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Growing your own veg is supposed to give you tastier produce, but more often than not, gardeners are planting the same seed as the supermarket growers. There are sources for truly tasty, diverse strains, says Lia Leendertz - seed exchange networks
Have you ever wondered why seed catalogues use descriptions such as "dwarf habit" and "uniform plants", while omitting to mention how their vegetables taste? You would almost think that gardeners have been demanding these attributes: "We want to harvest identical-looking bean pods!" Are these really the qualities you value in your home-grown vegetables?
The sad truth is that most gardeners are actually being supplied with the leftovers from commercial growers. Farmers who grow on a large scale for supermarkets want plants with a small, neat, uniform habit so that they can machine harvest easily. They also want vegetables to mature all at the same time (catalogues may euphemistically call this "good for home freezing"). Huge resources go into breeding programmes that narrow vegetables' genetic ranges so their seeds throw up few surprises. This seed is then produced on a massive scale for commercial growers, but there is always plenty left over. This goes to the seed merchants, who then have the unenviable task of convincing us that we want what the farmers want.
It shouldn't be like this. Real, home-grown vegetables are not uniform. They are genetically diverse enough to throw up different shapes and to mature at different times. This is part of a plant's survival mechanism: there should be enough difference between its seedlings to allow a few to survive a new strain of disease or a freak bit of weather. But it is also good for us. It means that pests and diseases rarely wipe out a whole crop and that vegetables mature at a rate that allows them to be eaten fresh, a little at a time, rather than at a rate that suits a vast packing and shipping schedule. Above all, though, home-grown vegetables should taste great. Supermarkets are hardly renowned for their commitment to the tastiest vegetables, but few gardeners realise that they may be growing the same varieties they would otherwise be buying from Tesco or Asda. I have a friend who abandoned her allotment after harvesting her first crops. "All that trouble and they tasted exactly like the strawberries from the supermarket," she said.
All of this can be traced back to 1973, when the well-intentioned but devastating Seed (National List of Varieties) Act was introduced. To be legally sold, it proclaimed, every variety had to be tested and registered on a national list, at a cost of up to
Author: Lia Leendertz
Source: The Guardian
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1395037,00.html
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