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There are many reasons to make open pollinated ["heirloom variety"] seeds an integral part of your gardening experience and food storage. If seeds are collected from F1 hybrids, the plants grown from those seeds will generally not have the characteristics that you desired in the parent plant. Open pollinated seeds allow the gardener the option of saving seed and growing the plants you like, year after year. In the April 1991 issue of National Geographic, in an article titled, “World Food Supply at Risk”, the authors point out past failures of agriculture being based on only a few varieties. Such disasters include the 1970 corn blight that destroyed much of the US crop and the potato famine that killed over 1 million in Ireland. Such disasters are not new. The article also states that there is evidence that a blight destroyed much of the maize crop around 900 AD and probably caused the collapse of the Mayan civilization. I would recommend a trip to the library since the article is a good, sobering and interesting read, as is the October 1998 National Geographic on population and feeding the planet. Several organizations, such as The Seed Savers Exchange, have been established for education and as sources for open-pollinated seed. I find it a bit of a chuckle that many people put such an emphasis of a year’s supply of food, but do not store usable seed, canning supplies and the like. What if, for hypothetical example, a flu pandemic in the US occurred and the duration was more than a few months? What if there was a new disease outbreak in our food crops, for example a new fungus attacked our wheat supply in a wet year? The trouble with genetically identical (hybrid) crops is that they would all be at risk. That is the primary risk one runs with most of your caloric food base being dependent on one or two grain or starch crops.

The US used to be ready for such a crisis, but not anymore.
From WorldNetDaily
From Jeff Rense
When one thinks of the recent ‘mad cow’ concerns here in the United States, one realizes that even today, agricultural disasters can still happen as is illustrated by this short article from the Seeds Trust web site.
The current trend of some large agricultural conglomerates is to develop hybrid/biotech seeds that will not germinate when collected seed is replanted, or have the plant ‘self-destruct’. This technology now has several patents. For a look at the ‘terminator gene’ being developed for use in several crops, such as cotton, see the article from University of Indiana on the Terminator Gene.

It is easy for me to see both sides here. If the company spends millions of dollars to develop a new, higher yielding strain; they will want to protect that research at least until the money is recovered with some as profit. The trouble is illustrated by that oil rapeseed farmer in Canada (Percy Schmeiser) whose fields were planted with his own stuff and then his fields were contaminated with the genetically modified rapeseed. Even though he never planted the stuff, he found himself in court. The company (Monsanto) sued him (successfully!) when their gene was found in his crops, Even though he grew his own seed and his was contaminated. Shows a break down of common sense in the judiciary, which is no big surprise. The other problem is that by having terminator seeds, it allows direct corporate control of farmers by a corporation or government. In other words, they control what you can grow to insure ‘customer loyalty’.
For more on Percy Schmeiser see:
Percyschmeiser.com/
Sierraclub.ca
Currently only a handful of companies control most of the US seed and nursery market.
A recent Countryside and Small Stock Journal article titled “Do you know where your seeds come from? You may be surprised…. The Gardening Game”. The article highlights this consolidation [of seed vendors] in the US market place.
Sources of open pollinated/heirloom seeds:
http://www.seedstrust.com/
http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://www.seedsave.org/
http://www.rareseeds.com/
http://www.victoryseeds.com/
http://www.bountifulgardens.org/
http://www.abundantlifeseed.org/
http://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/

A wide assortment of heirloom seeds are also available from The Ark Institute

Unique/heirloom plants and nursery stock:
http://www.treesofantiquity.com/
http://www.onegreenworld.com
http://www.raintreenursery.com

An Internet search for heirloom seed or open-pollinated seed will turn up many more sources.
Basic “how to” instructions for saving seeds:
http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://www.seedsave.org/
Several books on saving seeds, including:

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth

Seed Sowing and Saving: Step-By-Step Techniques for Collecting and Growing More Than 100 Vegetables, Flowers, and Herbs (Storey’s Gardening Skills Illustrated) — by Carole B. Turner

Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties: The Gardener’s & Farmer’s Guide to Plant Breeding & Seed Saving — by Carol Deppe

Saving Seeds: The Gardener’s Guide to Growing and Storing Vegetable and Flower Seeds — by Marc Rogers, et al

Books on gardening and edible landscape design:
“ How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method”, Rodale Press, out of print, but easy to find at used bookstores or e-bay.

