Let's Talk Seeds

Part two in setting up our garden:

Itty Bitty and I have been hard at work getting our garden together. There were two small beds already in place when we moved in, although they were overgrown. I cleaned both out, but decided to start small and only plant one this time around. If we are successful, I may expand next time around.

This is a picture of the garden. The left side is after we cleaned, added new soil tilled and planted. The right is the side we left fallow and more of a "before" picture.

I made the choice to use seeds rather than starter plants. It was hard for me to find a local farmer with seedlings for sale, and I did not want to buy from a big-box store like Walmart. I wanted to know how the plant has been treated from the moment it entered the soil. 

I was not prepared for the effort needed to pick out some simple seed packets.

Hello Google! 

It turns out Monsanto purchased a company called Seminis in 2005. Seminis has 40% market share for all the vegetable seeds sold in the US. Not all the companies under the Monsanto/Seminis umbrella produce GMO seeds, but they do all funnel your money right back to the mothership. Here is a list of all the seed companies owned by Monsanto/Seminis:

Audubon Workshop
Breck’s Bulbs
Burpee
Cook’s Garden
Dege Garden Center
Earl May Seed
E & R Seed Co
Ferry Morse
Flower of the Month Club
Gardens Alive
Germania Seed Co
Garden Trends
HPS
Johnny’s Seeds
Jungs
Lindenberg Seeds
McClure and Zimmerman Quality Bulb Brokers
Mountain Valley Seed
Nichol’s
Osborne
Park Seed
Park Bulbs
Park’s Countryside Garden
R.H. Shumway
Roots and Rhizomes
Rupp
Seeds for the World
Seymour’s Selected Seeds
Snow
Spring Hill Nurseries
Stokes
Territorial Seeds
T&T Seeds
Tomato Growers Supply
Totally Tomato
Vermont Bean Seed Co.
Wayside Gardens
Willhite Seed Co.



There are many (smaller) companies that provide an amazing, quality,  product without trying to own or genetically change our food. The Safe Seed pledge is an amazing project. You can learn about it HERE as well as get a list of LOCAL companies in your area selling safe seeds. 
Moral of the story... do your research. Don't encourage the destruction of our planet by greed. Know what you are growing and how it is treated. 
*Hops off Soap Box*
I ended up planting some Chamomile, Basil, Cilantro, and Parsley from Seeds of Change and Tomato, Cucumber, Green Bell Pepper, and Lettuce from Ferry Morse. Yes, Ferry Morse. I checked the list of Safe Seed pledgers when I purchased the seeds and this company had signed. It was only later, after the seeds were in the ground, I discovered they were owned by Monsanto. Shame on me for not doing due diligence first. Lesson learned. 
The next phase of our project will be setting up a small compost bin to help nourish our plants. 
Please pray they grow!