Another month has passed and we're all busy sowing seeds indoors and preparing our garden beds, at least those of us who aren't under the blanket of snow still covering much of the North Country. Here in Maine we've been shoveling two feet of the white stuff off our beds and using our new cold frames to thaw the frozen soil so that we can plant spinach, peas and salad greens. The ground is still frozen, but the warm sun and sprouting seeds hold the promise of spring.

Our research farm in New Mexico is a beehive of activity these days (no snow there!) as they're finalizing their research plans for the year, sowing thousands of seeds in the greenhouse, preparing the fields, and direct seeding cold hardy crops. Learn about their ongoing research in this month's Farm Report. As this is the time of year for getting back into the garden, this issue includes information on preparing your beds, direct seeding, and transplanting. There are also a few ideas about growing gourmet greens, and to inspire salad experimentation, we've put together some exciting new seed collections. Many people have written us asking about the benefits of companion planting, so we've taken this opportunity to review a couple of our favorite books on the topic and try to separate some of the fact from the folklore.

Also in this issue, Steve Peters, our Director of Seed Research, shares his recent experiences from an innovative plant breeding workshop, pointing out the promise of traditional plant breeding techniques in the face of the growing trend toward genetic engineering (GE). As the debate over GE rages, the FDA has extended their public comment period concerning the issue until May 3. We have laid out some of the important issues surrounding this technology and provided links to interesting websites where you can learn more about this controversial topic, affecting us all. Please contact the FDA and let your voice be heard.

On a lighter note, we've delved into the archives of GreenPrints magazine for another inspiring Garden Story. Also included is number two in our series of Photo Tips for Gardeners, and a selection of your emails in our Letters to the Editor section. New this month is a listing of upcoming events in our calendar. Please email us with news of related events for June to be included in our next issue. Whether you're nursing your seedlings and waiting for the snow to melt, or double digging your beds, we hope you enjoy!

Let's grow!
Scott Vlaun, Editor
editor@seedsofchange.com

Contents | Seeds of Change Homepage

At Seeds of Change, we know our seed. We know where it comes from, how it was grown, how well it performs, and how to save seed from it. This is because every seed we sell is grown by our network of certified organic growers. Each lot is then trialed on our research farm, to ensure vigor and trueness to type. At our northern New Mexico facility, we also work on developing new seed lines and maintaining the genetic purity of all our current varieties. In side by side trials, we compare our varieties to those of our competitors, including commercial hybrids, to ensure that our varieties are among the best on the market. Additionally, we research sustainable-gardening practices and share this information with the public. Our farm is managed like an overgrown, organic garden so that the cultural and varietal information gained in our trials applies to your backyard garden or small organic farm.

Providing useful information and support to our customers is of utmost importance. All the information in our catalog, ranging from days to maturity, to plant descriptions, to recommendations about plant hardiness, comes from data collected at our research farm. For example, last year we found that some of the best lettuce varieties to grow in cold weather are Rouge de Grenoblouse, Reine de Glaces, Brun d'Hiver, Rouge d'Hiver, Winter Density, Red Deer Tongue, and North Pole. We also found that our Green Hubbard, Black Forest, Blue Ballet, and Texas Indian Moschata winter squashes were the best varieties for winter storage as they lasted through January in our pantries. Our trials also showed that our Lemon Cucumber was one of the best long-season cukes, retaining its flavor late into the fall without getting bitter. We are confident in our recommendations because our experience is first hand.

Variety Trials
This year at the research farm, in addition to confirming and refining our previous data, we are focusing on several other areas. One area is examining seedling vigor of leafy greens. Seedling vigor is a sign of a strong, healthy plant and is important to a crop's ability to compete with weeds. We are also excited about evaluating potential edible-seed crops for the home gardener. Many seeds, including sesame, flax, amaranth, basil, pumpkins, and most of the Labiatae family, produce nutritious, edible seeds high in amino acids. In our trials, we will evaluate numerous factors, such as which varieties are the most prolific producers, which have the best flavors, which are the easiest to harvest, and which might combine well for a tasty culinary-seed mix.

Photo: Garlic trials at the Seeds of Change Research Farm.

Another focus this year is developing new salad mixes. Our Mesclun Mix is our most popular variety for home gardeners, and many salad aficionados create their own mixes from our wide assortment of gourmet greens. This year we are testing several different selections of our varieties to develop specialty salad mixes, including a hot-weather mix, a cool-season mix, and a braising mix. We are also developing specialty mixes featuring varieties from various parts of the world, such as an Asian Mix and an Italian Mix. Our evaluation criteria include balancing relative amounts of each species (so that one species does not dominate the mix), direct-seeding ease, length of harvest, and flavor-complex assessment.

One of our long-term goals is to increase our bulk-seed offerings for commercial, organic growers. With this in mind, we are directing our research toward evaluating desirable commercial production characteristics such as produce storage and shipment capabilities, crop yields, evenness of maturity, length and ease of harvest, pest and disease resistance, and seedling vigor. In our trials, we will grow our varieties alongside some currently available, commercial hybrids, to compare our varieties with those commonly used in commercial production. Since much of this type of evaluation requires larger scale growouts, we plan to conduct additional trials in cooperation with several organic farmers to assess performance in working farm fields.

