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How to Avoid Growing GM Plants in your Garden

In my recent post about GM foods, I talked about how to avoid eating them, but what about growing them?

You would be surprised how alarmed many people get when I tell them I get many of my garden seeds from the US. They ask me if I am afraid of importing GM seeds into Europe. Of course this is a concern all of us should have, but understanding the problem can also help put it into perspective.

First the problem of GM contamination is worldwide, it’s not just the US. Secondly, there are a limited number of crops that have commercially grown GM varieties, and if you don’t grow one of these crops in your garden you are very unlikely to encounter GM contamination issues. Thirdly, of those crops that do have GM varieties, not all of them are out-breeding (plants whose pollen is spread from plant to plant by insects or wind), meaning the contamination would be unlikely to spread beyond my garden even if it did occur. Perhaps most importantly, I grow heirloom plants, not GM varieties and there are usually distinct differences between the varieties and I would almost certainly notice if cross pollinating were occuring. If any unintentional cross pollination occurred in my plants I would normally discard the affected seeds.

I also get my seeds from people I trust, and who themselves care deeply about the problem. With the exception of corn (which I will discuss more in a minute), I would be unlikely to receive GM seeds from someone unless it was a deliberate act, and I have to trust the people who send me seeds not to do that.

The problem of contamination is much greater in processed foods, and centralized distribution and processing, as I described in my earlier post.

From my earlier post, lets consider the crops where there is a commercial GM variety:

  • potatoes
  • tomatoes
  • soy
  • long grain rice
  • corn (maize)
  • rape (called canola in the US)
  • Quest tobacco (sold in the US)
  • cotton (used for cotton seed oil used in cooking)
  • Hawaiian papaya
  • a few zucchini and yellow squashes (courgettes).

Of these, the potatoes and tomatoes have been withdrawn from the market, and in any case are not out-breeding plants.

Rice, tobacco, cotton and papaya won’t grow in my climate, so for me at least these are not an issue.

I do grow soy. Soy is not out-breading, and in any case the varieties I grow are distinct enough that I think I would notice if any cross pollinating did occur.

I don’t have any plans to grow rape.

I do grow squashes, and I suppose this is a risk. The production level of GM varieties of these plants is very low, and like I said I do trust my seed sources. These type of plant is insect pollinated, so the contamination can only travel as far as an insect can fly. If it seems like the risk of growing this plant increases, I will reconsider having it in my garden.

Corn is really the biggest problem. The pollen from corn spreads very long distances in the wind, and probably there are very few places in the world where there is not at least a little contamination. On one hand growing corn can introduce GM contamination into my garden, and on the other hand not growing heirloom varieties will decrease the availability of these seeds to other gardeners. In my case not very much corn is grown in the area around my garden, so there are not likely to be a lot of cross pollination issues.

If you use common sense, nothing should keep you from growing the plants you want in your own garden. Use seed sources you trust. Think about what you are doing when growing out-breeding varieties of plants where GM varieties are commercially grown.

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Gardening Trends

Last year there was a post on KGI showing trends in home garden food production in the US. There was a stunning 20% decline between 2004 and 2005. This comes amidst all the concerns over GM foods. Even with all the concerns over E Coli, there is no indication yet this trend is reversing. This trend is almost certainly world wide.

The situation is very similar for heirloom vegetable gardening and seed saving. The Seed Savers Exchange reported a 5.5% decrease in the number of members offering seeds to other members. This comes after 10 straight years of decline, 36% in total since 1995. Here too there is no indication this trend is reversing.

Many people find this very hard to believe. There has been so much attention paid to this in recent years, and so many people want to eat more natural and handmade foods. Many people are willing to pay large amounts of money for organic or free-range foods. Many people have discovered the joys of heirloom tomatoes and are growing them in their garden.

The problem is three-fold. First, few people actually make the step from growing heirloom tomatoes, to saving the seeds and sharing them with other people or replanting them. Few people actually make the step from heirloom tomatoes to other heirloom vegetables.

The second problem is that heirloom gardening by definition has it’s origins from before WWII. This was 65 years ago, and the number of people still alive and able to garden from this time is quickly declining. There simply are not enough younger people getting into heirloom gardening. As well as losing the people who actually do the work of heirloom gardening, we are losing all the knowledge and experience of these people.

