Halcyon Daze Posted October 20, 2012 Natural , organic, wild strains with natural genetics and no human influence. Do they still exist in this country? Where can they be found? I'm really keen on growing any kind of veggies, herbs and greens that I can get hold of. Lemme know if you have any ideas. Cheers! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
whitewind Posted October 20, 2012 Interesting topic. I too would be interested in sourcing some of these. One port of call could be Botanical Gardens, have you tried Hobart? They have something called "First Farm" at Sydney but I think most of those are old strains and cultivars. I suspect many wild strains no longer exist, especially where the wild populations are likely to interbreed with cultivated strains, the new genetics may be bred out if they are incapable of competing in the wild, but some may be vigour inducing and eventually the wild strain no longer exists. There must be some studies somewhere to. Do you have any species you are particularly interested in, maybe hunting them down one by one is the key? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halcyon Daze Posted October 20, 2012 (edited) I love my herbs and greens, veggies and medicinal plants. Edited October 20, 2012 by Halcyon Daze Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterboy 2.0 Posted October 20, 2012 (edited) you can still find some landrace varieties and heirlooms....keeping them from getting bastardised is the trick. However even landrace has human influence due to some selection as superior for production. I love my green and herb as well Edited October 20, 2012 by waterboy 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shortly Posted October 20, 2012 "Natural wild strains with natural genetics and no human influence" Wow now that's an enormous ask. There wouldn't be a single herb or veg that 99.999% of ppl would recognize as being even remotely edible that are still close to their ancestral type, many have never existed in nature having co-evolved with humans in antiquity, their ancestral forms either lost or practically unrecognizable. Take corn & teosinte for example. I would think you would need to look to "bush" foods, particularly southern hemisphere for plants that have had minimal direct human interference. Or as waterboy suggested you could go with traditional landrace varieties that are man made but do have some advantages over both wild (usually higher production) and current gen with relatively stable genetics & strongish immune responses. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Halcyon Daze Posted October 20, 2012 Yeah It's a big ask. I might just have to go for another holiday to India or the Himalayas to find what I want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theuserformallyknownasd00d Posted October 20, 2012 I'm sure your local mob may be able to help you with some natural bushfoods in your local area...? I think some heirloom varieties of edibles would be "original" so maybe try diggers club and be a bit specific? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Darklight Posted October 20, 2012 I'm really keen on growing any kind of veggies, herbs and greens that I can get hold of. Seed Saver's network! Can't recommend them too highly, they do seriously excellent work preserving old strains of fruit and veg You can find your local seed network here: http://www.seedsavers.net/local-seed-networks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
