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I have been so overwhelmed by the useful information on these threads that I only have 12000 posts to go..

Thanks to everyone for the input , I guess I'm not alone in in my thinking... please add me to ping list.

I copied the following from another site so I can't vouch for it's accuracy , mainly because I don't understand about seeds... ( we always kept our family garden seeds and seed potatoes from the previous year but 8 years of not being concerned with the future is now taking it's toll..)

if someone can explain I would appreciate..

::: Everyone should save some Non-GMO organic seed, as they're locking the OP seed up in vaults in Norway. One vault is on a remote island and the other is built into the side of a mountain. Monsanto and Biotech are buying up as many seed companies as they can, and replacing the natural open pollinated seed with GMO seed and thousands of heirlooms are becoming extinct! :::::

??? thanks in advance for any and all assistance..

This is what I keep saying on these threads but I am told I am crazy and that Monsanto is ok. Nothing to see here, move along. Thanks!

We’ve been buying heirloom tomatoes to get the seeds from those. If can get heirloom cantaloupes and zucchini and cucumbers, I will be very happy. Also peppers and strawberries.

Oh and by the way I’ll be uploading (again) the first 9000 posts of thread #1 in Microsoft Word, to the file transfer site yousendit.com, later this week. I’ll ping you when it’s uploaded and you can go get it for yourself. My next plan is to download the last 1000 posts of the original thread and all the posts on this thread into a third file.

Anyone else who wants a to download copies of the threads can ask and I will ping them too.

Granny can you add Eagle50AE to your ping list for this thread? Thank you!

Oh boy, Eagle50AE You have opened a big can of worms here...

First off, let me welcome you on behalf of nw_arizona_granny and the whole group. You are more than welcome here and we hope you will participate freely.

Now to your inquiry:

::: Everyone should save some Non-GMO organic seed, as they're locking the OP seed up in vaults in Norway. One vault is on a remote island and the other is built into the side of a mountain.

In the last couple of decades since gene splicing came into being, geneticists have gone crazy trying different things. Some have taken the gene that causes flourescence in a jellyfish and spliced it to proteins so they can track the use of that protein in mamals. Others like Monsanto have patented their process and the result in seeds. (Remember Monsanto? The company that brought us 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T -both herbicides and the combination of them became 'Agent Orange' The dioxin contamination from their Tennessee plants during the Viet Nam war are thought to be the source of problems many veterans and Vietnamese have had - even to subsequent generations. - More about them later)

One of their gene spliced processes results in the tolerance to Round-Up (a Monsanto herbicide). The selling point is that it can be sprayed on young crops to kill the weeds but the desired crop continues to grow, reducing the need to cultivate. They have applied this technology to corn, soybeans, and rape (now called canola) as well as others. This would be fine, except that as pollen moves around freely, that gene has spread and been found in other people's crops. Monsanto, in their greed, have been going on other people's farms and taking samples - If they find their gene in your field (even if it came from the wind, or a bird dropped a seed) they are suing the farmers for infringement of their patent and the courts have been granting it - regardless if it was intentional or not. Makes no difference how it got there - it is there so pay our royalty and please Judge add punative damages. Thank you!

Another result of their gene splicing is to put a recessive gene for sterility into plants, then cross them, giving you a hybrid seed but since there are two recessives in that seed, it is dominant - the result is a seed that you can plant and grow, but if you save the seed from it to plant for the next year, it is sterile.

This is very much like mules. You can breed horses with horses, and donkeys with donkeys and all is well, but if you breed donkeys to horses you have a mule - you cannot breed mules to mules, because the result of that cross is all sterile animals.

What this does for Monsanto is that you must always come to them for seed. Year after year.

The prospects of all this GMO or Genetically Modified Organisms has caused some real fears for what would happen to the original line bred, diverse varieties of seeds. If genetic modification gets out of hand, and spreads an undesirable or even catastrophic damage to all available seeds, where do we go to get back the original seeds? This is what led to the creation of several vaults for seed safekeeping.

Norway is one of the countries that has really gotten behind the seed vault program and they have fully funded $9 Million the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It is underground, fortified, temperature and humidity regulated optimal seed storage and has been called the 'Doomsday Seed Vault' and the 'Noah's Ark of Seeds' They are trying to store seed stock from all over the world and all the varieties they can locate.

