When it comes to seeds, true gardeners are interested in non GMO “Heritage seeds” that can be propagated and reseeded each year. Saving your own seed goes back to the original form of self sufficiency and feels very freeing. Although it is becoming of every gardener to cultivate a healthy dose of variety foods in the garden. It is also most noble to pick a favorite and master it. Using the holistic faith based technique, it is even possible you could break a few world records.

Not just anywhere you can buy seed is an acceptable place to get seeds. There is an ever changing evolution steering us away from heritage seeds. Food control and monopolies push for genetically modified or hybrid seeds. Patented seeds are proof we are careening of a cliff of ridiculousness. Conspiracy to regulate food and control crops is no theory. Every year farmers are controlled by what they can and can not plant. Patented seeds growing on contracted farm land blows pollen to the wind and mixes with seeds that farmers own. If these farmers save and plant their own seed, they get sued for royalty infringement. This puts farmers out of business. The biggest problem with GMO seed, in my opinion, they are crowding out the competition and causing age old heritage crop varieties to go extinct. The worst part about GMO seeds is not even the DNA but how they are used in combination with ever evolving patented chemicals and greedy soil depleting practices.

Finding good heritage seed from healthy stock is becoming difficult. As we search for and preserve heirloom seeds we become sentinels to the true future of farming. Regardless of the seed, however, the soil a seed grows in is what really determines the level of nutrition a plant provides to the consumer. A GMO seed grown in vibrant soils can still be packed with nutrients while organic heritage plants will struggle to thrive or provide much nutrition if cultivated in dead dirt. Home grown food grown in rich soil is better than market produce for a reason.

In this section we focus on one of the most exciting aspects of gardening; Saving seeds.

Let’s open our eyes to the art of collecting and growing heirloom seeds. The terms “heirloom” and ”heritage” are more or less interchangeable. To me Heirloom means it has been passed down for generations because it has valuable traits. More importantly the seeds can be saved to regrow an equally large stalk because they do not require special cross breeding. Searching for and collecting heritage seeds is as broad as any garden topic. It’s an exciting one too. Being a hobby collector of seed requires traveling, talking and looking around. The pathway is not fully set. It’s like collecting recipes or antiques, it takes time and passion.

For heritage sake, avoid the temptation of buying common brand seeds from every kiosk at every Walmart, gas station & hardware store you pass. Not just because they're often bad seeds but because large companies selling seeds lack diversity. This is just no fun! Even when buying seeds from reputable sources you need to be discerning and selective.

Want to get into the game? Join the adventure. [Seed Savers Exchange](https://exchange.seedsavers.org/?_gl=1*14v48k7*_ga*OTgzMjEwMzMuMTcwMjYyMjUwOA.._ga_0K3V992RXSMTcwODg5NDcxOS44LjAuMTcwODg5NDcxOS42MC4wLjA) is a nonprofit that conserves America's endangered heritage crops for future generations by collecting, growing, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants. If you would rather avoid growing the same few varieties everyone else buys, you may choose instead to inherit a more endangered plant. For example, the From Aksehir to zyska The seed saver exchange features over 10K entries in Tomato varieties. I’m not sure how unique each entry is, there are probably only subtle differences between most of them but this whole “variety” thing certainly makes for a deep subject.

Seed hunting is like a treasure hunt and a lot of people get a kick out of protecting and growing forgotten rare varieties.  Not unlike collecting rocks or art, it's an endless hobby.  Just when you think you've seen it all, something new pops up. I like to keep my eye open for new things.

The sad thing is garden space is limited and you can’t plant multiple varieties without reducing your ability to save a specific variety due to muddy inbreeding.  There is no easy way around this, unless you can control what insects do with millions of pollen spores, you must limit variety in your garden.

The more time goes by, the more limited I want to be with each of my crops anyways. No one can grow everything. I’ll can grow my favorite varieties and let others focus on the rest. That is really what it’s about. After having made choices about what I want to grow, my only question becomes, do I want to keep it or trade it out for something different. Only time and experience will tell. My research has led me to believe the Sweet yellow Spanish onion, Hopi blue corn, a certain Israeli cantaloupe melon and my precious blackberries are the only variety I am interested in each of those categories. Unless something better comes along that suits me, I will stick with those.

I could go on about my blackberries alone. In 2021 my blackberry pie took 2nd place Alpine days pie bake off. As much as I love bragging rights, credit all goes to the blackberry.