What are Heirloom, Hybrid and GMO Vegetable Seeds and More?: Video

In this video John will ask Jere many questions about seeds including what is an heirloom seed? What is a hybrid seed? and What is a GMO seed? and much, much more.



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John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com/ interviews Jere Gettle, seed collector and founder of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

In this episode, you will learn the question to the following answers:
 01:10 Why did you Start Selling Heirloom Seeds and How old were you?
02:00 What is an Heirloom Seed?
02:52 Is there a minimum age needed to call something an Heirloom?
03:39 Why Grow Heirloom Herbs, Vegetables and Fruits?
04:52 Do you explain where heirloom seeds were grown in your seed catalog? Why is it important? 06:57 What is a Hybrid Seed / Vegetable ?
09:07 Is it true that if you grow a hybrid for 6 generations will the seed stabilize?
10:21 Should you never grow a hybrid vegetable from seed?
11:49 What is a GMO Seed and Vegetable?
14:22 What is an open pollinated Plant?
15:36 Are all heirlooms organic?
23:00 Why is it important for people to save their own seeds?
24:16 What is the best way to store your seeds?
26:17 What are new seeds that Baker Creek will introduce soon?
29:51 What are your thoughts on deeply pigmented vegetables?
31:40 What are some of the varieties of deeply pigmented vegetables you are bringing in?
33:05 Why did you start the National Heirloom Expo?
34:17 You have been described as a "hippy freak" what are your thoughts on this?
37:30 Why do you decide the eat a plant based diet why is it important to eat more plants?
41:45 How can someone by your heirloom seeds and get a free catalog?

Related:

Selecting Seeds: Heirloom vs Organic vs Hybrid vs GMO

Gardening Australia Seed Saving Fact Sheet with video link

SERIES 21 Episode 32

Mustard

Jerry says the most important seed saving rule is to save seeds from the best plants and to eat the rest. "It's important to only save seed from non-hybrid plants and these are commonly referred to as heritage, old-fashioned or open pollinated plants. They are the plants most likely to produce offspring - in the form of seed - that closely resemble their parents."

Watch the story

"Save Our Food. Free the Seed." : New York Times

These are a few excerpts from an article that spells out why we need to save our local seeds.

"The type of seed also dictates the fertilizer, pesticide and fungicide regimen, sold by the same company as part of the package, requiring a particular planter and sprayer (40 feet and 140 feet wide, respectively) and producing a per-acre yield that is startling, and startlingly easy to predict.
 

It is as if the seed is a toy that comes with a mile-long list of component parts you’re required to purchase to make it function properly.

We think that the behemoths of agribusiness known as Big Food control the food system from up high — distribution, processing and the marketplace muscling everything into position. But really it is the seed that determines the system, not the other way around."

"The seeds in my palm optimized the farm for large-scale machinery and chemical regimens; they reduced the need for labor; they elbowed out the competition (formally known as biodiversity). In other words, seeds are a blueprint for how we eat."

.......  

"We should be alarmed by the current architects.

Just 50 years ago, some 1,000 small and family-owned seed companies were producing and distributing seeds in the United States; by 2009, there were fewer than 100. Thanks to a series of mergers and acquisitions over the last few years, four multinational agrochemical firms — Corteva, ChemChina, Bayer and BASF — now control over 60 percent of global seed sales."

.......

"According to a report published by the Organic Seed Alliance, most large-scale organic crop acreage is planted with conventional seed. Despite a recent uptick in the production of organic seed, there isn’t enough to go around. “Not if you want to plant 200 acres,” one midsize organic farmer told me. “Not even if you want to plant 50 acres.”

 

Farmers find themselves hobbled by weak plants that were designed to be weaned on chemicals.

It’s not hard to see why organic food is expensive. Farmers have to price the organic carrots to reflect the cost of production in a world designed for them to fail. In the checkout aisle, we wince. A consensus is reached: Organic carrots are a noble idea but not a practical one to feed our growing population."

Read The NYT article