Avoiding GMO seeds

Last year I put up a post about GMO seeds. It was rather late in the seed ordering season and into the buying plants season, and I think this subject is definitely worthy of posting about again. This time earlier in the season for the sake of seeds.
It's that time of year when we get piles of catalogs, make wish lists and orders, think about picking up that packet or few off the rack at the local hardware place. Or later on in the season, buying plants at the local big box hardware or building store, megamart or greengrower.

But do you know if you are buying GMO, or if your purchase is going into coffers you would rather not enrich? Avoiding Monsanto/Seminis seed is a good start.
Note: Not all of the veggie varieties in the below list are Monsanto/Seminis exclusives. Consequently if you spot some of these varieties in the catalog of an heirloom seed-seller or plants in a local nursery spot,  just check with the seller to make sure the seeds or plants were not purchased from  Seminis/Monsanto.
But if you find these seeds on a rack at a big-box garden center, or later spot these plants for sale in the same places, you have every right to suspect they were purchased from the evil empire.

Seminis Products as of January 2013. This is the full list of direct to home gardener as well as commercial seed so you might not see some of these in seed form, but rather you might be eating them out of the fields instead.

Beans: Aliconte, Bronco, Cadillac, Ebro, Etna, Eureka, Gina, Goldmine, Labrador, Lynx, Magnum, Matador, Spartacus, Strike, Stringless Blue Lake 7, Tapia, Tema, Brio, Carlo, Excalibur, Fandango, Festina, Golddust, Gold Rush, Grenoble, Opus, Pony Express, Romano Gold, Sea Biscuit, Secretariat, Serin, Storm, Sunburst, Teggia, Thoroughbred, Unidor, Valentino, First Mate, Golden Child, Hercules, Slenderpak, Titan, Ulysses.

Beans, dry: Black Velvet, Cabernet, Chianti, Etna, Hooter, Mariah, Medicine Hat, Pink Panther, Red Rover, Windbreaker, 
 
Broccoli: Packman, Captain, Castle Dome, Contributor, Coronado Crown, General, Heritage, Iron, Ironman, Legacy, Liberty, Major, Revolution, Tlaloc, Tradition.
 
Cabbage: Platinum Dynasty, Red Dynasty, Blue Dynasty, Constellation, Tropicana
 
Carrot: Bilbo, Envy, Forto, Juliana, Karina, Sweetness III, Abledo, Achieve, Cello Bunch, Dominion, Enterprise, Legend, Propeel, Tastypeel, PS 07101441
 
Cauliflower: Cheddar, Minuteman, Fremont, Cielo Blanco, Cornell, Freedom, Juneau, Whistler.
 
Cucumber: Babylon, Cool Breeze Imp., Dasher II, Emporator, Eureka, Fanfare HG, Marketmore 76, Orient Express II, Poinsett 76, Rockingham, Salad Bush, Sweet Slice, Sweet Success PS, Talladega, SV3462CS, SV4719CS, Conquistador, Indy, Intimidator, Speedway, Thunder, Thunderbird, Turbo, Arabian, Colt, Expedition,  Powerpak, Vlaspic, Vlasset, Vlasstar.

Eggplant: Fairytale, Gretel, Hansel

Lettuce: Braveheart, Conquistador, Annie, Bubba, Coyote, Dol Oro, Desert Spring Grizzly, Honcho II, Javelina, Mowhawk, Raider, Sahara, Sharp Shooter, Sniper, Sure Shot, Top Billings, Valley Heart.

Melon: Early Dew, Sante Fe, Saturno, Cabrillo, Caravelle, Colima, Cristobal, Destacado, Durango, Earli-Dew, Earlisweet, Fast Break, Honeydew Green Flesh, High Mark, Laredo, Magellen, Mission, Moonshine, Roadside, Zeus 

Onion: Candy, Century, Red Zeppelin, Savannah Sweet, Sierra Blanca, Sterling, Abilene, Affirmed, Aspen, Barbaro, Belmar, Bunker, Caballero, Cannonball, Ceylon, Champlain, Charismatic, Cirrus, Cougar, Exacta, Fortress, Gelma, Golden Spike, Goldeneye, Grateful Red, Hamlet, Joliet, Leona, Mackenzie, Margarette, Mercedes, Mercury, Montblanc, Nicolet, Orizaba, Pecos, Rainier,  Stratus, Swale, Tioga, Verrazano, Vision.

