Stevia (stevia rebaudiana) is a new world herb that you might have only recently heard of.  Stevia leaves – while having zero calories – are claimed to be 30 times sweeter than sugar, and in fact one of the common names is “candy leaf” – the extract is supposedly 300 times sweeter than sugar!  Stevia is also reputed to have several health benefits including the  prevention of tooth decay and diabetes.  I don’t know about that, but I would guess that using less sugar probably would have those effects.

Is the idea of growing your own natural organic zero calorie sweetener intriguing to you?

These Stevia plants are 3 weeks old.

I’m growing stevia for the first time this year from Burpee brand seeds that I bought at a local home improvement center.  I had heard that stevia was very hard to start from seeds, but I got about 50% germination rate by using bottom heat, keeping them very warm, continuously damp, and supplying 17 hours / day of florescent light.  After 3 weeks I have 6 healthy looking (if a bit slow growing) plants from the dozen or so seeds that came in the pack.  Since I have so few I’m being extra careful with them right now, and making sure that they stay above 50 degrees at all times.

I haven’t really found very much culture information about stevia yet other than that they don’t tolerate cold temperatures, and are a bit hard to start from seed, but easy to start from cuttings, and have few if any insect pests.  I also heard from a fellow in Australia that they grow almost as weeds there because they self seed.  He said that among other uses they put the raw leaves in salads.  I have in mind to try it in some herbal tea mixes, and perhaps brewing a tea with it and using it as a condiment.  I also hope to save my own seeds and perhaps over winter a plant or two next year.  Maybe I’ll sell a few starts at the farmers market if all goes well.

Until very recently it was not legal to even refer to stevia as a sweetener in the United States despite it’s very long record of benign use in other countries around the world.  Stevia could only be marketed as a dietary supplement in the U.S. -  But, now that the sweetener industry is ready to roll out their own stevia products that law has been changed.  Guess who lobbied the FDA to keep it illegal as a sweetener all those years?

Anyway, you might want to consider trying to grow stevia in your garden this year – if you do, let me know how it goes.

Happy Gardening

More information about Stevia

Many seeds such as this basil can be easily saved from year to year.

Winter is a great time to sit down with a nice warm beverage and a seed catalog to plan your garden for next Spring.  Unfortunately sticker shock usually strikes when you start tallying up everything that you would like to grow.  But it doesn’t have to be like that.

At one time every gardener saved their own seed from year to year,  prized varieties were handed down over generations – and there were thousands of varieties of  crops in common cultivation around the world. Unfortunately we have largely gotten away from those sustainable practices, and now millions of acres of cropland worldwide grow only a handful of commercial varieties while gardeners and farmers spend money every year to buy seeds that they used to produce their selves.

Even before genetic modification was possible disasters were caused by loss of diversity.  For example the Irish potato famine of the 1800s was caused by a plague of late blight disease which was exacerbated by the fact that almost all farmers in Ireland were growing the same genetically identical variety of potato – A situation where the rapid spread of a new disease strain is almost inevitable, just as it  might be today.

In many cases seed saving is childishly easy. Some plants such as lettuce, beans, peas, herbs and tomatoes self pollinate, and usually breed true. Other plants – corn, cabbage, cucumbers, and squash will easily cross pollinate with other varieties, and are much more challenging for amateurs to breed.  However even a small degree of  seed saving will make your gardening more self sufficient and sustainable. Seed Savers exchange has this guide to planting and seed saving that will help you to decide which seeds will be most worth your trouble to save.

You can start your own sweet potato vines just like this - break them off at the potato, strip off most of the leaves, and bury all but the growing tip.

Some plants – potatoes, sweet potatoes, strawberries, garlic, and horse radish for example -  are propagated from divisions, layering or some other means which results in offspring which are genetically identical to the parent plants. This makes it very easy for gardeners to produce simple clones of favored varieties.  Other heirloom cultivars such as fruit trees and grape vines can be  reproduced by grafts or cuttings.  However some  plant varieties  are patented and if propagated would result in pirated copies just as if you copied a music CD, although that is usually not an issue with heirloom plants.

Strawberries multiply by self rooting runners like this one which are genetically identical to the "Mother" plant. Divide and transplant strawberry plants in the Fall. A single plant will often produce a dozen or more daughter plants like this in one season.

When choosing heirloom varieties disease resistance and productivity should be taken into consideration – the truth is that some exceptionally tasty heirloom varieties are finicky to grow and not extremely productive, but that isn’t always the case. Fortunately the internet has made it much easier to research your choices. Just Google for the name of the variety that you are interested in.

When you save your own seeds or get them from gardeners who live near by you can benefit from a common sense breeding program that farmers have been working on for thousands of years.  It works like this: You save seeds from the very best plants that you grow.  Chances are that the healthiest most productive plants have good genes that they will pass on to their offspring.  This kind of simple selective breeding results in a cultivar which continuously becomes more adapted to local climate, soil, pests, diseases, and cultural practices. You can also select for other characteristics such as size, color, or flavor.  You might even develop your own unique plant variety.

