealing to them for whatever reasons (disease and drought resistance, uniformity in shape/color/taste, growing region, the list goes on). One important thing to understand about hybrids is that it is the first generation that produces the uniform desired results. This generation is called “F1”, short for the first filial generation. The second generation is not uniform in traits – it produces plants that throw back to either side; some plants reflect the traits of the “mother” plant, some reflect those of the “father” plant.
As mentioned, people have been hybridizing plants for eons–creating new, more appealing varieties of probably every domesticated plant you can think of. But, again, it took generations for each of those varieties to actually take hold (“fix”). On the individualistic scale, hybrids are not evil- they allow us to enjoy many new and better varieties over time. Here’s an excerpt from my “Wheat” article a few months ago, largely spawned from discussions with David Stelzer, Azure CEO.
“Azure only buys true to type varieties when purchasing wheat- we never buy “F1” (first generation). That is important because when a variety becomes true to type, it becomes consistent, and Azure is very particular about characteristics of wheat. Azure mostly grows and saves seeds, but when seed purchases are necessary, it is only true to type seeds that are bought."
Regarding white wheat varieties, two of David’s favorites for taste and performance are Stephen’s and Club. Both are cultivated varieties – Stephens was developed in the 70’s, and Club is one of the most common soft whites grown in the Pacific Northwest.
The problem that developed with hybrids came from our untempered desire in the early to mid-1900’s to do everything en masse, as seen with our industrialized farming. This created a couple challenges. First, the continuous hybridization of selected crops (corn, etc.) effectively decreased genetic diversity- that was the goal… to create uniformity and consistency. Second, farmers became reliant on continual seed purchases. While the F1 hybrids often produced uniform, prolific crops, the farmers could not save seed from harvest to replant because subsequent crops would be utterly inconsistent - which in the marketplace, of course, meant poor and unsaleable. On one hand, for large growers or informed gardeners, growing hybrids for those first generation traits can be a calculated decision – like for those who want to grow and market super sweet corn, or burpless cucumbers. However, for a subsistence farmer, it could enslave them to seed companies for life, especially if traditional heirloom seeds are lost. This is a great place for you to do further research to understand the breadth ofindustrial-scale hybridization and its effects on our food system.
GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS (GMOs)
GMOs are completely different from hybrids. Period. GMOs are mechanically engineered by humans inserting foreign genes, bacteria, viruses, etc. into the DNA structure of a given plant/animal. This is something that could not happen in nature on its own- certainly not in the span of a single generation, and probably not even in a few million years. Truthfully, the debate on GMOs is fierce, and you might be surprised to know just how many people don’t see the problem with them. From my perspective, I do with GMOs like I do with most things that are so intensely complicated – I try to get down to the core, and make a decision based on the heart of the matter.
For me, that core is the simple fact that GMOs are not “tested” and therefore not trusted. Don’t get me wrong, I have other, very visceral feelings on the subject (we’ll get to those in a later, more thorough article on the subject). But, if I had to boil it down to one thing that is pretty well indisputable, that would be it. They are very new, relatively speaking, and we DON’T know the long-term consequences of them, although I do believe we are seeing some of the adverse results already. Think of how long it takes a new variety of plant to become “true to type” – 6 to 10 generations, and that’s in plant generations. Right now, we are only in the first- embarking on the second, human generation with our GMO experience (and yes, we are all the guinea pigs- anyone who has eaten store bought food anyway). We have no way to truly fathom what the consequences are going to be. Moreover, proliferation of GM plants increases the potential that they will spread their pollen far and wide, breeding with non-GMO plants in the wild, polluting that gene pool as well. That is NOT something we can take back after it’s done.
That’s not even to mention the “propriety” aspect of GM seeds. We have already seen the ramification of seed servitude with mass hybridization- there isn’t a whole lot of difference with the GM crops in that effect. Even when farmers aren’t intentionally growing GM crops, but pollen blows in from contaminated neighboring fields, they are being fined for selling propriety GM product. So, the genetic engineering of food has a multitude of complications and dangers, in my humble opinion- many of which we don’t even know yet.
Organic: One final note and nod to the term organic because some people lump that term in with these others… Organic applies to the manner in which something is grown- it is not reflective of a plant’s heritage per se. However, if something is certified organic, by definition it cannot be genetically modified. Organic certification guidelines are lengthy, but basically they limit or ban the use of chemical and non-natural inputs, and encourage practices that enhance natural, ecological systems.
Please, this topic is so incredibly important, and I have only done but a scratch in the dirt really. If you don’t already know everything that was mentioned here – if some of the terminology or ideas were new to you, take the kernels and study further. If this read was “old hat” to you- please pass it on to someone you know who is just beginning to learn and ask questions; hopefully it will spark their interest to understand more. When it comes down to it, seeds are power. They provide us life. Let’s make sure we don’t lose sight or control of that.