Pepper, Hot: Big Bomb, Big Chile brand of Sahuaro, Burning Bush brand of Chichen Itza, Cayenne Large Red Thick, Chichimeca, Corcel, Garden Salsa SG, Holy Mole brand of Salvatierro, Mariachi brand of Rio de Oro, Mesilla, Milta, Super Chile, Aquiles, Ball Park, Cardon, Caribbean Red, Cherry Bomb, Chichen Itza, Cocula, Coyame, Fresnillo, Grande, Habanero, Hot Spot (with X3R), Hungarian Yellow Hot Wax, Inferno, Ixtapa (with X3R), Kulkulkan, Major League, Nainari, Nazas, Papaloapan, Perfecto, Rebelde, Rio de Oro, Sahurao, Salvatierra, Santa Fe Grande, Sayula (with X3R), Tajin, Tam Veracrus, Time Bomb, Tula, Tuxlas, Vencedor, Victorioso.

Pepper, Sweet: Aristotle (with X3R), Baron, Bell Boy, Big Bertha PS, Bounty, Camelot, Capistrano, Cherry Pick, Chocolate Beauty, Corno Verde, Early Sunsation, Fooled You brand of Dulce, Giant Marconi, Gypsy, Jumper, Key West (with X3R), King Arthur, North Star, Orange Blaze, Pimiento Elite, Red Knight (with X3R), Socrates (with X3R), Aladdin (with X3R), Antillo (with X3R), Archimedes, Biscayne, California Wonder 300, Camelot X3R, Early Sunsation (with X3R), Enterprise (with X3R), Ethem, Excalibur, Mar Rojo (with X3R), Petite Sirah, Plato (with X3R), Prophet (with X3R), Revelation (with X3R), Sir Galahad (with X3R), Sweet Spot (with X3R), Valiant, Wizard (with X3R).

Pumpkin: Jamboree HG, Orange Smoothie, Prize Winner, Snackface, Trickster, Appalachian, Buckskin, Longface, Phantom, Spirit, Spooktacular, Wyatt's Wonder.
 
Spinach: Hellcat, Avenger, Barbados.
 
Squash: Ambassador, Canesi, Commander, Dixie, Early Butternut, Gold Rush, Grey Zucchini, Greyzini, Lolita, Peter Pan, Richgreen Hybrid Zucchini, Storr’s Green, Sungreen, Sunny Delight, Taybelle PM, Conqueror III, Consul R, Daisey, Depredator, Embassy, Gemma, Independence II, Judgement III, Justice III, Papaya Pear, Patty Green Tint, Prelude II, President, Progreen, Quirinal, Radiant, Senator, Terminator, Autumn Delight, Butternut Supreme, Pasta. 
 
Sweet Corn: Devotion, Fantasia, Merit, Obession, Passion, Temptation, Obsession II, Passion II, Temptation II, Absolute, SEneca Arrowhead, Sensor, Synergy, Vitality.
 
Tomato: Amsterdam, APT 410, Beefmaster, Betterboy, Big Beef, Biltmore, Burpee’s Big Boy, Caramba, Celebrity, Cupid, Debut, Health kick, Heatmaster, Husky Red, Husky Cherry Red, Lemon Boy, Patio, Phoenix, Pink Girl, Pio, Poseidon 43, Sun Sugar, Sweet Baby Girl, Tye-Dye, Viva Italia, Yaqui, Crown Jewel, Empire, Flora-dade, Florida 47 R, Florida91, Huichol, Maya, Picus, Puebla, Quincy, Sanibel, Seri, Sunbrite, SunChief, SunGuard, Sunoma, Sunstart, SunShine, Tygress.
 
Watermelon: Charleston Grey, Crimson Sweet, Jade Star, Mickyle, Apollo, Coopers Town, Crimson Glory, Cronos, Delta, Majestic, Omega, Regency, Royal Sweet, Sentinel, StarBright, StarGazer, Tiger Baby, Wrigley. 
 
