In parts I-III of this series, I've tried to explain the differences between GMOs, hybrids, and heirloom seeds.  Today, I'll cover yet another category of seeds: organic seeds.

Even if they understand organic growing methods in general, most people are confused by the idea of organic seeds. Customers often express a preference for organic seeds because they fear seeds that contain pesticides or chemical fertilizers. These concerns are mostly unfounded, and miss the major reason to preferentially purchase organic seeds. 

Seed growers produce seeds by growing fields of a particular plant variety, just as a farmer would.  Rather than harvesting a crop for human consumption, seed growers allow a field to complete its lifecycle, which usually involves flowering and producing seed.  The lettuce plant pictured to the left is an example of what this looks like. Because seeds are a very small final product of a plant's entire lifecycle, most conventionally grown seeds are unlikely to contain substantial quantities of pesticide or fertilizer.  

Purchasing organically grown seeds is less about the seeds themselves, and more about the practices of the seed grower.  If you are concerned about topsoil depletion  or pesticide-resistent corn ear worms, then you should purchase seeds from organic growers concerned with building soil and healthy insect ecosystems.  If you are concerned about the carbon-intensive energy inputs required to grow food conventionally, using an organic seed supplier is a good way to go green. Just as purchasing organic produce is about more than keeping your kids pesticide-free, organic seed growing is about more than just pesticide residue on seeds.

It is for these reasons that Farmscape preferentially sources organic seeds.  For the fall growing season, we ordered the overwhelming majority of our seeds from Peaceful Valley, an exclusively organic retailer of vegetable seeds.  Jesse and I paid a visit to Peaceful Valley's headquarters in Grass Valley, CA this October, where we toured the company's facility, retail location, and nursery. We were also excited to hear about the history of the business, which started selling organic starts out of a backyard. The business has been exclusively organic since it was founded in 1976.  If you are interested in going organic with your seed purchases, Peaceful Valley is a great place to start.