Taste is always a priority in our variety trials. No matter how well a variety performs in the field, no one wants to waste space in their garden if the variety doesn't perform with flavor. For this reason, we invite chefs and food writers each year to join us in our taste evaluations. Their expert opinions are coupled with the regular taste tests conducted by our research farm staff and much of our office staff. Each crop is tested for flavor not only at its peak, but also throughout the season to see how their flavors hold up. As a gardener, it is important to find varieties that thrive in both heat and cold and can be harvested throughout the season. For example, we look for lettuces that don't get bitter in the heat, root crops that don't get pithy when they grow large, and tomatoes that stay flavorful from first to last harvest. Everyone gets excited about taste testing until it comes to trying a leaf from each of forty-five varieties of bolted lettuce, but Steve Peters, our director of seed research, did just that last summer. He found that Bronze Mignonette, Buttercrunch, Capitaine, Jericho, Ruben's Red, and Simpson kept their flavor the best late in summer, when all of the other lettuces were turning bitter from the heat.

Seed Saving and Selection Work
All the varieties we offer are open-pollinated. Many are heirlooms passed from generation to generation. Others are Seeds of Change original, unique varieties. Keeping these seed lines growing true to type with varietal integrity requires continually maintaining good seed stock. This is especially true with outbreeding crops, which naturally cross-pollinate and have a tendency to genetically drift if not periodically maintained through selection. Selection means physically removing from the field, any plants that don't look, taste, or grow like the described variety. By doing this each year at our farm, or in our growers' fields, we manipulate the offspring's genetics to keep desirable characteristics in the seed crop and undesirable characteristics out. For example, carrots are an outbreeding crop that will change root shape and growth habit if not selected from time to time. They will also cross with the wild carrot, Daucus carrota, and revert to the unpalatable white root from which they were originally bred. At our research farm, we grow large enough plantings to check that each of our carrot varieties have the described shape - that our Nantes are cylindrical at the sides, that our Chantenay are slightly tapered to a blunt end, that our Oxheart are broad and short, and that all have maintained good flavor and vigor.

Saving seed is not only rewarding for a gardener, but is also important to preserving good seed lines from generation to generation. It is only in recent history that seed saving and plant breeding have been delegated to professionals. Previously, it was commonplace for farmers and gardeners to save seed and develop new varieties. By saving seed you can preserve your favorite varieties, develop new varieties adapted to your climate or growing conditions, and save money. At Seeds of Change, we aim to help preserve this important practice. At our research farm, the seed-saving capability of a variety is always a factor in our evaluation process. We experiment with seed harvesting techniques suitable to both the home gardener and the seed grower. We track pollination timing so that we can offer advice about simultaneously growing seed crops from more than one variety within a species while preventing cross-pollination. This can often be accomplished by staggering pollination periods throughout the season. For example, more than one variety of corn, a prolific cross-pollinator, can be grown for seed in one season by planting an early-season variety, such as Hookers Sweet Corn, with a late-season variety, such as Supai Red Parch Corn. Alternatively, you can grow two short-season corns, such as Hookers and Triple Play, by staggering your plantings so that the tasseling (pollen drop) of one variety is finished before the tasseling of the next begins.

We often travel to teach seed saving workshops and also demonstrate seed-saving techniques to visitors here at our farm. For more information about backyard plant breeding and seed saving, we recommend Carol Deppe's book, "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties," and Susan Ashworth's "Seed to Seed." All of our heirloom varieties were once developed by gardeners and farmers. Seed saving is an important aspect of preservation which we enthusiastically support.

Exchanging Knowledge and Farming Systems Research
We are constantly learning and exchanging techniques with other gardeners and farmers, as we strive to be a model sustainable organic farm. We also work to support our customers with information. Daily, we receive e-mails and calls asking advice, ranging from when to plant and how to trellis tomatoes, to which cover crops grow well in different areas. Just email us at gardener@seedsofchange.com. and we'll do our best to help you.

As gardeners, we are continually experimenting with different techniques to see what works on our farm, such as when and how to plant buckwheat (a summer cover crop), which combinations of grains and legumes work well as a winter cover crop, and when is the optimal time to cut them down and work them back into the soil. We are constantly experimenting with various organic fertilizers and with composting techniques. This year we will be conducting side by side trials to evaluate the effect of inoculating seedlings with mycorhizal fungi to see if it visibly enhances overall plant health and aids in phosphorous uptake, a nutrient vital to flowering and seed development. We also research different pest-control techniques and share this experience with our customers. For example, this year we are continuing to investigate the potential of interplanting flowering cilantro with our bean crops to attract the parasitic wasp, Pediobius faveolatus, which feeds on cilantro nectar, and the parasitic Mexican Bean Beetle, Epilachna varivestis.

All farmers and gardeners are researchers. We see experimenting and learning as an integral part of farming. The important thing is that we continue to exchange what we have learned with each other to further the sustainability of farming and gardening in the 21st century.