Who to avoid that sells Monsanto/Seminis seeds? Well, pretty much anything that is found in regular hardware, farm, or gardening stores. Pretty much all the regular big seed catalogs too- right now on my desk is a stack of no-no's- I like to make origami seed envelopes out of them :)

Miller Nurseries
Thompson & Morgan
Gurneys
Burgess
Jung Seeds
Totally Tomatoes
Vermont Bean
Gardens Alive
R.H. Shumway's
Burpee
Now I'm not trying to say that any of the No-no companies exclusively sell Monsanto or Seminis seeds. All of them have products that are pretty likely not M/S related. If you don't care about GMO stuff, don't really matter if you buy from them or not. However, if you want to do seed saving and/or sharing, smart advice is just don't get seeds from these kinds of sources. If you think you are being nice to that seed collector you know... Well, they will probably be happy to get seed, and might grow it, but it's unlikely they will try to save seed from it.


Here's the handy link to the 2012 safe seed pledge- http://www.councilforresponsiblegenetics.org/ViewPage.aspx?pageId=261
There isn't any information out yet about the 2013 pledge, sorry about that. I also got a stack of let's go catalogs. I could only dream of getting all the seed I want from these folks :) And yeah, I save their catalogs too for making into envelopes :)

The Potato Garden
Wood Prairie Farm
Nichols Garden Nursery
Seed Savers Exchange
Territorial Seed
Baker Creek Seed
High Mowing Seed
NE Seed
Pinetree Seed- I use this one the most
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Botanical Interests

Now I am trying to say you should get seed from sources like these.  I know I've seen Baker Creek, Seed Savers, and Botanical Interests on the shelves at good stores. Sometimes it really is worth it to be patient and get your seeds in the mail. For the seed collector, these are viable seed sources worth growing, saving, and sharing and growing again.

Terms to look out for while looking :)
Heirloom- while this isn't a 100% guarantee of seed goodness, it's a lot less likely there has been any genetic tampering.
Re-introduced- Old seed makes a comeback. Sometimes these are great heirlooms.
Pre-1960 seed origins- GMO really only has been around for a few decades. Until then there was some intense breeding, but no monkeying around with cell or DNA stuff really.
University of whatever school- Chances are they are doing intensive breeding more than genetic tampering.
F1, su, VW, and a whole bunch of other letters that go with seed. Don't be scared of these, most of them were created through intensive breeding, not genetic tampering.
Open Pollinated- usually those are good for seed saving.
Pelleted, coated, inoculated, dusted, whatever- Usually it's ok, but if you aren't positive about your seed source, be leery of what they are putting on your seed.

Organic. This is a term to be really wary of. Organic has a lot of different meanings, some of them are clearly legally defined, some of them not so much. Principally, it means that your seeds were grown in an organic environment. It can also mean that the parent seed was organic and all that jazz. It can also mean that the parent seed is not GMO and the offspring seed has been found not to be adulterated with any GMO substance. But it does not always mean the parent seed was organic or that the offspring seed was tested for adulteration of GMO cross pollinators.
I can buy some pepper seed from a questionable company, grow it 100% organic, and call my offspring seed organic seed.

So.. Plan a Victory early this year in your garden.

SPAM ALERT!!!!

HEY!!!!!

... Especially new property owners.
We just had a new scam show up in our mailbox today. So for any property owners, especially anyone that has purchased property in the last couple years...

NATIONAL RECORD SERVICE, INC. is the dirty header.
3775 COMMERCIAL AVE, NORTHBROOK, IL, 60062.
PHONE IS 888-480-2711.

It's a rather nice and official letter notifying you that records show that ownership of a property is at ADDRESS X. Yeah, where you live.
The letter goes on to tell you that you should have a certified copy of your deed, which they can supply to you for 69.50.

THAT'S RIGHT, SEVENTY BUCKS!!!

Just to let you know, if you did not already get all your official documents when you purchased the property, it's usually easy enough to get copies of the documents you need from your local town hall or courthouse for under 20 bucks.

Don't fall prey, or let anyone else you know fall prey to this scam!!!

