During the dustup last week over the Survival Seed Bank on blogs and media outlets from The Huffington Post to the Colbert Report, (highlighted in my post Media Sowing Seeds of Hypocrisy) I took some time to learn a bit more about gardening in general and seeds in particular. I know, sounds like a great way to spend the weekend; interviewing “Master Gardeners” from all over the U.S. and Canada.
Truth is, I learned a ton.
Did you know that Norway has a bit of a survival seed bank of its own? Or that other seed banks in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Philippines were destroyed by wars and natural disasters. Kind of ironic, don’t you think? “Doomsday” seed vaults wiped out by a doomsday scenarios? Hmmm.
Did you know that a majority of seeds called hybrid seeds are designed with a sort of “planned obsolescence” or a very short shelf life. You can’t continually replant those seeds hoping for the same yield each subsequent season. Not unlike watering down green paint, you keep blending enough light-green paint into the original color and pretty soon, no more green.
Did you know that it’s a bit of a trick to find non-hybrid seeds; not as bountiful as one might think?
Now, I’m far from being an expert, nor will I ever write on book on seed science, but one thing is clear. If governments plan ahead and create seed vaults, what’s wrong with you and I banking a few seeds for a rainy day.
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Preparing Superseeds Panic
During the dustup last week over the Survival Seed Bank on blogs and media outlets from The Huffington Post to the Colbert Report, (highlighted in my post Media Sowing Seeds of Hypocrisy) I took some time to learn a bit more about gardening in general and seeds in particular. I know, sounds like a great way to spend the weekend; interviewing “Master Gardeners” from all over the U.S. and Canada.
Truth is, I learned a ton.
Did you know that Norway has a bit of a survival seed bank of its own? Or that other seed banks in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Philippines were destroyed by wars and natural disasters. Kind of ironic, don’t you think? “Doomsday” seed vaults wiped out by a doomsday scenarios? Hmmm.
Did you know that a majority of seeds called hybrid seeds are designed with a sort of “planned obsolescence” or a very short shelf life. You can’t continually replant those seeds hoping for the same yield each subsequent season. Not unlike watering down green paint, you keep blending enough light-green paint into the original color and pretty soon, no more green.
Did you know that it’s a bit of a trick to find non-hybrid seeds; not as bountiful as one might think?
Now, I’m far from being an expert, nor will I ever write on book on seed science, but one thing is clear. If governments plan ahead and create seed vaults, what’s wrong with you and I banking a few seeds for a rainy day.
Follow Brian on Twitter.
Follow Brian on Facebook.