Earth Day Challange -- help save our seed heritage

Happy Earth Day!

I got my toenails painted green yest (not terribly ecological - but so much fun!) My daughter & her family are going to Disneyland tomorrow, & she wanted 'Mickey Mouse' - so we went in for our ~ monthly pedicure! (mine's a tax deduction no less :)

Reading my Organic Consumer's e- newsletter today, I noticed an article on 'super weeds' that are becoming resistant to the heavy use of Roundup on GM crops - especially pigweed (edible! - but it would be pesticide laden in those fields) ~ 3 feet tall -
'In the face of the weed explosion in cotton and soybean crops, some farmers are even considering moving back to non-GM seeds. "It's good for us to go back, people have overdone the Roundup seeds," (Alan Rowland, a soybean seed producer based in Dudley, Missouri - who has shifted back to planting 'traditional,' GMO seed!)

Of course, Monsanto has an 'answer' at the ready - let's just mix Roundup with 2,4-D "well-known for being a component of Agent Orange, a toxic herbicide which was used in chemical warfare in Vietnam in the 1960s." & Monsanto has already (2001) taken out patents for some combined 'super- herbicides!' . . .

Monsanto (& other companies) have been buying up the small seed companies around the world, which spells danger for traditional seeds & diversity of the gene pool! There are a number of small companies that still exist, a partial list is here - I've ordered from Seed Saver's (you can order from the catalogue, or sign up & receive a 'members' exchange list), J L Hudson, Nichols, & Territorial, Raintree, Horizon Herbs, Abundant Life, Bountiful Gardens myself - & enjoy trying unusual OG & heritage seeds.
I have been working on garden beds in this sunny weather, & planted a few things - some lettuce, kohlrabi, leeks, & my Broad Beans are about 4" tall! My almost 9 yr old granddaughter had a project to tape seeds from 8 plants on a piece of paper, so we looked through seed packets for likely candidates! The strawberry (alpine) were the tiniest!
It's also time to go pick more nettles! I found nettle seed in my lovely tin (a tall whiskey gift tin - a Good Will rescue :) so will plant some - probably in a large flower pot! One of my clients does hers that way, keeps her yard guys happier :)