Effect and Cause....

Editors note: It has come to my attention that some may have taken my comments on the Organic Seed Aliance the wrong way. This was not my intention in any way shape or form whatsoever. I have strong faith and conviction in what the Organic Seed Aliance does, instead of critisizing them for the use of the word "organic" I was trying to make a comment on the way the public percieves the word "organic" and "USDA certification" as a gold standard as it were. I am in no way critical of what the OSA stands for and wish them all the best of luck with what they do, I simply want others to be aware that with the skewed USDA rules organic certification doesn't mean much, if anything at all.



Just spent my morning reading a ton of articles and blog posts about the USDA's suggestion that there be co-existence between organic and GMO. What can I say about it? Really, other than calling a spade a spade and stating some obvious things, I'd just say it's more bullshit propaganda.

The USDA is pushing it as it's next big idea, the next "good" thing their "solid" and "scientific" research can bring to us. Right, like they haven't ever sold us ideas as good that turned out to be absolute trash over the past 100 years. But that's beside the point, everyone knows Tom Vilsak is a Monsanto lackey, no need to tell you, the intelligent reader, what an ass kissing, suck up, profit driven, corporate piece of trash he is! Right?

Really, what we are looking at here is the tide changing in this country, people waking up and realizing that things are amiss in our world and realizing that genetic modification is just one of many agitators in the system. So let's take a look at some of the more important and bizarre issue brought up in the discussion.

First you will notice that the two parties that are mentioned in the media are organic farmers (as in USDA certified) and conventional farmers using GMO seeds, putting the attention on the farmer sort of breaks the fall of the transnationals right? As long as there is a perceived animosity between the two types of farmers they will always have a watchful eye on each other, and as human history proves time and again, when there is suspicion of harmful activity it usually escalates the situation in some form or another. Here we would have neighbor vs neighbor, or so the USDA and the corporations would have us believe. That said, I don't blame the farmers for this at all, in general of the many farmers I know here locally the vast majority running larger farms either regret signing their name away to the corporations or just don't know how they would make it economically if they had to look at things from and eco-logical perspective.

You might also have notice that they use "Organic" farmers as opposed to naturally grown, or eco-logically grown, or any other word to denote who has a "say" in this fight. Just like the 3'd political party in the US it seems no one else gets a say, this keeps rebels like us, the free thinkers, the ones who realize that the USDA Organic Standard is a joke in terms of sustainability and *gasp* definitions of what is organic. Really in a lot of ways, the organic standard only works for corporations with the money to actually keep up with certifying every crop they grow.

Yes, I know, a myriad of seed companies are organically certified, and at heart that's what this fight is all about, their right to grow organic seeds without cross contamination, I get it, but by buying into the USDA's organic standards and following only those rules and regulations instead of using independent and clear judgment of humanity as the standard they are only playing into a loosing corporate game, one that locks seed producers who are a bit rebellious such as myself and other "eco" growers out of the equation, in a fight like this they need all the help they can get.

By far however, the most disturbing part of the whole ordeal (other than obvious backroom deals and open doors between the USDA and various transnationals) is the type of philosophy I've been reading today coming from the GMO propaganda machine; comments like "Their pollen cand destroy transgenic crops as well." For example, there was a story about an organic farmer and a conventional (How the hell did the green revolution become so "conventional" or "traditional" to begin with? Plant the seed and the idea grows I suppose) farmer were growing sunflowers next to one another. The organic farmer for cut flowers, the conventional farmer for feed crop, pollen from the open pollinated ornamental flowers got into the field of the farmer growing the feed sunflowers. Supposedly the farmers got together to avoid a lawyer and the conventional farmer gave the organic one pollen less (yes, sterile) seed to grow. According to the GMO lackeys, this is a solution! A real solution! Oh, shit, yeah, that's right, except for the fact that this all started over SEED to begin with. How the hell is that a solution?