When to Plant
Whether transplanting your starts, or direct seeding to the garden, you'll first need to determine the optimum time to plant. Find out the "frost free" date for your area and follow the instructions on your seed packs. If you don't know the average date of the last frost for your area, ask other gardeners in your neighborhood or contact your local extension service.

Soil Preparation
When your soil has dried out enough to work easily, prepare your beds by working the soil as deeply as possible without disturbing its natural layering. Double digging is a great way to accomplish this. For a brief description of the process, see the double digging "short course." Or, for an in depth explanation with illustrations, check out John Jeavons' "How to Grow More Vegetables."

You'll find working the soil much more satisfying when you use a digging fork rather than a shovel. A digging fork penetrates the soil more easily , works around sticks and stones and breaks up the soil better than a shovel. It's also easier on your precious earthworms. If your soil is too dry and compacted, soaking the area a couple of days prior to digging can be a great help.

Work mature compost and other organic amendments into the top 4-6 inches of the soil using your digging fork, then level the surface of the bed and rake it smooth. These steps should be sufficient for transplants, but for direct seeding, you'll want to rake out the top two inches of soil until it is free of any debris or clods. This will provide an optimum environment for germination and allow your seedlings to emerge unimpeded. Some say it's best to let the soil "rest" for a day or two before transplanting.

Double Digging, The Short Course

1. Loosen the top foot of soil in the entire bed using the digging fork. If this is a new garden, remove the sod and reuse it or compost it.
2. Down one side of the bed, dig a trench in the loosened soil one foot deep (or the depth of your topsoil if it is less) and one foot wide. Set the soil aside in a cart or on a tarp.
3. Loosen and aerate the subsoil in the trench with the fork. Work in an inch or two of organic matter, and then fill the trench with the topsoil from the next one-foot section of the bed.
4. Repeat this process until you get to the end of the bed. Use the soil you set aside to fill the last trench.
5. Rest

Direct Seeding
As you lay out where everything will go, take companion planting possibilities into consideration to increase you garden's potential. (see "Recommended Reading" below) Also, be sure to rotate your varieties to a different place in the garden from the previous two years to reduce pest problems. Once you know what's going where, dig a furrow in the soil to the planting depth indicated on the seed pack. We generally sow 2 to 3 times as closer than the desired plant spacing, then thin out the weaker plants before things get crowded. For leafy greens you might want to plant even closer as the thinnings make great early salads and denser planting can help in weed suppression.

Place the seeds in the bottom of the furrow, backfill, and lightly tamp the soil over the seed. With its pointed blade, our farm-tested Warren Hoe from Bulldog is a great tool for this job and general cultivating as well. For squashes, melons, and cucumbers, we often plant three or four seeds a few inches apart in a "hill," or mound, keeping our hills about five feet apart. This will allow plenty of space for the vines to run and allow you to concentrate your compost and other fertilizer where it's needed most. A little depression in the center where you plant the seeds will help with watering. If you've got a big garden and you're not looking forward to spending a lot of time on your hands and knees planting seeds, or you just want to save time, check out our new Walk Behind Seeder. Finally, remember to treat your peas and beans before planting with a legume inoculant. (available at your local garden center.)

Watering
Consistent moisture is a key to good germination so be sure to keep your beds damp but not soaked and use caution not to wash delicate seeds out. Our mist nozzle works well for this. For seeds sown close to the surface we often mulch with a thin layer of straw. This allows light to penetrate but helps keep the soil from drying out. For most seeds, you can lay a board on the soil to keep it moist, removing it at the first sight of sprouting. Once your seedlings emerge, allow the surface of the soil to dry out between waterings. When the plants are established irrigate according to the needs of the variety as indicated by the watering symbol on the pack.

Transplanting
Now that you've worked your beds deeply and enriched the soil, hopefully you've got a bunch of sturdy seedlings which have been hardened off (see note below)*, as well as a good sense of when to transplant, based on your frost-free date and the plant's hardiness. To ease the shock of transition, it's ideal to transplant on a calm, cloudy day. If this isn't possible, evening is the next best time, or try early morning if necessary. Always avoid transplanting in the heat of the day.

You'll want to plant your starts to the same soil level as they had in their pots, so make your holes about the same size as the root ball. Gently ease the plant out of its container, immediately place it in the hole and gently pack the space around it with soil. Making a small depression or "well" around the plant will help in watering. If you've used peat pots, be sure to soak them with water first, and bury them completely so that the roots can penetrate. If cutworms are a problem in your garden, you might want to make some cardboard collars to place around the stems of your transplants. The collars should encircle the stem from an inch below the soil surface to about 2 inches above the surface.

For tomatoes we've had good luck planting our starts on their sides and burying a portion of the stem after removing the lower leaves. The stem will sprout more roots in the warm soil and your plants will love you for it. If you want to get a jump on the season, protecting your plants with our solar bells or garden tunnels can buy you a couple of weeks and help get your plants off to a fast start. Our wallowaters, (or is that wallsowater?) can allow you to get your transplants out there even earlier, by as much as a month.