KEEP IN MIND THAT WE DON'T LIVE IN ILLINOIS, AND WE GOT THIS LETTER. I WOULD SAY THE WHOLE CHICAGOISH AREA COULD GET THIS SPAM.


Keep your eye out for spam like this that comes into your mailbox. Easy enough to filter email spam. But lots of stuff still comes in through the regular mail too. 
I suggest a few things to do with it. 

Use it for kindling for starting fires. 
Use it as paper to roll up a pot to plant seed. 
Use it shredded up for making paper mache, or mulch, or whatever. 

BUT DON'T EVER, EVER USE IT FOR WHAT IT INSTRUCTS YOU TO ON THE LETTER!! 
 

STAND UP.. against Monsanto/Seminis seeds..

So, I stumbled across this handy list of seeds churned out by Seminis, who is owned by Monsanto.
Note: Not all of the veggie varieties in the below list are Monsanto/Seminis exclusives. Consequently if you spot some of these varieties in the catalog of an heirloom seed-seller,  just check with the seller to make sure the seeds were not purchased from  Seminis/Monsanto. I will provide resources below to see if your seed company is on the Safe Seed Pledge list or not before you ask them :)
But if you find these seeds on a rack at a big-box garden center, you have every right to suspect they were purchased from the evil empire.

Beans: Aliconte, Brio, Bronco, Cadillac, Ebro, Etna, Eureka, Festina, Gina, Goldmine, Goldenchild, Labrador, Lynx, Magnum, Matador, Spartacus, Storm, Strike, Stringless Blue Lake 7, Tapia, Tema
Broccoli: Coronado Crown, Major, Packman
Cabbage: Atlantis, Golden Acre, Headstart, Platinum Dynasty, Red Dynasty
Carrot: Bilbo, Envy, Forto, Juliana, Karina, Koroda PS, Royal Chantenay, Sweetness III
Cauliflower: Cheddar, Minuteman
Cucumber: Babylon, Cool Breeze Imp., Dasher II, Emporator, Eureka, Fanfare HG, Marketmore 76, Mathilde, Moctezuma, Orient Express II, Peal, Poinsett 76, Salad Bush, Sweet Slice, Sweet Success PS, Talladega
Eggplant: Black Beauty, Fairytale, Gretel, Hansel, Lavender Touch, Twinkle, White Lightening
Hot Pepper: Anaheim TMR 23, Ancho Saint Martin, Big Bomb, Big Chile brand of Sahuaro, Caribbean Red, Cayenne Large Red Thick, Chichen Itza, Chichimeca, Corcel, Garden Salsa SG, Habanero, Holy Mole brand of Salvatierro, Hungarian Yellow Wax Hot, Ixtapa X3R, Lapid, Mariachi brand of Rio de Oro, Mesilla, Milta, Mucho Nacho brand of Grande, Nainari, Serrano del Sol brand of Tuxtlas, Super Chile, Tam Vera Cruz
Lettuce: Braveheart, Conquistador
Melon: Early Dew, Sante Fe, Saturno
Onion: Candy, Cannonball, Century, Red Zeppelin, Savannah Sweet, Sierra Blanca, Sterling, Vision
Pumpkin: Applachian, Harvest Moon, Jamboree HG, Orange Smoothie, Phantom, Prize Winner, Rumbo, Snackface, Spirit, Spooktacular, Trickster
Spinach: Hellcat
Squash: Ambassador, Canesi, Clarita, Commander, Dixie, Early Butternut, Gold Rush, Grey Zucchini, Greyzini, Lolita, Papaya Pear, Peter Pan, Portofino, President, Richgreen Hybrid Zucchini, Storr’s Green, Sungreen, Sunny Delight, Taybelle PM
Sweet Corn: Devotion, Fantasia, Merit, Obession, Passion, Temptation
Sweet Pepper: Baron, Bell Boy, Big Bertha PS, Biscayne, Blushing Beauty, Bounty, California Wonder 300, Camelot, Capistrano, Cherry Pick, Chocolate Beauty, Corno Verde, Cubanelle W, Dumpling brand of Pritavit, Early Sunsation, Flexum, Fooled You brand of Dulce, Giant Marconi, Gypsy, Jumper, Key West, King Arthur, North Star, Orange Blaze, Pimiento Elite, Red Knight, Satsuma, Socrates, Super Heavyweight, Sweet Spot
Tomato: Amsterdam, Beefmaster, Betterboy, Big Beef, Burpee’s Big Boy, Caramba, Celebrity, Cupid, Early Girl, Granny Smith, Health Kick, Husky Cherry Red, Jetsetter brand of Jack, Lemon Boy, Margharita, Margo, Marmande VF PS, Marmara, Patio, Phoenix, Poseidon 43, Roma VF, Royesta, Sun Sugar, Super Marzano, Sweet Baby Girl, Tiffany, Tye-Dye, Viva Italia, Yaqui
Watermelon: Apollo, Charleston Grey, Crimson Glory, Crimson Sweet, Eureka, Jade Star, Mickylee, Olympia

