what about seeds?

[Zaphirah]

Is it an organic food if the seeds are NOT organic, but you don't spray anything on it? Ds has a fundraiser coming up. They are selling some starter plants and some hanging strawberry and cherry tomato planters with the seeds in them. I would NEVER spray them with anything, but I'm guessing that they may have some sort of icky stuff already in the soil? or maybe the seeds? What if I planted conventional seeds, in my own organic garden? can it be called organic produce? :confused:

[rawstrength]

In general, foods have to be grown from organic seeds to be considered organic. Also, the soil has to have been pesticide/herbicide free for 10 years.
You can still say that your plants were grown without the use of pesticides/herbicides, but they won't technically be organic.

[Coconutcutie]

I agree with Raw Strength, the seeds that they were grown from were most likely not organic, and the soil in which they are cultivated has probably been treated with conventional fertilizer, so technically no they are not organic. However IMO, they probably haven't been treated with pesticides so I would consider them pretty safe to eat. I think I would be more cautious in the case of corn....I almost bought some corn plants the other day but remembered that most corn is grown from GMO seeds unless specifically "organic".

[juliebove]

You have to buy organic seeds for it to be organic.

[tiggerbounce]

Heyyou! Hope all is well!

There are very specific guidelines as to what is able to be called organic when it comes to resale of goods. (you can check USDA or FDA to see what those guidelines are, just google that). However, even organic foods may be somewhat deceiving because they do make allowances for some things. But that is really no surprise, it is? :rolleyes: And those things do not have to be labeled. I am guessing that there would be a fee to get certified as well. I know there is a fee for being Fair Trade certified and can't imagine it would be different with Organic. Maybe not though.

For home consumption you can do what you want though. I have found though that I get the very best old fashioned delicious flavor by using heirloom seeds. These are open pollinated and are not hybridized seeds. At least not by man -- just mother nature. I planted heirloom tomato seeds last year.........absolutely NO comparison with hybrids. None. Zip. Nope. They were just the most delicious things I had eaten in like forever. I would come out in the morning and squirrels had eaten them though. They never even blinked at the hybrids. grrrrrr. They were a pink variety. I really enjoy the pinks. Just google heirloom seeds and you will find tons.

I participate in seed exchanges etc to get heirlooms and that can be a lot of fun seeing what you get. Let me know if something like that interests you as I am trying to set up a free seed exchange site just for that purpose. Sharing seeds and ideas and reviews of seeds, etc. Just PM me because I only make it online to check sites very occasionally these days. It is just about ready to go but I don't expect much trading activity until the end of the season when people have seeds to trade after harvest. Good to know in advance how many seeds you need to save though.

Hope you are having a great day!