How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine by John Jeavons (Paperback - Mar 2002)

Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison and Slay Reney-Mia

Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway and John Todd

Greenhouse Gardener’s Companion: Growing Food and Flowers in Your Greenhouse or Sunspace by Shane Smith and Marjorie C. Leggitt

Designing And Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally by Rosalind Creasy (Foreword), et al.
http://www.foodforeveryone.org/
http://www.gardensimply.com/
http://www.carryongardening.org.uk/
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/perma.html
http://www.permacultureactivist.net/
http://www.foodnotlawns.com/
http://www.cwo.com/~bart/perm_links.htm
http://www.sherrysgreenhouse.com/

Also refer to the extension service of your state university.

The some articles on plant disease threats:
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050924/food.asp
Dangerous Wheat Disease Jumps Red Sea.
http://www.grain.org/seedling/?id=108
VOA News

Then you add into the fray the mess politics can make of crops and farm policies. Worst case:
From The Christian Science Monitor
From The Daily Telegraph

Making compost will help you reduce pollution and cut down that landfill! Your plants will grow healthier and look happier for it and it will save you money on fertilisers too. Our local council in Manchester has now given us brown bins for us to add leaves, grass and other compost matter into, which is then emptied every two weeks once it has reduced to less than half its size.
What is compost?

Garden guides often describe composting as natures way of recycling.

Composting is indeed a natural way of recycling, harnessing natural processes rather than machinery and man-made chemicals, but it takes people to do it.

Soil maintenance is at the heart of organic growing: dont feed the plants, feed the soil — the plants will look after themselves. The extremely complex subject of soil maintenance can happily be summed up in one word: composting.

A smelly hole at the far end of the garden filled with putrefying kitchen wastes and flies buzzing round. Thats what compost isnt. No stinks, no flies, though kitchen waste is welcome.

Compost is not just decayed organic matter. Composting is applied microbiology at its most complex, involving the interactions of thousands upon thousands of different species of micro organisms in a highly complex ecosystem.

What can I compost?

If it can rot it will compost, but some items are best avoided. Some things, like grass mowings and soft young weeds, rot quickly. They work as activators or hotter rotters, getting the composting started, but on their own will decay to a smelly mess. Recycle your plant-based, kitchen and garden waste by making it into compost

Older and tougher plant material is slower to rot but gives body to the finished compost - and usually makes up the bulk of a compost heap. Woody items decay very slowly; they are best chopped or shredded first, where appropriate.

A container or brown bin is not an absolute necessity as you can make perfectly good compost in a free standing heap as long as it is large enough. You will see later why this may be a drawback. Assuming then that we need to make a container we are faced with many choices.

Why not make or buy a compost bin? Theyre usually cheap to buy, and are available in wood or recycled plastic (that might otherwise be in your local landfill site). If youre keen you could combine it with a wormery or use a shredder which increases the amount of compostable waste. Do not compost foods such as dairy produce, meat, bread etc as these attract flies and vermin.

How do I know when its done?

That depends. What was a pile of plant material will gradually, from the bottom up, turn into a pile of dark stuff that looks like brown dirt. Eventually, none of the items you put in there will be recognizable. If youre using it out in the garden, a few small recognizable bits wont hurt - theyll finish composting in the garden. If youre using it for houseplants or to start seeds, its better to wait until its well finished so you dont have microbes attacking the fine rootlets of new plants.

Dig it in to have a healthy, fertile garden and your fruit and vegetables can be organic. Dont assume the waste is harmless and bin it. Putting it in landfill costs money and it will produce methane (a global warming gas); also it may pollute the groundwater.