More Watering
Keep your newly transplanted starts continually moist for a week or so. They might look a little limp at first but they should snap back in a few days. You can decrease watering frequency as the plants plunge their roots deeper into the soil. A light mulch will help retain moisture and control weeds, but can also keep the soil from warming up. So it's best not to mulch too heavily until the soil is good and warm. Remember, these little babies will grow, so follow the recommended spacing on the seedpack. An occasional application of a liquid organic fertilizer or side dressing with compost should keep them going strong, right through to the harvest.

A Note on Hardening Off
As your seedlings mature, and starting a couple of weeks before you're ready to transplant them, you'll need to gradually get them used to the idea of being outside in the sun, wind, and cool nights. Do this by setting them outside in a protected place for an hour or two at first, and then gradually increase their exposure until transplanting day. Be sure not to overdo it at first and remember that they will dry out much faster outside. Using cold frames or cloches is a great way to harden off, as you just open and close as the weather dictates. Our new Deluxe Cold Frame even has an optional, Automatic Vent Opener to help prevent overheating during the day and freezing at night.

For further information about planting your garden, check your local library, or consult one of the excellent gardening books available through our catalog or website. We've reviewed a couple of great ones in our "Recommended Readings" section below. And, as always, feel free to e-mail us with your questions.

Companion planting is probably one of the most mysterious and misunderstood aspects of gardening. In the introduction to "Louise Riotte's 1975 classic, "Carrots Love Tomatoes," she begins, "The magic and mystery of companion planting have intrigued and fascinated humans for centuries, yet it is part of the gardening world that has never been fully explored." She concludes by saying that "All of the suggestions in this book for companion planting are only a beginningÉ..Your own experiments will lead you into many exciting pathways and discoveries."

"Carrots Love Tomatoes" inspires experimentation by providing fascinating information about hundreds of plants, from vegetables and herbs to wild plants and fruit trees. While much of the information is historical or based on the available scientific information at the time, some of it is purely conjecture on the author's part, based on her own experiences or traditional garden folklore. Some of her "tips" and "suggestions" are intriguing but hard to take too seriously, like "beets grow well near bush beansÉ.but are 'turned off' by pole beans," while others, like "peas and beans will help corn by restoring to the soil nitrogen used up by the corn" make perfect sense. It's an engaging read though, harkening back to some of the19th century classics of herbal medicine such as the "Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America,"of1890, or the "Universal Herbal" of 1820. It's final chapter includes several thoughtful garden plans, including the Kitchen Herb Garden, the Child's Garden, and the Aphrodisiac Herbal Window Box. It's no surprise that there are over a half million copies of this entertaining and informative book in print.

One of the people that have taken Loise Riotte's ideas to heart, and elevated the concept of companion planting to a whole new level, is Sally Jean Cunningham, a master gardener with the Cornell Cooperative Extension. In her book, "Great Gardening Companions," she explores a wide variety of techniques to grow completely organic gardens of bountiful diversity, and as the wonderful photographs attest, profound beauty.

Through keen observation and extensive research, Ms. Cunningham has not only discovered companion planting strategies that work, but gives good reasons why. She bases her philosophy on respect for all living things, creating gardens that emulate natural systems. Integral plantings of flowers and herbs mingle among her vegetables to attract beneficial insects and confuse pests, tall companions shade low growing cool weather varieties, "sacrificial" plants trap pests, and neighborhoods form based on their needs and habits. Her section on "Backyard Garden Beneficials," with detailed information on over thirty insect species, will have us all crawling around with our magnifying glasses this summer.

With sections on soil building and garden planning, as well as seasonal "to-do" lists and dozens of gardening tips, this book is loaded with practical and inspiring information for everyone interested in growing gardens that are ecologically sound, biologically diverse, and a pleasure to the senses.

Exotic leafy greens are fast becoming the rage. Organic field greens command high prices in our chicest restaurants and natural food stores, but nothing can compare to the experience of creating your own fresh gourmet salads from diverse plantings in your own back yard, balcony, or window planter.

Last year, here in Maine, we harvested our first spicy salad just 33 days after planting a single pack of Seeds of Change Mesclun Mix in the early spring. A week or two later, our nearly daily harvest mellowed a bit as tender lettuce thinnings joined in the mix. Soon after, the first of the arugula and cress began to flower with their delicate blooms adding a nice contrast to the leafy patch and a gourmet touch to the salad bowl as well. By early summer we harvested gorgeous heads of lettuce, including Brun D'hiver, Ruben's Red Romaine, Pirat, Formidana, and Simpson's Black Seeded.

We collected seeds from the short-season spicy greens and by the time the lettuces began to bolt we had tender sprouts of arugula and cress starting up again to mix with the last of the lettuces, Red Russian Kale, Osaka Purple Mustard Greens, and Tres Fin Endive. As those went to seed, we were ready to start the cycle all over again in our cold frames for the fallÉ. a perpetual salad garden from a single pack of seeds.