But see, these people don't think about that sort of thing, they are all mixed up and don't understand effect and cause, at least not on any logical level of reality. There is a song from the White Stripes called "Effect and Cause" that sums it up quite succinctly I think;

I guess you have to have a problem
If you want to invent a contraption
first you cause a train wreck
And then you put me in traction
well first came an action
And then a reaction
But you can't switch around
For your own satisfaction
Well you burnt my house down
Then got mad at my reaction

Well in every complicated situation
There's a human relation
Making sense of it all
Take a whole lot of concentration
Well you can blame the baby
For her pregnant ma
And if there's one of these unavoidable laws

It's just that you can't just take the effect and make it the cause

[Chorus:]
Well you can't take the effect
And make it the cause
I didn't rob a bank
because you made up the law
Blame me for robbing peter
Don't you blame Paul
Can't take the effect
And make it the cause



Oh, and BTW, as a proponent of the natural course of human agriculture, living in a reality based in the soil, the air, the water, and the land, as someone who sees the beauty of the natural world coupled with the ability of man to manipulate plants in only the ways allowed by natural evolutionary factors, I can promise you, there is an army of people like me, willing to do whatever legally possible to keep "co-existence" from ever being accepted as the "status quo".


-Alan Reed Bishop

Breeding for bio-regions and fighting multi-nationals!

I've been doing a bit of research as of late on many old corn lines and newly developed ones, of course along the way I might finds something incredibly awesome about squash, tomatoes, turnips, watermelons, strawberries, fruit trees, or any number of other things which might derail my chosen subject of "obsession" at the moment. Either way, it's all about how deep down the rabbit hole you choose to go and while scrounging through a particularly fruitful shelf within that rabbit hole I came accross an amazing web-site dealing with the Oscar H. Will seed company. I have discused this company in the past on the blog, particularly their connection to the Native Americans and the varieties of seed which were given to Oscar Will by the natives of North Dakota, but I knew very little of both the man and his son (the future heri to the company) and their personal struggles.

This article gave me some insight:
http://history.nd.gov/exhibits/gardening/ddvegetables1.html

It's nice to know that there were other kindred souls out there struggling not just with producing seed and breeding seed but also with the "human condition" in general, it gave me hope and inspiration for which I have put to good use with my work.

It's really amazing to me to think that Oscar H. Will, James J.H. Gregory and Luther Burbank all three walked this earth and worked specifically within their diverse bio-regions at the same time. Wow, is such geneious to be found now, I know it is, just got to motivate some of these guys to get their stuff out there in the open a little more "efficiently".

Anyhow, as with many plant breeders, it is obvious that I have borrowed many of the genetics in my "Astronomy Domine" line directly from Oscar H. Will (via the Mandan Indians) by way of Nuetta and Sunshine sweet corns, and probably others. As we speak I am looking for a definitive list of varieties which were introduced via his famous seed house.

I really enjoyed reading most of all about his descriptions of varieties as well as his overal description of the work presented in his catalog. The use of "key words" like hardiness, cold tolerance, resistance, almost metaphorical in their meaning in certain ways speaks to me and my work using metaphorical alchemy to describe what I wish to do.

People often ask us, Kim and Myself, why we have such and impetetus on breeding, I have addressed this many times in my writing and have written many unique articles about the why's and hows, but people don't always seem to "get it". They don't understand why we go through the trials and tribulations involved when they have come to the understanding that "so many good varieties already exist", and they are right, there are many amazing heirloom and OP varieties, but what they don't realize is that none of these varieties is "static". Evolution never stops, every time you save seed you are making a selection, even if only subconciously, but more importantly you are adapting that variety to your location.

The real reasons why we persue plant breeding have a lot to do with room for improvement, there are amazing old varieties out there, many tailored to our particular bio-region here in the mid-west/Ohio Valley region but often times they are under productive or fall to the various weather related diseases, sometimes they are incredibly bottlenecked via genetics (IE. Inbred) and most of all they may not fit my tastes, nor the tastes of my customers. Of course we are also dealing with a dynamic and changing environment (wether natural or manmade; global warming or cooling) and of course the conspiracy theorist in me is always preparing for things to get FUBAR, as we all should be. Most of all I love exploring, I love adapting things, being creative, selecting for unique adaptations.