Hybrid and Genetically modified (GM – or GMO) varieties are designed for increased yields, pest, and disease resistance, and profitable production on commercial farms.  But new seeds must be purchased every year because hybrids don’t breed true, and the propogation of GM plants is controled by patents in order to protect the profits of the companies which own them. Widespread use of these plants in commercial agriculture has resulted in a huge loss of genetic diversity, and  there is also a very real concern that transgenic (GM varieties which have genes from insects, bacteria or other species spliced into them)  or otherwise genetically modified plants could escape into the wild and possibly out compete naturally occurring plants, polute other genomes or otherwise play havoc with the environment.  There may be evidence that these plants could even cause health problems if consumed by people or animals.  There is no doubt that hybrid and genetically modified plants make it possible for agriculture to be much more productive, and financially profitable, and have even been instrumental in the reduction of world hunger, but their continued widespread use  could contribute to future ecological disasters.

As you plan next years (this year now – Happy New Year!) garden consider saving some of your own seeds for the next year and buy varieties that will make that possible.

Happy Gardening!

Sources for Heirloom Seeds

SeedSavers Exchange – The Grandaddy of Heirloom seed sources – Unbelievable selection, and beautiful full color online catalog (beware – PDF)

Seeds of Change - All organic, many heirlooms, no GMOs.  Wide Selection of seeds, trees, potatoes, vines, and supplies.  Very nice website.

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange Heirloom Seeds – Many open polinated heirloom varieties mostly for the south and mid south regions.  Often grown by the same families who have preserved the variety.

South Carolina Foundation Seed Association – Heirloom seeds from Clemson SC.

Bountiful Gardens – Heirloom, untreated, open polinated seeds for sustainable agriculture – You gotta love that.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Lots of hard to find seed varieties and information.

High Mowing Organic Seeds
Great information and a wide selection of organic (some heirloom) seeds. Information such as disease resistance, culture, and pollination requirements given on many items.

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply
Organic Vegetable seeds plus an extensive selection of fruits, nuts, vines, bulbs – you name it.  Plus very good prices – $.99 seed packs + $2 shipping for 10 or less – subject to change of course.

Other Resources

Heirloom Vegetable Gardeners Assistant

Celebrity Hybrid Tomato – determinate 72 days

Resists Drought and Disease

I didn’t actually grow this variety this year, but I will next year. The Celebrity vines that my father in law grew in his garden have born excellent fruit all season long starting early (72 days) and are still (Oct. 19) bearing ripe fruit despite the very hot dry weather. The flavor is not as good as the excellent heirloom varieties that I have grown, but still very good. And it certainly appears that the effort to reward ratio is outstanding.

Update August 2008 – I am growing celebrity in my garden this year, and as you can see in the picture (by my lovely wife Shirley)  they yield gorgeous medium fruits. So far, other than side dressing with compost and a balanced organic fertilizer mix and picking off a couple of horn worms these beautiful healthy plants have been maintenance free.

Update October 2008 – My Celebrity vines were real troopers all season long – I just picked the last of them during the third week of October.  These are some of the most trouble free and productive tomatoes I’ve ever grown.

Brandywine Heirloom Tomato – indeterminate 90 days

This is one of the tastiest tomato varieties I have ever grown. The large pink-red fruits born on indeterminate vines are really outstanding in every way that matters on the table – color, texture, and flavor are all excellent. Unfortunately, this year the yield was small and the vines quickly succumbed to the hot dry weather coupled with the usual insect and disease problems that tend to plague sweet heirloom varieties.

Mr. Stripey Heirloom Tomato – indeterminate 80 days

These yellow and pink medium sized tomatoes are almost as tasty as the Brandywine variety. They are a little bit funny looking with somewhat inconsistent coloring, and some fruits being striped and many having discoloration. If you are painting a still life you might want another, but for eating Mr. Stripey is tops. Again though this indeterminate heirloom variety did not stand up well to the extended hot dry summer that we had this year, however the yield was probably about twice as large as I got from my Brandywine vines.

Juliet Hybrid Tomato – indeterminate 70 days

Resists Drought and Disease

This tomato is kind of an awkward size being too big to add directly to salads without cutting up, but being way too small for a slicer. However, my one Juliet tomato plant started bearing early and still has bunches of green fruit on it right now in the middle of October – if the warm weather holds out maybe some of it will vine ripen yet. The vine has remained healthy and very resistant to pests and drought all season long. It did stop setting fruit during a very long, very hot August- September, but as soon as the temperatures moderated began bearing again. The tastiest fruit was that which ripened during the hottest weather while the earlier fruit was not as sweet and was almost like a Roma (which the smaller Juliet tomatoes resemble). While many cherry tomatoes tend to split before fully ripening Juliet does not. Also, the ripe fruits hold on the vine for a long time, usually still being sound and perfect when they finally fall off.

My summary: For gourmet quality flavor grow Brandywine or Mr. Stripey. For high yields, and a long season with disease and pest resistance grow Celebrity. Better yet, grow both.