This year, inspired by our experience, and Rosalind Creasy's wonderful book "The Edible Salad Garden," we're ready to expand our horizons and try out some new combinations of our own creation. We'll work with the New Mexico research team to develop new mixes to offer in our catalog next year, We'd love to get you involved too. That's why we're offering some hot new seed collections at significant savings over the single pack price. Mix them up and broadcast the seed for a "cut and come again" perpetual salad garden, or plant them separately and invent new blends in your salad bowl. The beautifully illustrated "Edible Salad Garden" will provide you with great growing tips and inspiring recipes to embark on your own salad adventure. And remember to let us know about your favorite combinations. Maybe you'll see one of them in our new mixes.

Essential Tool for Spring Planting
The farm-tested Warren Hoe from Bulldog makes spring planting more fun and efficient. It has become a favorite at our farm for its versatility and usefulness for Spring planting. Its unique shape is perfect for digging and filling furrows and its pointed tip penetrates the soil easily for general cultivation tasks. Built to last a lifetime.

Big Garden? No Problem!
Our Walk Behind Row Seeder tames those long rows. This time-tested tool is a favorite of market gardeners and small farmers and is perfect for those of us with large gardens. Saves time, and saves your back too. This one tool furrows the soil, spaces and plants the seeds, covers them with soil and gently packs it down. It even marks the next row. Comes complete with seven seed plates to plant the most common seeds, such as carrot, corn, lettuce, endive, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, cauliflower, mustard, broccoli, radish, leek, asparagus, spinach, beets, okra, beans, and peas. Sowing your garden has never been easier.

Jumpstart Your Season With Our New Cold Frames.
Whether you're trying to warm up your frozen soil, harden off your seedlings or simply extend your season, these new Cold Frames get the job done.

Deluxe Cold Frame, with Optional Automatic Vent Opener
This light-weight, attractive unit will compliment any backyard patio, deck, or even a sunny balcony. We had salad greens growing in ours when there was still snow in the garden! Rot resistant frame is constructed from second growth redwood, and the sloped glazing is a durable insulated polycarbonate panel. The optional Automatic Vent Operator (S14958) eliminates worries about overheating, or forgetting to close the cover at night. It releases easily for full access. Perfect for those with a busy lifestyle who still want the many benefits of a cold frame.

Giant Coldframe
This jumbo unit measures 6 x 8 feet, giving you almost 50 square feet of protected growing space. Perfect for a raised bed garden. We hinged ours right to the back of the bed with bailing wire to secure it down and make it easy to open. Two fold away legs make it simple to prop up for access and venting. Made of rugged, steel reinforced PVC pipe and translucent, corrugated, high-density polyethylene glazing that transmits 70-75% soft diffused light. The trapped air space in the corrugated glazing provides optimal solar heat collection with a 2.5 R - 3.0 R insulation factor. In four sunny days the soil in ours was over ten degrees warmer than the soil outside. Assembles in half a day. Attractive "techno" design looks great in the garden.

Greenhouse Dreams Begin Here!
This affordable, 8 x 8 ft. Portable Greenhouse has plenty of room for a potting bench and shelves full of starts, but is still economical to heat. Easy to assemble, commercial grade, kit is made of durable corrosion resistant steel tubing and a form fitted cover of tough, translucent, UV resistant, woven polyethylene. Full size zippered door makes for easy access and three vents keep it cool in the summer. Four rugged anchors secure it to the ground. Ours has already withstood high winds and snow with no problem. Grow liked the pros with your own greenhouse!

Contents | Seeds of Change Homepage

In early March a group of 24 seed growers, plant breeders, and representatives from small seed companies gathered together at the Lost Valley Conference Center near Eugene, Oregon for an intensive three day workshop.The group's goal was to further their understanding of how to make real and lasting improvements to open pollinated (OP) seed varieties. The conference was organized and sponsored by the Biodynamic Seed and Plant Association. John Navazio, Ph.D., a plant breeder at Alf Christiansen Seed Company in Mt. Vernon, Washington, was the principal presenter. Navazio had previously operated successful organic farms in Oregon and Maine. His passion and dedication toward promoting sustainable, organic agriculture and maintaining genetic diversity in our seed supply were obvious from the start. To prepare conference participants for the somewhat technical nature of the presentation, all attendees were assigned a packet of extensive background reading in genetics and plant breeding prior to the conference. The ensuing discussions were lively and interesting. Dr. Navazio even received a rousing round of applause after an in depth presentation of Mendelian genetics. (The Austrian monk and botanist, Gregor Johann Mendel is considered the founder of the science of genetics.)

One of the most important ideas raised at the conference was that improving varieties through plant breeding is not just the domain of the biotechnology industry, university research programs, or multinational seed companies, but can be effectively achieved by independent breeders and individuals on their own farms. We also concluded that most of the important breeding opportunities will involve revitalizing existing varieties, rather than producing entirely new ones. Development of open pollinated varieties largely ceased 40 or 50 years ago when F1 hybrids became popular (F1 hybrids are the first seed derived from crossing two different OP varieties). As a result, there is tremendous potential for improving many OP's through careful selection within a strain as long as there is substantial genetic diversity in the population. If genetic diversity is lacking, the breeder may need to introduce new genetic material to increase vigor, taste, or some other desirable trait.