I have in just 6 seasons created lines adapted to incredibly low fertility, high and low PH, cool soil germination, powdery mildew tolerance, drought, flood conditions and more, and all of it relied on both the old OP varieties and modern hybrids as sources of germplasm. Grex/Mix/Landrace/Genepool, they all mean the same thing, but what they ultimately give us is an amazing amount of diversity and an assurance of abundance in the hardes of times, in the worst of conditions, an extended cropping system, advanced disease and environmental tolerances, an assurance that we can, when we need to be, be self sufficient farmers, stewards of seed, earth, and human life. With these seeds we also make a powerful statement to the powers that be in this world, to the Monsantos, the Syngentas, to the elements of government and beyond that seek to control us and domesticate us like "Chattel". We will not ever "Die Born".

We recently made the move to dedicate our lives and our business; Bishop's Homegrown: Face Of The Earth Seed soley to the breeding and introduction of incredibly diverse and yet completely reliable landraces of vegetables, fruits, nursery stock, chickens, guineas, turkeys, and more. A decision I won't regret, if only for the fact that I have come to realize that devoting my life soley to selling produce (which I will continue on a smaller scale, focusing on a CSA and taking extras to market) will not accomplish what we seek in this world in the way of forging connections to the earth and to The Real by way of our varieties and Gnosis with other people. No, I think a traveling seedsman is a fine thing to be, a traveling sustainable extension office is even better, it also at least makes us a moving target for the powers that be. Ultimately we would love to inspire others in other bio-regions to become interested in becoming plant breeders and then seedsman and teachers. To some extent that is a success, some thanks to our doing and some thanks to their own god given instincts. Joseph Lofthouse is one of those fellows, John Grahm another. There are lots of them, if you want to become one I suggest checking out alanbishop.proboards60.com where you can find tons of information and like minds.


One thing I would like to say to the myriad of trust fund, do it yourself type hippies currently trying to enter the world of self sustainability, even if you don't breed, save your seeds. If you aren't saving seeds you are part of the problem, not part of the solution, as you ignorance of the stewardship of life is overlooking the very most important part of the equation. I get tired of having that conversation with certain people all the time, just remember for all of your anti-Monsanto rage, you keep buying seeds and they will become more interested in them and they will "own" them if only to control you and your "exploits". Your not part of the club, but your so close, make the leap.



I was also doing some research in regards to modern field corn breeding. No, not Mosterous breeding like that done by Monsanto and the He Who Walks Behind The Rows Monsanto blog, but true, time tested, safe, traditional plant breeding, both for animal feed as well as for human consumption and came accross an interesting article about a breeder I hadn't heard of before, possibly because his main aim is geared towards farming, but all of us should be breeders. You can find the article here:
http://newfarm.rodaleinstitute.org/features/2005/0205/specht/index.shtml

It's always awesome to see someone bettering their vison of the world through truly self sustainable farming.

"We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of the dreams!"

"All I need is a tall ship and a star to sail her by!"

This year we made an amazing grex/mix/genepool of some terrific OP corns with a UK Tuxpeno base. Tuxpeno gives us the dent/flint characteristics we are looking for while also allowing us the diversity and compatibility to intergress characteristics from the older southern dents. We have also learned that our Turkey flock prefers Tuxpeno over traditional southern dents and the rate of gain is greatly increased. Come fall when we release the "Grand Bazzar" you will find five new "composite/synthetic" corn varieties of amazing diversity, including one which contains genes from Kculi (maize morado). This past weekend we made inroads into the amish communities via these very seed sources with orders for "plot bags" of seed in the pipeline as the Amish too are trying to escape the tenticles of "bio-tech".

In coming years (now that we have increased initial seed stock) we will allow room for expeimentation in crosses between some of the more "elite" lines of parch, flour, and mostly waxy endosperm corns.


Finally, tying all this together I came accross a terrifying Monanto video via God Like Productions, I don't have a link for an inbed so I am simply copying and pasting the link to the actual forum thread with imbedded video. I warn you, some of the posts on the thread and at god like productions in general are "out there", some are BS, some are people making jokes, some are actually informative if you know where to look.

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message567279/pg1

I will live to see the day that bio-tech fails, probably the same day the people wake up to the manipulation of our everyday world by the powers that be.

Smashing the glass box that is conventional agriculture!

Smashing the glass box that is conventional agriculture!