Monsanto and Biotech are buying up as many seed companies as they can, and replacing the natural open pollinated seed with GMO seed and thousands of heirlooms are becoming extinct! ::::

I think that the Biotech was meant to be Seminis.

In addition to Monsanto's own seed production facilities, they have bought -

Holden's Foundations Seeds
Corn States Hybrid Service
and in 2005 they bought Seminis - the world's largest seed producer.

You probably never knew that you were buying their seeds because they do not market them under their name. But, have you ever gotten seed from:

Johnny’s
Territorial
Fedco
Nichol’s
Rupp
Osborne
Snow
Stokes
Major supermarkets
Hardware stores

You got Seminis seeds...

It is estimated that Seminis controls 40 percent of the U.S. vegetable seed market and 20 percent of the world market—supplying the genetics for 55 percent of the lettuce on U.S. supermarket shelves, 75 percent of the tomatoes, and 85 percent of the peppers, with strong holdings in beans, cucumbers, squash, melons, broccoli, cabbage, spinach and peas. The company’s biggest revenue source comes from tomato and peppers seeds, followed by cucumbers and beans.

Company	2006 seed sales US $ millions
1. Monsanto (US)	$4,028
2. Dupont (US)	$2,781
3. Syngenta (Switzerland)	$1,743
4. Groupe Limagrain (France)	$1,035
5. Land O' Lakes (US)	$756
6. KWS AG (Germany)	$615
7. Bayer Crop Science (Germany)	$430
8. Delta & Pine Land (US) (acquisition by Monsanto pending)	$418
9. Sakata (Japan)	$401
10. DLF-Trifolium (Denmark)	$352

Source: ETC GroupWhat disturbs many is the track record that Monsanto has -

They were major or sole producers either from innovation or purchase of:

DDT
2,4,D
2,4,5-T
saccharin
aspertame
BST (bovine growth hormone)
PCB's
Celebrex

Monsanto has been very politically active - plus:
Former Monsanto employees currently hold positions in US government agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Supreme Court.
These include Clarence Thomas, Michael Taylor, Ann Veneman, Linda Fisher, Michael Friedman, William D. Ruckelshaus, and Mickey Kantor.

Whew...

So, what can you do... SAVE OP SEEDS (Open pollenated - non hybrid - non GMO)

Keep some for future years squirreled away just in case...
Ya' never know...

The Oregon State University Extension Service offers a publication on collecting, storing and testing seeds for germination at no charge, entitled "Collecting and Storing Seeds from Your Garden." You can download this publication off the web right away or send for it by mail from OSU by following the instructions below.

Although seed saving is not always feasible with all types of vegetables, collecting your own seed can be an exercise in self-sufficiency and a lesson in plant biology.

Do not save seed from hybrid varieties if you want plants like the parents. Seeds from hybrid varieties produce a mix of offspring, many of which may be inferior to the parent. Seed from vine crops is often quite variable also - squashes, cucumbers, melons and pumpkins often cross-pollinate with other genetically compatible varieties. Unless pollination has been strictly controlled, strange hybrids often result in the next generation.

Among the vegetable seeds most easily saved are non-hybrid tomato, pepper, bean and pea seeds. Collect seeds from the fully mature, ripe fruit of these plants.

To save tomato seeds, squeeze the seeds from a fully ripe fruit onto a paper towel or piece of screen. Leave the seeds at room temperature until they are thoroughly dry.

Pepper seeds can be collected by selecting a mature pepper, preferably one turning red, and allow it to turn completely red before extracting the seed. Pepper seeds can be dried as described above for tomato seeds.

To collect bean, pea and other legume seeds, leave the pods on the plant until they are "rattle dry." Keep an eye on the pods, as some varieties split and scatter the seeds when dry. Pick the dried pods and place them in a well-ventilated area at room temperature. When the pods are completely dry, remove the seeds.

To store seeds, put each type in a labeled and dated envelope. Store the seed packets in a jar. Moisture may cause the seeds to deteriorate more quickly. To keep the seeds dry, fill a small cloth bag with about one-half cup dried powdered milk. Place the dry milk packet inside the jar beneath the seed packets. Close the jar tightly and refrigerate until planting time.

For more information on Collecting and Storing Seeds from Your Garden, FS 220, visit our on-line catalog. Our publications and video catalog at: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog shows which publications are available on the Web and which can be ordered as printed publications.