Compost waste often comprises about 20-30% of your total household waste and the impact on recycling is significant.

Article Source: http://www.articlegarden.com/

Davinos Greeno works for the organic and ethical directory that lists 100s of Organic and Ethical Companies.

The red imported fire ant is a pest to fruit growers throughout the United States, but they are equally aggravating to homeowners as well. Fire ants are more often a pest during the warm summer months, but red imported fire ants can be a problem all year long. Fire ant colonies are active all year, although cold winter temperatures slow them down and drive them deeper into the soil.

Believe it our not, fall is the best time to treat fire ants. Fire ants need moisture to survive which is why you often find them in well watered yards and in athletic fields during the dry seasons of summer. During spring, the ants emerge from their deep refuge to search for a fresh food supply for a growing colony. During the fall, the temperatures are cooler, it rains more often, and the ants have to find their food supply for winter, so they are out and much more active.

The winter colony
Fire ants are not as noticeable in winter as they are during the summer months, but that doesn’t mean they are gone. Actually, they have dug a little deeper and are spending much of their time under ground. Fire ants are less active during the winter months, but during days when the temperatures rise, the ants often emerge for a breath of fresh air. They may also build up their mound after a hard rain. During winter, fire ants often take advantage of solar radiation by building their mounds against concrete and asphalt structures such as foundations, parking pads, parking lots, sidewalks, and along curbs. The solar radiation allows the worker ants and other active members of the colony to stay closer to the ground surface. The hybrid form of fire ants (those species from the red or back imported fire ants) are thought to be more cold tolerant than either parent species.

The spring colony
During the spring months, ants are very active in the warm, humid air. They can often be found in plant beds, grass, and compost piles. During the spring, the queen lays as many as 800 eggs per day. The worker ants spend their time foraging for food to feed the new colony members. As the colony grows, so does the mound and the number of workers foraging for food.

The summer colony
During summer, fire ants like to build their mounds in beautiful landscaped yards that are sunny and are mowed and watered regularly. They build their nest in vegetable gardens, in flower gardens and flower pots, and near other plants that are watered and care for. People caring for plants often run into the ants and fall victim to ant bites. During the hot dry summer, the ants may disappear leaving only their mound as evidence of their existence. However, once the temperatures cool down and it rains a little, the fire ants and new mounds will be apparent.

The fall colony
During the fall, ants tend to forage for food that will carry them through the cold months. While the weather is still warm, the worker ants are hard at work carrying food down into the mound to sustain the colony during winter. The fire ants venture further away from the mound as food sources become harder to find and they often come in contact with people. The mounds also rise above the ground in preparation of winter.

All-weather treatment plan
During the summer, fire ants like to eat fruits and high protein oily foods; however, during winter their preference changes. Therefore, the treatment you use to rid your property of the pests must change as well. Because the ants don’t venture far from the mound during winter, a mound treatment or spot treating a mound is effective.

The weather should determine what treatment you use. During the summer you should drench the mound on a cool, sunny morning while the ants are concentrated near the soil surface. Later in the day and during hot, dry weather, the ants retreat deep into the mound where the bait is less likely to reach them. During the winter months, baits are ineffective because ants forage for food when temperatures are above 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

The fall months are actually a great time to apply baits. Broadcasting bait across the property using a seed or fertilizer spreader works great at full coverage. Once the bait is down, the worker ants find the bait that they think is food and they carry it down into the nest, deep in the soil. The bait takes longer, but it is effective. It may take the entire winter to kill the mound, but you will have fewer ant mounds during the following spring to worry about.

When the weather grows colder, it may appear you have no fire ants at all; however, during warm spells of temperatures reaching at least 60 degrees, the ants can become active. Because ants live in their mounds at different levels and forge for food depending on the temperatures, you have to treat the mounds differently. Ants just love warm comfortable weather and your treatment of the mound should reflect their habits.

Article Source: http://www.articlegarden.com/