Peas in the ground & seed dilemma
Feb 18th, 2009 by Amy
The sun came out yesterday so I took advantage of the break in weather to plant our peas. Before planting, I checked the soil temperature and was pleasantly surprised to see 50F on the thermometer. When I checked the temperature about a week ago, it was under 45F. Between the soil temperature change and the sun, I am convinced that spring is coming soon.
We contemplated our seed purchase for a couple weeks after learning that Territorial sources some of their seed from a company acquired by Monsanto. We ended up purchasing some seed from Territorial (including the peas) and some from Seed Savers Exchange. I wish the decision was an easier one, but after weighing all of the factors, we felt it was the right thing to do. First, a decision to not purchase seeds from a local company that buys from Monsanto would negatively impact the local company much more than Monsanto. We are also convinced that Territorial is actively seeking alternative seed sources and transitioning away from Monsanto supplied seeds. We received a comment from Territorial owner Tom Johns within a day after we wrote here about our concern. Tom wrote that a majority of their seeds are now developed on their own farm in London, OR. In addition, they acquired Abundant Life Seeds in 2004 to provide rare seed varieties that have been discontinued by larger seed companies. The company focuses on open pollinated seeds that are organic and biodynamic. Lastly, Territorial carries seeds specifically developed for our climate and they grow really well here. We decided that supporting Territorial’s efforts to transition away from Monsanto by buying their seed was better than not buying from them at all.
The idea of Monsanto controlling a good portion of the available varieties of vegetable seed frightens me. Although we haven’t been motivated to save seed in the past, it certainly makes us consider it strongly for the future. You can read more about the Monsanto acquisition of Seminis on the Organic Seed Alliance website. In addition, a Seattle area blogger published a list of Seminis/Monsanto seeds sold by Territorial here and a list of Seminis/Monsanto seeds from other popular seed sources here.