I didn’t attend college. Period.

That’s not just a statement, it is a declaration.

Now, maybe I didn’t attend college because I was lazy, or perhaps I didn’t attend because college had nothing to sell or tell me that would convince me to give up my life to debtors. I will let you figure that one out.

Over the last six years I have subjected my family, my fiance, and her family to my endless curiosity for all things agronomic with a heavy slant towards ecological solutions and breeding, driving them sometimes up the wall, I am sure, and leaving them all wondering how I would make a living for myself. I have grown, tested, trialed, and tasted more varieties of crops than I care to imagine. F1’s, Open Pollinated types, segregates, populations, synthetics. I have dabbled in soil sciences from all over the world, and taken a gander at the true possibilities that soil and various cropping systems on this southern Indiana farm can offer me by looking through the eye of a prism and following each individual “color” to it’s perspective end.

I have harvested acres of corn by hand and subsequently shelled it for seed until my hands were litterally bloody.

I have dabbled with poultry genetics and selected for meat, body confirmation, color, egg size, color of egg and and more.

I have grown crops completely unadapted to this bio-region in trials and breeding plots which often become the source of distress and disaster in unconventional systems which others would only scoff at.

I have cursed, pulled hair, kicked, screamed, been pissed off and generally aggrevated to the point of chain smoking.

I have aged 10 years in 6.

I have alienated friends and made enemies.

I have subjected myself to myriads of manual labor which will effect my health for seasons to come.

And I regret none of it.

For all of those negatives and from all of those moments of extreme aggrevation I have deduced that the root of all of this is knowledge and I’ve accomplished more than I have failed.

I have made friends.

I have opened eyes and minds.

I have had a hand in the fostering of new kinds of varieties which have never existed before.

I have mastered the “forcing” of many crops using only wood heat and plastic in winter weather.

I have discovered those things which work and those which do not.
I have observed nature in ways that many others have not.

I have created new methods of sustaining and creating soil fertility and have foregone sterile mixes in favor of homemade, compost laced solutions.

I have taught myself about trap crops, vermicomposting, herbal medicine, bio-intensive methodology, soil sciences, seed saving, plant breeding, animal husbandry and so much more.

And most importantly I have put myself through School of a type very few others in recent memory ever have. “Warior Training” is perhaps more apt.

I would call myself an agronomist, even if I am missing the “official” credentialed piece of pulp paper that the world might accept as “proof” of such a claim. I don’t need it.

I have created something out of nothing.


And now it is time to move forward with this “gnosis.”

It’s time to smash the glass box that contains “conventional” agriculture.

The conventional agriculture that keeps us tied up in the slave trade of petrochemical fertilizer, genetically modified traits, and “ORGANIC STANDARDS” as set forth by the USDA.

The time for trial and error are over and the time for proof of concept have arrived. 2011 will be the year that I take the first true look at what I have been working on, taking the amalgamated teachings of the best methods and varieties I have utilized and placing them into a fully functional “eco-logical” garden of Eden.


Breeding work will continue with poultry and perennials and the occasional hybrid vegetable, but the introduction of many new varieties and their implementation into the overal scheme and outlay of the farm and it’s profits will take precedence.


In time I hope to open the eyes and minds of many in our bio-region to the true possibilities available to those of us who can think in terms of .5 - 50 acres instead of 500. 5-100 birds as opposed to 20,000.

I hope to help people recognize their true culture, a culture of agriculture, free of the bindings which hold “conventional” agriculture in place and breaking the bonds placed on us by our government and the mainstream media. To help foster those ideas which draw us together and help us see that the binds of civilization are held together only by our ability to use agriculture, in a sustainable way, to our advantage.

To be continued:

Dear Monsanto PR Lady.

Yesterday I left a post over at He Who Walks Behind The Rows blog (oops, I mean "beyond the rows"), the electronic propaganda arm of Monsanto if you will. The post was in response to Monsanto's recent PR stunt which involved sending tons of unwanted seed to Haiti in order to make itself look less the Kraken-esque, brain eating, hope destroying, environment destroying, zombie monster it really is. They still haven't posted my rant, but here it is in all it's glory via my equally evil facebook page