Seed order done! Yeah! Fedco Seed, blech!
 

Seed order is done and it was a big one. Have been trying to go to all open pollinated seed which is easier said than done. On a thread somewhere on HT I learned that in 2005 Monsanto bought out Seminis Seed. Seminis supplies between 30 and 40 per cent of all domestic vegetable seeds and about 75 per cent of domestic tomato seeds. I did some research and learned way more than I wanted *sigh* so I tried Fedco Seeds. They make a big deal out of NOT dealing with Seminis. Well, I spent about four hours doing my order and went to looking on the site a bit more as I needed some pasture seed and what did I find, a quote from Karl Marx and the "sounds good to me" response along with a lot of other ideas that just made me take pause :grit:
I went through and deleted every item :umno:. I then went to Victory Seeds and while they don't seem to have the selection, I didn't find any pro Marxist propaganda or any political stuff actually. I ordered for probably the last time from Shumway as they do deal with Seminis. I have emailed them asking how much they actually deal with Seminis as some companies are trying to break ties with them. IF it is on the downside, I may continue to buy. I think I will send an order to Victory as the seed can be vacuum sealed and put in the freezer.
The whole idea of Monsanto owning the company that does the lions share of seeds for the home gardener and market gardener was way more thought "food" than I wanted. They now are ahead of DuPont. Just puts the push on a little harder to learn more about seed saving and such. Sometimes I think my head may explode :heh:.

Interesting...Fedco is practically the next town over...my husband will be sure to spread the word about the marxist leanings....(he's friends with the Tea Party head in our area)

Afraid that's the nature of the beast...

You either go with the capitalists or the marxists... Monsanto > Capitalists
Non Monsanto > Marxists.

Simple marketing, imho... there are quite a few anti-capitalist type folks out there, with Monsanto being their highest Evil.... some marketing genius 'realized' this, and gave them what they want, their own seed source, with Saint Karl's marxists leanings peppered throughout, to ease their consciences that they weren't promoting or supporting a capitalist pig dog corporation, but a kind and caring Marxist utopian enterprise.

Haven't got seed catalogs yet! Will probably plant last years emergency seed supply, and replenish them, and double up for the upcoming two years.

We live fairly close to FEDCO, and we know a few of the farmers who supply seed and bare-roots to them.

A number of CSAs and communal farms in the area are members of the Co-Op.

Member farms donate man-hours working on seed cleaning, sorting, packaging, etc. Including manning it all during few the 'open-to-the-public' days they have.

A lot of hippies [in the 1960s meaning of the term] every time I have been there; long-haired, bare-foot, home-made clothing, anti-corporate self-sufficient anti-GMO organic sustainable farmers.

The political leanings of some at FEDCO have always been very left wing at best. It's apparent to anyone who reads the catalogs. I don't agree with those views and I would prefer that politics were kept out of seed catalogs. But, they have as much right to their opinion as I do mine. While I don't agree with some of the political views, I do agree with the way FEDCO is run. It is, in my opinion, a first rate seed company and will continue to buy the majority of my seeds from FEDCO.

In thinking about this post I have to come back and say my main goal was information, afterall it was a post on here that got me looking this info up in the first place.This is a core issue, the basis of our food, our seeds. Most of us here have a clearly stated goal of becoming as self sufficient as possible. Many here have stated they try to keep that goal in mind when making purchases. So, that said, I have nothing against a corporation, a monopoly OTH, not so much. I believe Monsanto may be heading in a bad direction. Many here have clearly stated they prefer open pollinated seeds and yet a company (Seminis) that has bred and distributed such seed is now in the hands of a company that may not be so inclined......old news as it happened in 2005 but it was new news to me. May be news to others as well. Food for thought (pun intended, lots of room for tinfoil on this one). Now, to go the other route to a very left leaning, clearly stated in the catalog view from a small company, not sure how far apart that makes the two issues. Putting the politics in the catalog was a decision by the owners. Seems to me the goals of the two are not so very far apart. Considering many of us, again, try to speak with our wallets, it was info. I know there are those that don't care, and there are those that try to do the the right thing in accordance with our life style, sometimes it comes down to the lesser of two evils. Going to open pollinated seeds (another minor point) may not be the easiest thing to do, I have had mixed sucess with it, yet in so doing I am now researching a bit more. Just trying to have harmony in the doing and the buying. It is hard enough (minor point) learning different varieties and the nuances of them and to find the sellers may in fact not be what we believe just adds another dimension to it, IMHO that is. Again, to me, it puts a little stronger push on the learning curve and the seed saving because there is the potential to loose more of the varieties that are out there right now (another minor point).