A basic understanding of reproductive biology and plant populations is essential before any breeding work can begin. Cross-pollinated crops (e.g. corn, carrots, spinach) require much larger field populations than self-pollinated crops (e.g. beans, lettuce, tomatoes) to maintain sufficient genetic diversity within a given variety. In cross-pollinating crops the goal is to maximize out-crossing events within a given plant population. This creates many "true hybrid" progeny (with enhanced vigor) between unique individuals in genetically elastic, "open-pollinating" populations. In self-pollinating crops the quickest and most effective method for improving a variety is called recurrent mass selection, in which the superior individuals in a genetically diverse population are selected as the parents of the next generation. This process is repeated for several generations (10-15) until the desired traits are obtained.

The workshop emphasized the need for ongoing field trials, which of course require much time and patience. But as in most things, perseverance ultimately will be richly rewarded. Meaningful trials require replications over several years, in various locations, so that environmental influences can be distinguished from genetic influences. It is also essential to challenge your plants by growing them in sub-optimal environmental conditions such as in poor soil or in a disease or pest-infected area. This enables you to discover the "workhorse" strains and eliminate the "prima donna/beauty contest" strains which hold up only under perfect conditions. Exposing plants to disease is also the best method for achieving durable, "horizontal" disease resistance, which is conferred from the interaction of many genes. In contrast, most disease resistance in modern cultivars is single gene, "vertical resistance" which is quickly overcome by adaptable, mutating populations of disease organisms.

Another key to successfully developing a new variety or improving an existing one is knowing your germ plasm. Does the set of traits you are seeking already exist somewhere? Often the best place to look for new genetic material is in the extensive gene pool already existing in the global, commercial seed trade and seed banks throughout the world. As a last resort, you may need to search remote, wild environments for new germ plasm, which usually means a longer development period.

For the small-scale farmer or gardener, with limited resources, it would be best to focus on a single plant species that you are keenly interested in and that grows well in your environment. Choose to work on only a few traits, perhaps 4 or 5 at the most, so that you can make steady progress and avoid becoming overwhelmed. You should have directed goals but remain flexible. For example, do not be overly strict about selecting for a particular physical trait because you may be removing some valuable genetic material that contributes to the variety's overall vigor. Be aware that many of our best varieties have been discovered purely by accident.

This gathering yielded two significant outcomes. The first, was to create a network of passionate plant breeders, committed to improving the genetics of our existing open pollinated seed varieties. The group's collective knowledge and resources should greatly hasten progress, in contrast to each person working alone. If such grass-roots breeding clubs and growers groups were more widespread we would be much closer toward achieving global food security.

The other important result of this conference was the confirmation that all the necessary improvements of seed genetics can be made through traditional plant breeding methods. Gene splicing and other controversial genetic engineering methods are not necessary to produce plants with desirable traits such as superb vigor, reliable yields, excellent taste, high nutrition, disease and insect resistance, uniformity, and superior performance under organic conditions. Populations of plants under traditional plant breeding conditions perform similarly to plant populations in natural environments in which the widest genetic crosses that occur are between species within a genus. Rogue individuals, that may have highly disruptive effects on the environment, are eliminated from a population through natural selection (survival of the fittest), thus avoiding the unpredictable and potentially harmful outcomes from, say, crossing a flounder with a strawberry. In addition, traditional breeding is vastly less expensive than modern recombinant DNA techniques. If only a fraction of the budget applied to the development of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) was directed towards traditional breeding efforts the results could be profound.

We invite anyone interested in becoming involved with this group to contact Steve Peters (Agricultural Planning Manager Ð Seeds Of Change) at 505-438-6507 or steve.peters@effem.com. We see this as an exciting opportunity to become more attuned with our work and to make a positive change in the world.

References
Allard, Robert W. 1999. Principles Of Plant Breeding. 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Deppe, Carol. 2000. Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties. 2nd Ed. Chelsea Green Publishing.

Robinson, Raoul A. 1996. Return To Resistance. AgAccess

Suzuki, Griffiths, Miller, and Lewontin. 1989. An Introduction To Genetic Analysis. 4th Ed. W.H. Freeman & Co.

Steve Peters, Director of Seed Research

Photo: Alan Kapuler and Steve Peters at the Seeds of Change Research Farm in New Mexico

Amidst growing worldwide concern, the FDA has extended the public comment period regarding genetically engineered (GE) foods until May 3, 2001. As a company dedicated to providing certified organic seeds and food products, as well as supporting sustainable agriculture and preserving biodiversity, we at Seeds of Change believe it is important that our customers know that our products contain no genetically modified organisms. We also believe it is imperative that we all become informed about this new technology and make our viewpoints known to those determining public policy regarding this issue.

Some experts from the biotechnology industry say that GE is our only answer to feeding the world's growing population. At the same time, other experts, like those from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), say that current agricultural technology is more than sufficient to feed the world, at least through 2030. According to FAO experts, the primary obstacles to ending world hunger are poverty and poor distribution. (1)

In researching genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for this newsletter, we found some startling facts and complex issues. While it is not our intent to define an entrenched position on the issue, we'd like to share some of those facts, and provide you with some links and information to explore the issue further, in hopes that you'll let your voice be heard. In the midst of all this turmoil and disagreement, one thing does seem clear: genetically engineered crops are fast becoming ubiquitous, both in our farmlands and in our food supply.

