VIVA LA REVOLUTION !!!!

In the past years of our growing a garden, not a whole lot of thought was given to the types of seeds that were planted. We planted what we liked to eat. A trip taken to a local garden center, browsing the seed racks, choosing a variety of what could be planted for the area, waiting until the planting season started, plopping them in the ground. Out of necessity, we have started researching farming practices in our locale, as well as what is produced elsewhere. As we have strived to learn more about organic, as well as all natural farming, more questions than answers have been found. As our knowledge of farming and gardening has broadened, so has our interest in the origins of what we are planting in our soil. The word Heirloom appeared constantly. The only Heirlooms that were familiar to us were Granny Venna's crocheted pillow cases and doilies. Heirloom seeds were as foreign as Russian Vodka! With increased knowledge comes the inclination for change. The more that we read about Genetically Modified Organisms, ( the words themselves are creepy) or GMO seeds, the greater the aversion to the freaky, petri dish bits, sold as super duper, better than ever, new and improved seeds. The question is: How can you improve on perfection? Seeds have exhisted since the beginning of time. Hundreds and hundreds of generations have planted and harvested seeds to survive. Man begatting man, seeds begatting seeds. Somewhere along the way laziness crept in. Right along side was greed. Somebodies decided that acres upon acres of all kinds of crops should be planted on the prairies and grasslands( don't get me started on the cause of the dust bowl), because families decided to watch TV instead of work a garden....., and they need to eat, so now a weekly trip to the supermarket, paying outlandish prices, buying whatever big agribusiness wants to raise for them to eat. Furthermore, it takes way to much time and physical labor to till the weeds from all of these crops, so the next plausable step was to create edibles that can be sprayed with killer spray and not die! How bizarre is that? We are spearheading a revolt against tainted seeds.  This planting year closer attention will be paid to the fruits and vegetables that will fill our market baskets. A good share of the plants that we will be growing will be the cherished Heirloom varieties. We have dabbled a little, now are going to dive in head first. As an added bonus, we are going to establish a seed cache for next year, as one of the benefits of Heirlooms are the ability to propogate themselves.Upon delving into the beginnings of many of our seeds, sure enough the majority are Heirlooms undercover. Marglobe tomatoes, Hales Best melons, Snowball Cabbage, California Wonder bell peppers, to name just a few! It is not a complete conversion yet, as there are a few hybrid that we have grown fond of, but surely we will find comparable Heirlooms as we continue to search and discover old/new varieties . As a defense, it is said  that even the bees and wind create hybrids, so they can't be all bad. (Note: Carol's definition of a hybrid is a cross of two perfect species, to create a more or less perfect species ). A challenge is put forth  to all gardeners...... novice and expert alike and all of those in between. Join the revolt, if you haven't already.Turn up your nose to funky, ill bred seeds.  Find some Heirloom seeds and start some traditions in your gardens. Let a couple of plants of each variety seed out. Harvest the seeds and save them for next year. Who would not think that this was an excellent idea? Yummy food and free seeds! From our farmstead to your table, thank you for all of your support!!!