Tab, I prefer OP seeds too, regardless of the growers political slant. In the past I've stuck mainly with OP, so I could save from year to year. Read something a while back, and I've altered my views. I now store enough seeds for two plantings, and a planting's worth of hybrids. If I really really need to depend on my seeds feeding me, I want every advantage in the book in my favor. Make it through that first 'have to make it' season, and then I'd go back with OP seeds. The seed saving part of me likes the OP part of the equation, but the "I like to eat regularly" part of me can appreciate the get er done, even if dirty aspect....

I really care less what someones politics are, whether it be a person or a store/company... they do right by me, I'll stand by em.

In the case of FEDCO; many of the contributing farms and CSAs are likewise striving to be self-sufficient.


As a Co-Op their 'owners' are a committee.

:)

Fedco is on my "no buy" list after I got their catalog this year. They get worse every year with their rants. Do they really think all their customers are left-leaning? My gosh..why do they want to P.O. the customer base like that. In my opinion it's pretty stupid. Isn't the goal to sell seeds? They are losing customers just so they can spout their leftist ideas? Not good business.
And they even quoted me in this years catalog! :) ( I can assure you, I'm not in the Marxist camp)

I don't buy Fedco because their catalog makes them sound slightly less than fully mentally there. Quite alarming.

I choose Baker Creek seeds. Love them. rareseeds.com Love them and their totally politics free mouth watering catalog of goodness.

Their seeds rock too.

perhaps they are pushing away those who do not share their Ideology, in a attempt to lessen the load and see that there good comrades are the receivers of the work performed,rather then those who disagree and would do what they can to bring them to conformity or demise.

After all would you happily hand over the tools of survival to your "enemy" or would you prefer to place it in the hands of like minds?

I know I'm reaching here but its a theory.

mind you how many company's have similar "agendas" and never voice it?

every time you make a purchase at chinamart you support a communist country,make no mistake they may look like they are swinging to the capitalist side of things. its a farce though.

the way I see it a decent purchase of what i need, and in the case of seed can continue to produce, if they are Marxist so be it. I only really need to purchase once.

I have to check out Baker Creek as well. Others have posted they are a good company.

lorian, I am curious as to what was quoted. I may have to check it out, what part of the catalog?

Texican, I am with you on the hybrid seeds. I have some in the freezer. Am really trying to check out many different plants. Thankfully some of my most favorite beans and carrots are OP. There is so much to learn. My area has changed climate wise too, have gone from a zone 4 to a zone 5 in the last few years. Hopefully we can get the greenhouse up this year because if we go back to zone 4 it is going to be needed.

I don't shop at Walmart very much, mostly just cat litter and it is made in the US. Maybe even with US product...I can't vouch for a hidden agenda, but when an agenda is out in the open, well free speech. Funny how that is utilized.....

Don't you love perusing a seed catalog? Even without good pics, just reading and learning and NOT looking out at the lake effect snow that is falling and accumulating.

I like Pine Tree seeds. Have both hybrid and open pollunated and heirloom. Never had bad luck with them but sure don't know their political views either.

I don't think there are many GMO home garden crops to worry about. I love to read catalogs - about their plants, not about their politics. I don't like Baker Creek as much as others since they don't always put how many days to harvest in their catalog. I like to know if I can get a crop in my short growing season so I think that's vital information for a gardener. I also prefer to save American seeds. I buy from BC, but I buy more from others. (Heirloom seeds and Victory being my first choices) Hopefully, soon I won't have to worry about who I get my seeds from since I will have my own. I also get some from Paquebot each year and a couple other private sources. I like those the best of all.

They have pacifist quotes in their catalogue. :) Vegetarian too now that I look at it.

I can't say as I ever decided to buy seeds or not based on the quotes in a catalogue but I do avoid anyone who buys from Seminis. I think Texican brings up a good point though: the people who are into saving the world through open pollinated, non-gmo, heirloom seeds and who will not buy from Monsanto will be mainly left leaning. :)

I buy all of mine from Baker Creek and we got our order in back before Christmas and got the seeds in like 3 days flat. We have had excellent germination rates and yields from their seeds too. We are trying to build a stock of our own saved seeds, we had a pretty good selection before the fire.

i order from fedco, since they always have what i want and they specialize in cold-hardy varieties that do well in new england. their politics don't bother me in the least.

Frankly, that's why I order from Fedco in the first place!

I wonder if this is in part why their prices are so low? Johnny's is in the process of transforming itself into becoming employee owned.

We like FEDCO as it is local and a lot of their stuff is organic [and we already know a bunch of the people].

When you form a network of old 70's era communes and modern CSAs together; to share seeds, bare-root trees and for benefits of collective bargaining [to get soil amendments, books and gardening implements], you end up with a list of committees. One for the potato shed, one for the implement warehouse, one for the catalog, one for internet marketing, one for the bare-root warehouse, one for the seed warehouse, etc. In this process you do get a few with different political ideas.