The companies listed in this link have signed the Safe Seed Pledge for 2012. We encourage you
to support them in their efforts to preserve the integrity of our seed supply.  

The following may be companies that sell only safe seed but have not signed the safe seed pledge (see link above).

Abundant Life Seeds
Amishland Seeds
Annapolis Valley Heritage Seed Company (Nova Scotia, Canada)
Diane’s Flower Seeds
Garden City Seeds
Heirlooms Evermore Seeds
Heirloom Seeds
High Mowing Seeds
Horizon Herbs
Irish-Eyes
Lake Valley Seeds
Livingston Seeds
Local Harvest
Mountain Rose Herbs
Organica Seed
Pinetree
Sand Hill Preservation Center
Seeds of Change
Southern Exposure
Sustainable Seed Co (added on request of the company)
Tiny Seeds
Uprising Seeds
Virtual Farm Seed Co (added on the request of the company)
Wildseed Farms

My favorite seed company of many years, Pinetree Garden Seeds is on the not signed list. Why? Here is their response to the question.
"Many of you have contacted us asking about Pinetree's position on genetically modified seeds and the recent acquisition of small companies by larger corporations. After 33 years, Pinetree remains a small family business. In the front cover of our catalog we state "We sell no seed that has been developed using genetic manipulation. We do not view technologies as being good or bad things in themselves, but people can certainly employ them in pernicious ways. We also think that developing countries are best served, focusing on the agricultures that they have the material and manpower for. Not some Western notion that ignores indigenous materials and tastes." Moreover, Pinetree has signed the Safe Seed Pledge in the past but has chosen not to this year because we do not feel it is worded strongly enough and is used more as a tool for marketing than a political statement. More than promise not to "knowingly" sell or buy GM seeds, Pinetree promises not to sell or buy them. Period. In the interest of full disclosure, Pinetree has purchased seeds from Seminis in the past. We did not purchase their seeds this year, nor do we intend to in the future. Our relationship with Seminis predates the Monsanto acquisition by many years and we had always felt they were a responsible company but have chosen not to support Monsanto in any capacity. Pinetree will continue to meet the needs of the home gardener and provide our customers with more and more organic and heirloom choices in the coming years. We are committed to the ideals of sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship and appreciate your support. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, Melissa and Jef"

HOORAY FOR MY FAVORITE SEED COMPANY!!!!

Now, who to avoid?

These are companies currently, or at one time, known to sell seeds from Seminis and/or Monsanto. If you think a company doesn’t belong here, Please leave a comment with with information about the company’s seed practices.

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

Again, if you don't think one of these companies should be on the list, please leave a comment and let me know about it. 

Stop American Censorship

americancensorship.org

At this time there is a movement in our government to increase internet censorship. It is moving fast, and it is not a good thing.

This isn't internet censorship like helping prevent young kids and porn situations.

It's internet censorship like you could go to jail because of the song that was playing in the background of your youtube featuring your cat or kid being really cute. Or your social network account could get suspended because you chose to share that cute cat/kid video your friend just put up. Your kids school concert group could get nailed for putting up a video of their concert if they used the wrong song and the original artist feels it's copyright infringement.

This needs to be stopped before the government can pass it into existence.


UPDATE: Obama Veto

Obama has apprently vetoed SOPA or at least parts of it, and it has been shelved at this time... HOORAY!!!