Facts and Issues of Concern:

Genetic engineering (GE) has been developed to overcome the inherent limitations of traditional plant breeding. For example, GE allows scientists to splice genes from animals into plants to create entirely new organisms. (Steve Peters' comment in the above essay about combining a fish with a strawberry is not a farfetched as it sounds. Plants that combine genes from these two species are already being grown.)

In 1999, approximately 71 million acres of US farmland were planted with GE crops. (2)

The majority of GE crops have been designed to withstand increased spraying with pesticides and herbicides or to produce their own. This could have serious consequences for organic agriculture if pests develop increased resistance to organic controls. (3)

Neither the FDA nor the USDA has done adequate long term testing of the effects of GMOs in food or the environment. (4)

The USDA has approved over 5000 applications for biotech field test permits. These are defined by the USDA as a "release into the environment". (5)

Approximately 55% of US soybeans and 25 % of U.S. Corn grown in the US is genetically modified. (6)

Birds, insects and the wind can spread pollen from GE corn to other plants over a mile away. The resulting corn will have the GE trait. This is a threat to organic farmers, many of whom have already had their crops contaminated. (7)

A study by scientists at the University of Nebraska shows that soybeans genetically engineered to contain Brazil-nut proteins cause reactions in individuals allergic to Brazil nuts. (8)

The majority of processed foods in US supermarkets contain genetically modified organisms, (GMOs). (9)

Labeling of genetically engineered foods is required in Europe, Japan, Australia and Russia, but not in the United States. (10)

The most certain way to avoid GMOs in your food is to buy certified organic foods or to grow your own.

Notes:

1. "Agriculture: Towards 2015/30", Technical Interim Report, April 2000, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, (FAO) Economic and Social Department.
   
   
2. "Maladroit Farm: Biotech Crops Won and Organic Food lost in the Clinton-Gore Years", Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group Publication, www.biotech-info.net/OG_lost.html
   
   
3. Agriculture and Biotechnology, FAQs, USDA Website, www.usda.gov/agencies/biotech/faq.html
   
   
4. "Is there sufficient scientific knowledge to ensure safe commercial exploitation of genetically engineered foods?" Website, Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology (PSRAST), www.psrast.org/defknow.htm
   
   
5. Agriculture and Biotechnology, FAQs, USDA Website, www.usda.gov/agencies/biotech/faq.html
   
   
6. "Gene-Spliced Wheat Stirs Global Fears", Marc Kaufmann, Washington Post, February 27, 2001
   
   
7. "Blown profits Genetic drift affects more than biology - US farmers stand to lose millions" Anthony Shadid, Boston Globe, April 8, 2001
   
   
8. "Risks of Genetic Engineering" UCS Website www.ucsusa.org/food/gen.risks.html
   
   
9. "Whole Foods, Wild Oats to Ban Gene-Altered Foods" Bloomberg, December 30, 1999
   
   
10. "Did You Know", Website, True Foods Now www.truefoodnow.org/index.html

For more Information:

Union of Concerned Scientists
Ag Biotech Infonet
Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology (PSRAST)

To voice your opinion, please contact:
Food and Drug Administration
Docket Management Branch (HFA-305)
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
fdadockets@oc.fda.gov

Reference docket # 00N-1396 www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/040201c.htm

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(April 29th - May 5th)
Composting Organizations Team up to "Spread the Compost" Message
UK Composting Association, US Composting Council and The Composting Council of Canada join together to celebrate International Composting Awareness Week 2001

International Composting Awareness Week will be celebrated throughout the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada this year, thanks to the combined forces of the UK Composting Association, the US Composting Council and The Composting Council of Canada. "Make a Difference... Compost!" will be the theme for this year1s awareness program, to be held during April 29th to May 5th.

"We are delighted to join forces with our allies in both the United Kingdom and United States to utilize Composting Awareness Week to promote the composting message" said Susan Antler, Executive Director, The Composting Council of Canada. "While our efforts to promote composting are a year-round priority, the strength of our message and programs have been enhanced significantly through our annual Composting Awareness Week events."

Composting Awareness Week was first established in Canada in 1995 as a means to promote composting and compost utilization throughout the country. Communities, local environmental groups as well as composting facilities organize events of relevance to their area to promote composting. Backyard composting distribution programs, openings of centralized composting facilities, gardening programs and tree-planting events are just some of the many activities that have been spearheaded as part of the week's programs.

"Composting Awareness Week will become an important element in our roster of support products for our industry," said Jane Gilbert, Chief Executive of the UK Composting Association. "It is a proven entity that will help us to bring ever-greater awareness and participation in composting throughout the United Kingdom." We are looking forward to working with our members to encourage local celebrations during this week and beyond."

