Anyone know where I can purchase organic, unaltered vegetable seeds? And how do I keep them for next years planting? Just started organic gardening this year. Have a whopper crop but discovered that I need to start with such seeds to keep it completely organic. I have an old edition of "OG". Will need to subscribe to stay up to date. Thanks
Scrappy, I think you may be mixing F1 (hybrid), GMO (Genetically Modified Organism), and OP (Open Pollinated) together.
Fer my 2 cents worth of opinion:
If you do NOT plan to save seeds from your plants there is nothing counter to organic practice in F1 hyrbid seeds. They are sold.
GMO seeds are not being sold in retail quantities. That said, many gardeners prefer to not support seed houses that DO produce GMO seeds. A word search should raise threads about what seed houses are conglomerately owned. Use your own best judgement regarding supporting them.
OP (Open Pollinated) seed, which is sometimes mistakenly called "Heirloom", May be a direction you may want to pursue.
Johnny's, Pinetree, Seeds of Change, High Mowing, and Sand Hill, all to varying degree sell open pollinated and organic seed. My personal favorite is Sand Hill due to its exclusive OP seed production all done here in USofA. Which is not true of all seed houses. All the ones I list do carefully note which seeds are OP or have organic certification.
Most of the major seed companies have jumped on the OG bandwagon (good for them) and have sections of their catalogs that list organically certified seeds. Keeping organic seeds is no different than any other seeds, some will keep longer, some not. Air tight, dark and cool is what is needed for most seeds. Honestly, I'm more concerned with the "production processes" being organic than the seeds, but I'm not growing for sale or trying for certified. My preference is for organic seeds, but some varieties may not be available--or available yet-in OG form. Glad you have a "whopper crop"--sounds like you've gotten some good info and listened. Happy growing and eating!!
If you don't have wrinkles around your eyes, you haven't smiled enough.
