Its ironic that by far the largest and most beautiful garden catalogs I receive are for the smallest commodities. And some might find it sad that I never buy any of these small items. Seeds are really cheap for all they can deliver, and nobody celebrates the glory of seeds like Baker Creek. I received the 2014 Whole Seed Catalog a couple weeks ago, and have been greatly enjoying the mix of veggie porn (red ruffled eggplant! Noir des carmes melon! Sweet Chocolate peppers!), farming stories, and anti-GMO treatises. There are also a lot of interesting recipes, many designed with vintage display typefaces. As an editor, I can imagine the work that goes into this lovely publication.
Heres a final quote from one of the articles, about the Baker Creek seed grower program: as we all endeavor to reinvent our countrys food system. Its a tall order. Maybe even a Quixotic one? I can only measure awareness by what I see around me. There has been serious and widespread awareness of heirloom varieties in the Western New York marketplace for about the last couple decades, and it is only over the last ten years or so that home gardeners have sought out those varieties. Over the same time period, non-food-growers (like me) are turning to organic CSAs for our locally grown/heirloom vegetables and fruit. And according to this Grist article, there are more than 8,150 farmers markets in the U.S. today, compared to 1,775 in 1994.
The inherent paradox here is thatas we all knowbig agribusiness, supported by the government, is focusing on just a few varieties of superseeds that will be able to stand up to anything pests, diseases, and/or climate change can throw at them. The prospect of such a mindset controlling our food supply isif nothing elseboring.
Im glad I got the Whole Seed Catalog before Thanksgiving weekend, thus doubling down on the amount of thinking I do about food at this time of year, when even a non-seed-saver and non-food-grower like me can still get heirloom winter vegetables from several sources. Were luckyand thankfulbut I still wonder when and if there will be a tipping point for those who still care about food diversity, especially small farmers and companies like Baker.
Via: More than just seed porn
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