The third problem is there were a large number of heirloom gardeners in the former Soviet Union, because for them it was a means of survival. With a flood of cheap imported foods, this way of life is quickly disappearing.

It’s been estimated that since WWII 70% of fruit and vegetable varieties have been lost, simply because people stopped growing them and no one saved the seeds.

Increasingly as the European Union expands, and more countries enter in to the so called ‘Free Trade Agreements’, heirloom vegetables are becoming less available. This is because these treaties establish patent rights on seeds and plants, and in many cases prohibit the sale of unpatented varieties. Even when the sale of unpatented varieties is not prohibited, growers often benefit from large subsidies for growing patented varieties and wholesale purchasers often refuse to purchase unpatented varieties. This means, when they are available, heirloom vegetables are often unrealistically priced. Grain is an organization that tracks these treaties and trade agreements, and which countries have implemented seed patents.

In Europe we have seed laws that in most cases prohibit the sale of heirloom seeds and foods. Many people are now working on trying to change these laws, and some progress is being made on this. Nearly all of these efforts are targeted at legalizing heirloom fruits and vegetables for home gardening and informal trading, and there is little prospect these foods will become available on a wide scale commercial basis.

In recent years there have been treaties to promote biodiversity, and insure funding for botanical gardens, the Doomsday Seed Bank and other stores of genetic material. While this is very important, and these can often be positive developments, these seed stores often come with the price of commercial ownership of the seeds and access to the general public is not assured.

It’s more clear than ever before that the only way we will be guaranteed access to heritage foods is if we grow them ourselves, in our own gardens and save and trade the seeds. It’s more important than ever that people take it upon themselves to grow and save seeds from heirloom crops, or they will simply not be there for future generations.

When planning your garden for 2007 why not grow some heirloom vegetables with the intention of saving seeds? You will be surprised at what a concerted effort it takes to do this. Seed saving can be thwarted by crop failures or accidents, and it can take several years to get a system in place for seed saving and storage. If you are new to vegetable gardening, it will take time to learn this as well. Don’t be discouraged or surprised if this all takes a while to get going.

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Gardening Guide

One of the best gardening guide summaries I have ever seen was written by Baker Creek Seeds. A few years ago they sent me a printed copy with my seed order, and now they have put a copy online.

It’s certainly no substitute for a book on the subject, and it’s in no way complete, but at the same time it provides an introduction to all the important things you need to be thinking about to have a successful garden.

It’s a great reference for seed starting and transplanting dates, plant spacing and days to harvest for most vegetables.

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Earthway Seeder

Earthway Garden Seeder

This is a picture of the Earthway seeder I use in my garden.

As a rule, I don’t post about specific products, but now I’m going to make an exception. As gardeners we know it can often be difficult to find useful products to help us with our work. Garden centers are great if you are after a shovel or a barbecue, but it can be difficult to find more sophisticated products. This is truly an example of a very useful product.

First the proper seed plate is installed inside the red hopper (barely visible in picture), then you pour in the seeds. The chute at the bottom is adjustable to provide the proper planting depth, the chain just behind it drags behind and covers the seeds. The adjustable arm on the side scratches the ground and marks the next row. The pulley assembly on the front wheel turns the seed plate at the correct speed for the proper seed spacing. It really all works together very well. It’s practical to use even with a small amount of seed in a short row. It is very easy to switch from one seed to the next and changing the seed plate is also very easy.

It comes standard with the most common seed plates, and a set of optional extra plates are available at a very modest price. If you want closer spacing, you can just seed the same row twice. You can increase the spacing by putting a piece of tape on every other hole on the seed plate.

It is very light weight, and setting it up takes less than 5 minutes. A row can be seeded at normal walking speed, or running speed if you are in a hurry. It’s hard to express what a godsend it is for something like carrots, which have such tiny seeds that are so hard to sow by hand. With this seeder you get near perfectly spaced carrot seeds, sown within a few seconds. There is minimal wasted seed and little effort is needed to thin the seedlings.

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Weed Burner, Part 2

In March, I made a post about the weed burner I use in my garden.

The main reason for writing on this again is because I notice a lot of people find this blog by searching the Internet for weed burners. It seems like there is really not very much information about weed burners available, and this blog is one of the few places that has anything. Anyway, since another summer growing season is quickly coming to an end, I thought I would share some more experiences with it.