"Make a Difference: Compost! is a great theme for this year's program," said Dr. Stuart C. Buckner, US Composting Council. "It is relevant on so many fronts including the significant difference that composting can make in waste diversion, in successful gardening and, very importantly, the positive difference that our members make in their communities."

Posters, website updates and promotional materials are just some of the many materials that will be used to help support the week's efforts. Please contact your national composting organization for more specifics and how to get involved.

Tony Breton, Marketing Network Co-ordinator
The UK Composting Association
tony@compost.org.uk
compost.org.uk

Susan Antler, Executive Director
The Composting Council of Canada
ccc@compost.org
www.compost.org

Patricia E. Heuser, Executive Director
The US Composting Council
info@compostingcouncil.org
www.compostingcouncil.org

(May 1st)
Howard Yana Shapiro to Speak at
Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship

Howard Yana Shapiro PhD., Seeds of Change Vice President of Agriculture, is a creative force in biodiveristy-oriented sustainable organic agriculture and will be conducting this informal discussion with audience participation. Of particular interest to sustainable growers will be Howard's recent work with upscaling Seeds of Change to provide organically grown seed in farm-scale quantity. In addition to his work with promoting biodiversity in American backyard gardens and organic farms, Howard is the Manager of Research in the Department of Plant Science at the M&M/Mars Corporation. People interested in sustainable organic farming and gardening, heirloom seed preservation, or environmental stewardship will appreciate and enjoy this exciting opportunity.

Participation will be limited. Pre-registration is required. There is no admissions charge, but donations to the public education of the Bolivar Growers Market are encouraged. The Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship is the environmental programs arm of the Robert and Dee Leggett Foundation, located two miles south of 340 on Rte 671, Loudoun County, Virginia. To pre-register, or for more information, please contact registrar Maura Balliett at 540.668.6165 7am-10pm Mon.-Saturday until April 30.

After Pat leaves for work, I have an hour before dawn in the summer months, time to start laundry, sweep, and do other mundane household chores before the sun's light illumines the never-ending work that needs to be done outside. I always begin the day with good intentions. A few of the "To Do" items get crossed off the list. And then . . . the dawn's first light comes creeping over the horizon, cheered on by the birds, and as this corner of the earth gains the first momentum of awakening, I slow and come to a virtual standstill. Hypnotized once more, I am helpless against the pull. I fill my coffee cup, sit on the porch, and watch the unfolding.

Cardinals come to eat at the feeder. Mist clinging to the earth slowly rises with the sun. Birdsong fills the air. It's a choreographed dance of the dawn, and I must join it. I leave my perch on the porch and slowly walk down our long driveway. Stones crunch under my feet. To my right, multi-colored zinnias and cosmos nod in the flower bed, their heads heavy with dew. I can smell the jasmine nicotiana before I see it. Eight-foot tithonia towers behind them all. To my left is a five-acre sheep pasture, bordered by ash and butternut trees. I glimpse the sheep, busy grazing on the far side. Boulders protrude in the pasture. In the early morning light, I have to squint to differentiate sheep from stones.

Past the flowers grows an herb area, gone wild with purple coneflower, valerian, motherwort, sweet grass, sweet Annie, mallow and moreÑall having spread far beyond their original spaces and mingling now in a wild herbal dance. As I continue down the drive, the herbs spill into our orderly vegetable garden, where rows of plants march in line for a hundred feet or so. The pasture and gardens end at that same point on either side, a row of windbreak trees. Then our drive gravel meets the road gravel, where my little haven ends and others begin. I turn my back to the road and look upon our homestead through the trees, as if I had never seen it before. Breathing deeply, I drink it in and feel inspired to 'seize the day'. Potential surges through me. I walk back toward the house, more quickly now, determination every step. AnythingÑanythingÑis possible in a day so begun!

Author, Jennifer Szubielak, has a 40-acre homestead in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Artist, Jennifer Blume, lives and gardens in Glastonbury, Connecticut and has been illustrating for GreenPrints for three years.

Green Prints Magazine, The Weeder's Digest, is published and edited by Pat Stone, and his family in Fairview, North Carolina Copyright © Green Prints. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission by GreenPrints.

It's the bane of all photographers. You're looking through a fresh batch prints or slides and you come across that special image. It has exciting composition, dramatic light, your friend is in just the right place. This one's a keeper you think, visualizing that enlargement on the wall, until you realize that everything looks a little fuzzy. You rub your eyes and look again... still fuzzy. Then that sinking feeling sets in. Before you know it, the once promising photo gets relegated to that black hole where all mediocre pictures live. So what happened?

Most blurry pictures are due to two problems: although forgetting to focus or a confused auto focus, (sometimes auto focus camera will focus on a very close object leaving the entire background blurry) is sometimes the case, the usual culprit is a dirty lens or a shaky camera. Keep your lens clean by carefully removing any particles with an air blower and gently polishing with a soft lens cloth. If you're in dim light or doing an extreme close-up, you or your camera may need to select a slow shutter speed. This makes it hard to hold the camera still. Using a tripod and a cable release will solve the problem as long as your subject is not moving. These two things can help you avoid that sinking feeling.    S.V.

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