It's all in the seed

"The seeds that gardeners hold in their hands at the time of sowing are living links forming a great continuous chain whose origin is lost in antiquity." Suzanne Ashworth, Seed to Seed . When a seed is placed in the ground, in contact with humidity and heat, the radicle present in the seed in embryonic form swells, splits the seed coat and propels itself towards the depths of the earth. Simultaneously, a pale stalk emerges from the soil and deploys two cotyledons that will allow the young plant to carry out photosynthesis, a function by which it becomes self-sufficient in sugars, allowing it to continue its development autonomously. Despite its small size, the seed contains all the information that will define the shape of the future plant, its resistance, its vigor and its mineral content. In short, a large part of the success of crops depends on the information written in the genetic code of the plant entirely represented in the seed. This is why we must pay particular attention to the choice of seeds that we will germinate.

Choose a species, choose a cultivar

When buying a seed, one also chooses a cultivar. This defines the characteristics of the species, namely its shape, its growth time, its vigor, its resistance to insects and diseases, its flavor and its nutritional value. Thus, the Scarlett Nantes cultivar is a Nantes carrot 15 centimeters long, cylindrical, tasty and very sweet, in short an excellent summer and autumn carrot, very different morphologically from the Danvers cultivar, a winter carrot, short and stocky. Also, the early Sub Artic tomato better meets the needs of an Abitibien than the Black Zebra or the Savignac , two late cultivars, better adapted to the southern regions.

When selecting a cultivar, we also choose to work with a hybrid or an open-pollinated cultivar. The hybrid is the result of a crossbreeding: it will not be able to reproduce the characteristics of the parents. This choice forces us to return to the supplier for new seeds. Open-pollinated cultivars allow the reuse of the seeds produced, provided that the necessary separation distances between the mother plants have been respected. All artisanal seed companies work with this type of cultivar. This choice offers the advantage of guiding a selection that improves the performance of the cultivar in various ways, such as precocity, adaptation to the environment, resistance to pests or diseases, as well as productivity. It goes without saying that gardeners concerned about the importance of genetic diversity and seed independence will ban GMOs—genetically modified plants—which are the result of gene grafting carried out in a laboratory, without regard for the sexual compatibility of the species. They mainly serve the interests of agrochemical companies.

Seed quality

Also, when choosing a seed supplier, whether a producer or a reseller, we opt for a unique seed quality, closely linked to the merchant's values. This quality affects the germination rate, adaptation to the climate and growing conditions. For me, nothing beats local seeds that have been produced organically. Plants grown from such seeds will be on familiar ground and will benefit from high-performance immune functions since their parents will not have been artificially protected and defended by pesticides. Finally, when purchasing seeds, we choose to work with fungicide-treated seeds or not. In organic farming, the use of treated seeds is prohibited. Such treatment, often characterized by pink seeds, must be indicated on the packet, which helps to avoid them. The gardener, aware of the importance of the seeds he or she will plant, should optimally choose to deal directly with an artisanal seed producer who grows his crops with respect for the soil and biodiversity and who improves his cultivars through evolutionary and constructive genetics.

Yves Gagnon, author and seed producer