Seed Saving & Monsanto

Tonight, Food Not Lawns Cleveland got together for a seed saving workshop & potluck organized by Mari Keating in Cleveland Heights.  It was a nice gathering, and Mari did a great job of demonstrating how accessible and necessary it is to save your own seeds- humans have only been doing it for thousands of years, of course!

A few seed-saving resources:
-Seed Savers International (ISSI)  http://www.seedsave.org/issi/issi_904.html
-How to Save Seeds Handbook 
http://howtosaveseeds.com/
-Seed Savers Exchange
http://www.seedsavers.org/Content.aspx?src=sseresources.htm

Not only was the session informational and useful to jump start into seed saving- something that (silly enough) has felt somewhat intimidating.  Mostly because I felt, though it may be simple, because I hadn't done any research on it or been shown how, I wasn't going to waste my time trying to save seeds when if I did it wrong they wouldn't grow.  Now, I feel much more confident.  But other than the workshop contributing to that confidence I needed to become a seed-saver, it reminded me of some necessary elements and political reasons why we all need to save our own seeds.

#1 Reason is that Monsanto, the great GMO corporation that has patents on several varieties of seeds (patents on life), and continues to sue and win against organic farmers trying to keep to nature's way, is a huge owner of several varieties of seeds.  There is no labeling on the Burpee or whatever-is-in-the-garden-store seed packets, so you won't know that by buying a certain seed you are supporting Monsanto, but you may be.

So, here's a list of all the varieties that Monsanto currently has patents on, and if you buy any of these seeds in the store, you are supporting Monsanto.

Beans: Aliconte, Brio, Bronco, Cadillac, Ebro, Etna, Eureka, Festina, Gina, Goldmine, Goldenchild, Labrador, Lynx, Magnum, Matador, Spartacus, Storm, Strike, Stringless Blue Lake 7, Tapia, Tema

Broccoli: Coronado Crown, Major, Packman

Cabbage: Atlantis, Golden Acre, Headstart, Platinum Dynasty, Red Dynasty

Carrot: Bilbo, Envy, Forto, Juliana, Karina, Koroda PS, Royal Chantenay, Sweetness III

Cauliflower: Cheddar, Minuteman

Cucumber: Babylon, Cool Breeze Imp., Dasher II, Emporator, Eureka, Fanfare HG, Marketmore 76, Mathilde, Moctezuma, Orient Express II, Peal, Poinsett 76, Salad Bush, Sweet Slice, Sweet Success PS, Talladega

Eggplant: Black Beauty, Fairytale, Gretel, Hansel, Lavender Touch, Twinkle, White Lightening

Hot Pepper: Anaheim TMR 23, Ancho Saint Martin, Big Bomb, Big Chile brand of Sahuaro, Caribbean Red, Cayenne Large Red Thick, Chichen Itza, Chichimeca, Corcel, Garden Salsa SG, Habanero, Holy Mole brand of Salvatierro, Hungarian Yellow Wax Hot, Ixtapa X3R, Lapid, Mariachi brand of Rio de Oro, Mesilla, Milta, Mucho Nacho brand of Grande, Nainari, Serrano del Sol brand of Tuxtlas, Super Chile, Tam Vera Cruz

Lettuce: Braveheart, Conquistador

Melon: Early Dew, Sante Fe, Saturno

Onion: Candy, Cannonball, Century, Red Zeppelin, Savannah Sweet, Sierra Blanca, Sterling, Vision

Pumpkin: Applachian, Harvest Moon, Jamboree HG, Orange Smoothie, Phantom, Prize Winner, Rumbo, Snackface, Spirit, Spooktacular, Trickster

Spinach: Hellcat

Squash: Ambassador, Canesi, Clarita, Commander, Dixie, Early Butternut, Gold Rush, Grey Zucchini, Greyzini, Lolita, Papaya Pear, Peter Pan, Portofino, President, Richgreen Hybrid Zucchini, Storr’s Green, Sungreen, Sunny Delight, Taybelle PM

Sweet Corn: Devotion, Fantasia, Merit, Obession, Passion, Temptation

Sweet Pepper: Baron, Bell Boy, Big Bertha PS, Biscayne, Blushing Beauty, Bounty, California Wonder 300, Camelot, Capistrano, Cherry Pick, Chocolate Beauty, Corno Verde, Cubanelle W, Dumpling brand of Pritavit, Early Sunsation, Flexum, Fooled You brand of Dulce, Giant Marconi, Gypsy, Jumper, Key West, King Arthur, North Star, Orange Blaze, Pimiento Elite, Red Knight, Satsuma, Socrates, Super Heavyweight, Sweet Spot

Tomato: Amsterdam, Beefmaster, Betterboy, Big Beef, Burpee’s Big Boy, Caramba, Celebrity, Cupid, Early Girl, Granny Smith, Health Kick, Husky Cherry Red, Jetsetter brand of Jack, Lemon Boy, Margharita, Margo, Marmande VF PS, Marmara, Patio, Phoenix, Poseidon 43, Roma VF, Royesta, Sun Sugar, Super Marzano, Sweet Baby Girl, Tiffany, Tye-Dye, Viva Italia, Yaqui

Watermelon: Apollo, Charleston Grey, Crimson Glory, Crimson Sweet, Eureka, Jade Star, Mickylee, Olympia

Note: Not all of the veggie varieties in the above list are Monsanto/Seminis exclusives. Consequently if you spot some of these varieties in the catalog of an heirloom seed-seller,  just check with the seller to make sure the seeds were not purchased from  Seminis/Monsanto. But if you find these seeds on a rack at a big-box garden center, you have every right to suspect they were purchased from Monsanto.

*One essential way to keep your money from supporting Monsanto and still be able to avoid memorizing this lengthy list is by growing HEIRLOOM varieties, and second way is to, of course, SAVE YOUR OWN SEEDS.*

KEEP MONSANTO OUT OF YOUR GARDEN!

(If you aren't aware of why people oppose Monsanto's practices, two movie The Future of Food is helpful.  thefutureoffood.com)