Monsanto is the largest seed company in the world now, having acquired Seminis in 2005.  Monsanto not only sells more Biotech (GMO) seeds than any other business, but now (with the acquisition on Seminis) sells more garden variety (non GMO) seeds than any other company; and it is a multi-billion dollar business for them.

Popular Monsanto Seeds include Big Beef Tomato, Gold Rush Zucchini, Beefmaster Tomato, Ambrosia Melon…the list really does go on and on and on.

These seeds produce great fruits, and keep them coming…far more than heirloom/open-pollinated varieties do.  This begs the question: is it okay to support a company like Monsanto in any way?  Is it okay to support a company that is producing some of the wierdest seed varieties ever, which are cross-pollinating with our normal seeds and contaminating the seed gene-pool?  that is some scary stuff.

I wish that we could just do away with GMOs entirely.  Why do big-time farmers use them (I’ll answer my own question…because they think it makes them money…although George Naylor, a mid-western farmer of corn and soybeans, featured in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, would disagree)?

A farmer friend of mine understands the dilemma.  These Monsanto garden veggie seeds really do make us more money through better production of exactly what the consumer has grown accustomed to - that picture perfect veggie that we all see at the supermarket.  Who’s going to pay us extra to grow varieties that they don’t necessarily want, and that don’t produce as abundantly?  Good question.

I really don’t want to support Monsanto, in any manner.  One local chef recommended supporting their good habits, not the bad ones.  Well, you know, there are plenty of farmers who are buying GMOs, so until they stop buying, Monsanto won’t stop producing.  And, I don’t want those GMO genes cross pollinating with my non-GMO varieties, ever.

Andrew

So Andrew and I were on the farm mostly by ourselves for the past two months, except for the weekend visits by Andrea. I was working about 50 hours a week and Drew was working much more. And than all of a sudden in one week we have four more people on the farm. Andrea is back for good with our good friend Zoe, and our other good friend Cristen is working on the farm for a good portion of the summer. It is amazing how quickly things can change. The farm is now filled with the vibrant energy of four… Read the rest of this article »

We are now entering week four (of 24) for the CSA.  Today we had our drop-off/pick-up for our 10 monday members.  We have 23 members in all - 10 on Monday and 13 on Wednesday.  We are going to add members when the summer stuff really picks up, but for now, that is our max. Let’s see what was in the boxes: 1 lb Sugar Snap/Snow Peas Zucchini/Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash Romaine and Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce Heads Broccoli Basil Parsley Radishes Garlic Scapes Lacinato Kale Rainbow Chard… Read the rest of this article »

Now we are direct seeding all sorts of hot weather veggies.  Cucumbers, melons, zucchini, you name it, we are planting it (within the general farm plan, of course).  Ryan and I are working very hard, putting in 12-13 hour days, in addition to harvesting and delivery for the CSA (now 20 members).  We are going to start a farmers’ market this coming saturday. Ryan is feeling the heat.  I am also, but he just jumped into all this work very quickly.  He’s getting… Read the rest of this article »

So, for the last time, I think we’ve turned the corner into frost-free weather…now? Who knows. I sure don’t.  We had another frost…a hard frost - 34 degrees on Tuesday night.  The forecast called for 40 degrees. What a surprise.  Nothing was covered.  Not the tomatoes, not the peppers, not the eggplant, nor zucchini, cucumbers, more tomatoes.  So, to summarize, we didn’t lose anything!!! My heart was in a ball as I got out to the farm a little… Read the rest of this article »

Well, after the freeze, we haven’t looked back.  We’ve been planting out peppers, eggplant - we even put out zucchini and cucumbers today. We’ve direct-seeded beans, planted out basil.  We’ve just gone to town with the summer stuff, and the cool weather stuff is just maturing. I am pushing the season.  I’m sure this is a classic first-year, wet-behind-the-ears mistake, but it is working so far The tomatoes are growing like gang-busters (assuming “gang-busters”… Read the rest of this article »