Seeds as information stores for our food

Most people pay rather little attention to the topic of “seeds” in everyday life.

We tend to value and use the fruit, i.e. what has grown from the seed in combination with the soil. But what are “seeds”? Here is a definition: “Seed (also seed grain or seed fruit) refers to dry, dormant, generative reproductive organs such as seeds, fruits, false fruits, infructescences or parts thereof.” (Source: Wikipedia (German))

Seeds are a target of economic interests

The seed available in wholesale and agricultural trade is in many cases produced by the 10 largest seed companies in the world. These are often genetically modified varieties that are usually deliberately not designed to breed true and are protected by plant variety rights, so that farmers cannot use the harvest for replanting but have to buy F1 hybrids again every year.

Seed information (German)

Importance for health

People who are aware of this situation obtain their food from farmers who grow old varieties of vegetables, fruit and grain and save the seed for the next sowing and cultivation on their own responsibility. More and more people in the circle of the Society for Self-Sufficiency are relying on self-sufficiency. As most of us (and I am one of them) have never learned how to save seed, there is the option of buying original seed. You will find a list of possible suppliers below.

Sources of heirloom seeds (German-language websites)

• arche-noah.at

• biogartenversand.de

• biogartenladen.de

• dreschflegel-saatgut.de

• bingenheimer-saatgut.de

• ochsenherz.at

• vern.de

• kraeutergarten-storch.de

• prospecierara.ch

• nutzpflanzenvielfalt.de

• raritätengärtnereimanfredhans.de

• zollinger-samen.ch

• freie-saaten.org

• reinsaat.co.at

• reinsaat.at

• bio-saatgut.de

• culinaris-saatgut.de

• waldhof.steiner-institut.de

• autarkewelt.de

• garten-des-lebens.de

• gruenertiger.de

• samenfest.at

• bioseeds.bplaced.net

• saatgut-vielfalt.de

• irinas-tomaten.de

• blauetikett.de

• dawanda.com/…/…samen-aus-leipzig

Catalogue of rare crops

Download compendium (German)

Saving cucumber seeds – tips from Sabrina

The real mastery, of course, is saving and using the seed of the vegetable, fruit and grain varieties you grow yourself. It is also important to have herbs, flowers and tree species in your seed collection. As a vivid example of saving your own seed, I found the following video (German):

Platforms for safeguarding diversity

Bauernkarte Österreich (farmers’ map of Austria) on Telegram (German)

In short, this topic is a very big task for one person, but “together we succeed in what is denied to the individual”, as our motto goes.

I look forward to hearing from you and to further networking for working together!

Incidentally: the topic of “soil” – the earth, humus and compost – is another big task. But that is another story…