Seed Vocabulary for Gardeners: Heirloom, Organic, Hybrid and GMO

Commercially available garden seed ranges from old fashioned heirlooms to patented GMOs. In years past, garden seed beyond what had been saved from last year’s garden was limited to hybrid selections at the hardware store. Now commercial seed selection is vast and varied thanks to the internet. Choosing seeds that meet your needs is a function of information intersecting with values.

From before any of us can remember, circa early 1900s, all garden seed was heirloom and organic. Saving seed and amending soil with compost and manure were standard survival practices. Commercial seed and synthetic chemical inputs were unavailable or cost-prohibitive. A few decades ago, hybrid seeds came to market along with affordable chemical inputs. In recent years, big money went into creating patented genetically engineered seed that now dominates commodity crop production. From the beginning of commercial seed production until now, conventional hybrid seed remains most widely available. However, resurgence of interest in organic and heirloom seeds is making them easier to find online and in stores, as well as preserving biodiversity.

Hybrid or Heirloom Seeds

The big difference in garden seeds is whether they are categorized as hybrid or heirloom. Hybridization is a form of cross breeding that occurs in nature. However, commercial hybrid seed is the result of deliberate cross breeding in controlled environments, like labs.

Commercial hybrid seeds have been developed to enhance one or more desirable traits, including high yield, large size, long shelf life, seed and thorn free, disease resistance, and uniform size and appearance. Plant breeders create hybrid seeds by artificially crossing two or more varieties of a certain plant. The resulting plant is a first generation F1 hybrid. The seed that results from an F1 plant is second generation F2. The problem with F2 seed is that it doesn’t come true. It is either sterile or reverts to the characteristics of the grandparent plants, rather than maintaining the desired parent characteristics. For example, seedless watermelons are a hybrid plant. Planting the few seeds found in a seedless watermelon will not result in the same fruit.

Because seed saving is not a viable option with hybrid plants, farmers and gardeners must purchase new seed for each crop. Or choose to plant non-hybrid, open pollinated varieties from which seeds can be saved.

Heirloom seeds are traditional varieties which have been grown and selected for their desirable traits by generations of seed saving farmers and gardeners. Heirloom seeds usually provide superior flavor over hybrids, which often have developed characteristics like shelf life at the expense of taste. Heirloom seeds are open pollinated, which means that the pollination occurred either by cross-pollination or self-pollination (without human aid or intervention). Heirloom seeds often result in plants that are true to type, meaning you can save the seed and expect the same plant to grow in a future crop. Not all heirloom seeds will produce the same parent plant though, for example, apple seeds produce plants that bear little resemblance to their parents.

Certified Organic and Certified Naturally Grown Seeds

After deciding between hybrid and heirloom, the next question is whether to buy organic or conventional. Both heirloom and hybrid seeds can be organically or conventionally grown.

Organic seed is sourced from plants that were grown according to organic standards. While conventional farming relies on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, organic farming avoids the use of synthetic chemicals which may be toxic and persistent. Organic foods are minimally processed without artificial ingredients, preservatives, or irradiation. Organic producers are required to use organic seeds when commercially available.

Certified Organic farmers uphold USDA standards for organic farming practices and document the process through recordkeeping, inspections, periodic testing, and third party verification. Federal legislation restricts the use of the term "organic" to Certified Organic producers (excepting growers selling under $5,000 a year, who must still comply and submit to a records audit if requested, but do not have to formally apply).

Some farmers grow organically but do not participate in the Certified Organic   program. If annual sales top $5,000, these farmers are not allowed to label their produce as organic. The Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) program offers these farmers an alternative to the Certified Organic program. Certified Naturally Grown farmers grow organically and follow the USDA standards of the National Organic Program, but overall fees as well as the record keeping and inspection process is scaled down.

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) Seeds

Genetically modified seeds are the result of genetic engineering in labs. These patented seeds are created from genes of different plant species that could not cross breed naturally, like wheat genes injected into soybeans. Animal cells can also be introduced to plant cells. GMO seeds are not allowed for use in organic production.

Treated and Untreated Seeds

Conventional seed producers commonly grow with treated seed and treat the seed they produce for sale with synthetic fungicides and/or insecticides. Untreated seeds have not been exposed to these chemicals. Seed suppliers will indicate if their seed is untreated. If a seed supplier does not indicate untreated, then it most likely is treated. Organic farmers do not use treated seed.

Seed Sources and Resources

• The nonprofit organization Seed Savers Exchange (SSE) is out in front of the heirloom seed movement. www.seedsavers.org. SSE is the largest nongovernmental seed bank in the United States.
• The Heirloom Gardener’s Vegetable Assistant http://www.halcyon.com/tmend/heirloom.htm is a descriptive, non-commercial website about heirlooms.
• Two lists of companies selling certified organic seed: http://www.seedalliance.org/index.php?page=Seed_Companies_Selling_Organic_Seed and
  https://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/organic_seed/
• The www.naturallygrown.org website is set up for regional searches, but does not offer the capacity to search by product, so it is not possible to search for seed producers on the website.
• One of the best known CNG seed producers is Victory Seeds www.victoryseeds.com out of Oregon.
• One of the best known Certified Organic seed producers is Seeds of Change www.seedsofchange.com, now based in southern California.
• The Fork and Bottle blog is a helpful post on sourcing heirloom, organic seed nationwide: http://www.forkandbottle.com/garden/seeds/seedsource.htm
• The seed search database at Mother Earth News offers a fast way to track down specific varieties: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Find-Seeds-Plants.aspx#ixzz1CMT4WjZm

Happy seed hunting and gathering!