Self Reliance Tip #57 Not yo Grandma's seeds... :)

 

So what exactly are "heirloom seeds"? Are they something you have folded up from your grandmother and kept in a cedar chest? Well, not exactly... In this video (rather lengthy, but VERY educational) it talks about the dangers of genetically modified (or GMO) food. Not only economically, but for your health.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/67878/the-future-of-food

I am not going to touch on the politics right now, but I want to talk about why "hybrid" and GMO seeds are bad news for preparedness. When you mess with the nature of a seed, you knock Mother Nature off balance. Heavenly Father's seeds do not need to be improved. When a seed is made "hybrid" that means the very DNA of the seed has been tampered with. It does more than do strange things to our bodies (they are not metabolized in the body the same way as the "non-hybrid" seed). It also does not produce seeds that can re-grow a new generation of producing plant. They become sterile. It is my opinion that this will be one of the main reasons for famine in the last days.

For instance, if you take a tomato plant that is "hybrid" - developed for drought conditions lets say - and you save the seeds from one or two tomatoes. The next season you may get a plant that kind of grows, but does not yield fruit. This happened to me my first time saving corn seeds. They were the most pathetic plants I had ever seen. The corn husks gave maybe one or two kernels. That's not gonna feed anybody. I have yet to find "non-hybrid" corn seeds at Wal-mart or Home Depot. Even if you find "organic" corn seeds, they still say "hybrid"...I'm not sure how that works... So, the happy alternative is "heirloom seeds". These are like grandma's seeds. They have not been tampered with and will continue to produce generations of food.

They can be purchased in bulk such as this site (I just typed in heirloom seeds bulk): http://www.mypatriotsupply.com/Articles.asp?ID=245&Click=18191&gclid=CNXO9ZLRkbACFQOEhwod40PHow

  A friend told me that you need to have a backup in case the oxygen absorber in the bulk containers killed the seeds which she has experienced.

You can go to http://www.burpee.com/heirloom-seeds-and-plants/ and get the little packets without the bulk container or oxygen absorber. There are records of my Great-Great Grandfather Joseph Smith Hancock where some of his grandchildren witnessed him soaking his seeds on a table and then kneeling down and praying over them. What an awesome example. If only I could wrap that up and put it in my cedar chest.

..... And another thing...

One of the struggles I have had with loose #10 cans (since I don't have shelving to speak of) is they are always falling...especially when they are in kid's bedrooms. Well, I solved this problem this week very inexpensively and very easily. Sister Alice told me that Home Depot had boxes that would fit these cans so I went on a hunt. When I got there I went to the "storage" isle and they had moving boxes. I had measured the boxes at home that fit (6) #10 cans so I knew the dimensions I was looking for. Well, I found that the medium sized moving box fit WAY more than 6. I was able to get 16 in there! Within two days I was able to get most of my loose #10 cans out of the way. The boxes are about $1.50 each. I also took the time to label what was in them to make it easier for future use. Sweeeetness!!! Have a grrrreat day!!