It’s that time of year! Gardeners everywhere are busy planning their gardens, searching out plant varieties, and purchasing seeds. Pick up any seed packet and read the information on it and you can feel like you’re decoding a secret language of seeds.
Non-GMO, Heirloom, open-pollenated….these are just some of the words you read and hear about when looking into purchasing seeds. To the new gardener, it can feel confusing. Learning what these terms mean make finding the seeds you want so much easier.
Non-GMO
Let’s start with Non-GMO. Most people are aware that “GMO” stands for Genetically Modified Organism. This is a term that refers to the controversial biotechnological techniques like gene splicing the DNA of seeds or plants. In many states there are laws against selling GMO seeds to non-commercial farmers.
Checking your seed package for the term “Non-GMO” is one of the most important things you can do. It’s even better if the seed company you are purchasing from has the “Non-GMO Verified” label. Sticking to Non-GMO seeds really is the healthiest choice for you & your family.
Heirloom
I love Heirloom seeds! The Heirloom classification is given to seeds that are saved from many generations of gardening. Older plant varieties fall under this classification.
Last summer my mom told me about a corn variety her dad grew back in the 40’s & 50’s called “something Gold”. She said it was the sweetest corn she’d ever had. She was so excited to find out that the corn I was planting in our Victory Garden was True Gold Sweet Corn from Botanical Interests. Turns out, it was the same Heirloom variety of corn my grandfather had planted all those years ago!
Heirloom variety seeds have the most-true flavors of any fruits & vegetables. Home gardeners who saved seeds from their family gardens for generations kept these varieties alive. Continuing to plant these seeds year after year, sharing & passing them down to their neighbors, friends, and families, has made home gardeners the Heirloom heroes!
Open-Pollinated & Cross-Pollination
Heirloom varieties also fall under the Open-Pollinated classification. Open-Pollinated plants are plants that have been cultivated outdoors by natural pollination – meaning wind, birds, insects, or other means. Sometimes with a little help from their gardeners. Look for “Open-Pollinated” on your seed packet when buying seeds.
With Open-Pollinated plants gardeners can run the risk of Cross-Pollination. This occurs when natural pollinators carry pollen from one type of plant to another. Cross-pollination can occur with plants in a radius of several miles. This can make preserving Open-Pollinated plant varieties tricky.
To ensure the purity of a specific plant species during the pollination process, many gardeners will isolate a female blossom. This is done by tying an organza sack or other natural material over a blossom and hand pollinating it using the male blossom, and then re-isolate the blossom until the fruit begins to form. Isolation techniques ensure that future generations of fruit grown from subsequent seeds retain the desired characteristics from the parent plant.
SPECIAL NOTE: If you don’t plan on saving seeds from your harvest, Cross-Pollination isn’t something you need to worry about. Even if Cross-Pollination were to occur in your garden, it won’t affect the fruit or vegetable you are currently growing. They already contain all of the DNA information they need to grow a stable variety.
However, if you were to save the seeds from that Cross-Pollinated harvest and replant them, the offspring plant that you grow next time will bare the affected fruit. This is where you’ll see the effects of the Cross-Pollination.
Hybridization
Hybrid is a term most people are familiar with. It is a word that is used a lot in our modern world. We have Hybrid animal species, Hybrid cars, and yes, even Hybrid plants. The question most beginning gardeners ask is “What is a Hybrid plant & how is it different from GMO?”
Hybrid means the crossing of two species or varieties. Many traditional & modern fruits and vegetables are the result of Hybridization. Have you ever had a Tangelo? This delicious citrus is a cross between a Tangerine and a Pomelo. Hybrid fruits and vegetables are not the same as GMO because Hybridization uses the plants natural traits verses altering the plants lab created traits as in the GMO process.
Like in human families, plants can pass certain “inheritable” trails down to their offspring. By crossing (or breeding for lack of a better term) two different plants within a species, farmers & gardeners can grow plants carrying desirable parent traits like flavor, color, or resistance to diseases that my have plagued other varieties.
It takes several years for a new Hybrid variety to become stable. If you purchase commercially grown seeds, you may notice an “F1” on your packet. This typically signifies that the seeds you are purchasing are a “First Generation” Hybrid (or the First Children) and if you save those seeds from the fruit you harvest from them, you more than likely won’t end up with the same fruit next year. You see, it takes 10 – 12 years to shed the recessive traits and stabilize a new Hybrid variety. You’ll need to purchase the seeds again from the grower in order to repeat the same fruit.
Gardening Variety
It’s fun to grow some of the cool Hybrid varieties available on the market today. Just be sure to add plenty of Heirloom varieties to your garden as well. By growing a mix of Open-Pollinated Heirloom and Hybrid varieties together, you’ll ensure a beautiful diversity in your harvest.
Continuing on the tradition of growing Heirloom seeds is vital to the world. This ensures future generations will continue to experience the delicious fruits and vegetables our ancestors did. Together we can do our part to continue on the species that have been cultivated and protected for so many generations!
To find out more about Heirloom seeds, be sure to check out the great resources at Seesavers.org!
Happy Gardening!