I hope some of you reading this that are just passing visitors will come back and share your comments and experiences on this or other posts.

What it doesn’t do

I can’t emphasize enough what came out in the comment discussion on the previous post. The marketing that goes along with these products is frequently misleading. It does not kill established weeds, it just burns the tops off, which then grow back. It certainly does not kill grass. It does not kill weeds in between bricks or stones. Unless you have a very powerful one, it will be very slow going and not useful for snow and ice. Does this pretty much cover the marketing side of things?

What about using it together with a tiller to kill weeds?

If you are one of those people that thinks a garden tiller will kill established weeds or grass, you are mistaken, it doesn’t and never will. Using a weed burner together with a tiller will not work any better.

If the ground is free or mostly free of established weeds, and you use a tiller to loosen or mix the soil, it can be useful to use a weed burner at the same time.

Before you use the tiller, if you think the ground may be contaminated with weed seeds, burning the ground first can help prevent turning them under. If you are turning under something like compost, and you think it might be contaminated with weed seeds, it too can be burned. Soil amendments are best spread out in a thin layer before burning them.

After you have used a tiller, it’s common to turn up seeds that have been lying dormant in the ground, which can also be killed with the weed burner. If you have turned up a few established weeds in the course of tilling, burning the roots of these weeds may in a few cases prevent these weeds from re-establishing themselves, but I wouldn’t really count on this working very well.

When is it most useful?

The weed burner really works best against weeds right after the seeds germinate, and send little vulnerable green shoots up. Just a quick pass with the flame will quickly kill these with much less effort than using a hoe or cultivator. In the spring, when the weeds first start to emerge, you can kill 80-90% of weeds by simply making a pass with the weed burner every few days. Of course once you start sowing seeds or planting seedlings, the weed burner can’t be used anymore. A longer term solution is to use another weed control method like mulch.

Once your crops are established, you may again be able to use the burner in between the rows. This year I found it particularly useful with my garlic crop, as garlic is a very hardy plant that can tolerate a good bit of singeing. There are certainly many plants that cannot tolerate being burned, even when established, so be sure to test it on a few plants first before risking it on your entire crop.

What are things to look for when purchasing one?

Bigger is better. Without a doubt, you will probably be happiest with the largest one you can find. It can be tedious covering large areas with one that is too small. Since you are attacking weed seeds, having a flame that is hot enough to penetrate a few more millimeters of dirt is a real advantage. As far as the size goes, little else matters other than the BTU rating.

Beware however that the larger a burner you get, the larger a tank of propane you will need to buy to go with it. This is because as propane expands it gets cold and freezes. If you try to use too small of a propane cylinder with too large of a burner, the propane tank will freeze up, and you will have to wait several hours before you can continue. It is always an option to buy a bigger burner, but use it turned down.

It is not necessary that the burner you buy is called a weed burner. Any hand held propane burner will work, as long as the BTU rating is appropriate. Make sure the handle is long enough, so you don’t have to bend over when using it. You can save quite a bit of money by buying a simple burner, rather than a ‘weed burner’.

It can be useful to have the lighter built into the burner, so you don’t have to carry a separate lighter around with you.

Make sure the shape of the flame goes along with what you will use it for most. If you will cover wide areas, a wider flame is better. If you will use it around plants, a point shape is better.

What are the disadvantages?

It is not a silver bullet for weeds! There are many cases where it just can’t be used, or doesn’t work very well.

If the ground is wet, it takes more time to heat it, and therefore things go a lot more slowly.

You can’t use it in dry conditions, because it is a fire hazard. You have to be careful when using it around mulch, because it is usually flammable.

Propane burners are not very ergonomic, and some people may find they start developing RSI related problems.

Just like when you use chemicals in your garden, the weed burner will kill beneficial insects and other organisms.

Weeds can develop resistance to weed burners like they can to chemicals. I have already started to notice this a bit in my garden. Also, since it works better against some weeds than others, you may have a problem with weeds more tolerant to being burned becoming more established in your garden.

It’s not a toy, and can be a hazard in gardens with pets or children.

You need to have a pretty large garden for it to be a cost effective and useful investment.