They even have a group that hikes through-out the forests of Maine searching crab-apple trees; sampling and cataloging for scion sources. In the hopes of 'discovering' new varieties of apples. My Dw and I have attended their annual apple tasting events [and their seed-saving workshops, and the local seed-savers exchange, and the annual scion exchange]. :)

Nearly all members of FEDCO are also members of our local Organic Farmers' / Gardeners' Association [MOFGA.com]

I am not a member farm of FEDCO, though I am a member of MOFGA.

Among this group of people are many who live off-grid. Some of them are organic purists. Some are Mennonites; some are wiccan. A good bit of them support themselves entirely from what their farms produce.

If you ever wanted modern examples of off-grid living, of herbal medicines, of sustainable farm practices, and of how to do all these things in a manner where you can support yourself doing it; then these are good folks to talk to.

Thank you ET1 SS.

Sounds like a good group to buy from.

Ultimately quite Marxist, no? The workers owning the means of production and all :)

I'm too impatient for FEDCO !
 

Was going to do school seed fundraiser but they did not communicate well and we were "not a good fit" as "CR" put it. It appeared to be a good program. They had an order I could have adapted, but they do it and send it to you ... when they have time. My emails always had "something wrong with them", so called ... was reprimanded for my emails and for my calls ... I have raised LOTS of money with many companies in my 27 years of teaching. Have never had someone so rude respond. Says a lot for "customer service"! I will go elsewhere! Sorry I wasted YOUR TIME and MINE FEDCO ... :grump:::::

I heard back from Shumway and they buy about 5% of their seeds from Semenis.
Just received Baker Creek's catalog. It is a beautiful catalog. Some varieties I have never seen. May have to add to the seed stash. I do not know what their political views are, seem very, very family oriented.
Nymoo, Fedco may indeed have an agenda as posted earlier.

That kind of thing does happen.

For smooth and fast customer service, people should stick to commercial seed sources where everyone is on salary and 'professional'.

Welcome aboard, Nymoo, just noticed that was your first post.

Can update, received my order from Bountiful Gardens pretty quickly. I think they were a bit optimistic on the area the packets will plant but, the varieties are all open pollinated and some of them I have never heard of before. A wide variety of seeds seems like some very good insurance. Makes me want to retire so I can garden full time. :)

This is a milestone year for me.

Except for potatoes, this will be the first year of homesteading that I don't have to purchase any seeds. Undoubtedly I'll end up picking up a few things at the local nursery (peppers or something unusual that catches my eye), but I've saved enough seed from last year, plus a bunch of seed I got from Forerunner, and I've got enough to plant the entire garden area.

Ernie that is a good place to be, a very good place indeed. I am thinking at least three more years before I am there. Even then I want back up insurance.
Another thing sort of in the background is to have seeds that will grow in a much shorter season than normal. Would be used in volcano year.
In the late 1800's there was a year where there was not one month of the summer where there was not snow, that, iirc, was due to a volcano.

I buy a lot from Fedco and from Johnnys and a couple others.
Just because one seed company has no politics in its catalog doesn't mean you'd agree with their opinions if you knew what they were.
Actually, some of Fedco's descriptions of seeds bring a smile to my face...
I agree with Texican that having both hybrids and open-pollinated is the best of both worlds...hybrids when you MUST have a good harvest, while also planting open-pollinated to continue the seed stock should it be needed as well as giving you the experience to continue with certain varieties.

I do enjoy reading the descriptions in their catalog.

:)

Have you tried 'seed savers exchange' in Decorah IA?I can order a lot of wonderful seeds from them even though I'm in Canada.We have always been pleased how the seeds performed for us-firelite

Good idea!

There are Seed-Savers Exchange groups around, ours meets 27 March this year. I have attended Seed-Savers for four years now. :)

We also had a Scion-Exchange group, but they merged with the Seed-Savers; so now you can do it all on one day.

Everyone interesting in gardening / farming should locate their nearest Seed-Savers Exchange!

I don't much care, as long as the seeds germinate well and aren't stingy in number.

I am testing and seeking good open pollinated varieties that will grow for me and then all my seeds will come from me; and I agree with my own politics, so I won't get offended by what I say.

A lot of the open pollinated seed that I will be planting this year has come from seed exchanges and heritage growers. No big companies involved at all.

Some TV talking head wrote a book called "Shut Up & Sing" about the political rantings of actors etc. and how they need to keep their opinions to themselves.

How about "Shut Up & Sell the Seeds" ;-)

Leave your politics at the door... The less I know about someone else's political views the better. I won't buy Citgo gas unless it's just a gallon to get to another station or walk. So many actors I just can't to go their movies because I see their political rants instead of their movie characters and then the movie is a FAIL

Gee, now I gotta develop my own seed bank... what's next!