Tracing the Origin, or Not.

With canning season just about through, at least for me, I decided to trace my home grown produce all the way back to the very beginning. By that I mean the origin of the jars I like best, and the farm that my favorite bean seeds come from. I’ll go ahead and start with the jars.
I’ll admit, I have used all three common brands of jars, Ball, Kerr, and Anchor, however my favorite is Ball. No real reason for this except they have the most stylish jars with pretty cornucopia designs. Anyway, Ball jars were created by the Ball brothers in 1880. They created all sorts of new inventions for jars, including the idea of rubber sealing rings. If you are interested in the history of canning lids, here is the link to the Ball Timeline, http://www.freshpreserving.com/sites/all/themes/freshpreserving/library/TimelineOfLidTechnology.pdf
As hard as I dug to try to find where the materials come from to make the jars, I had no luck. Ball, claims to be US made and so I hope they are honest! And for those concerned of BPA, Ball jars and products are “BPA free.” American made and BPA free. Double win.
If I wanted to be here all day, I would go through all the seeds I use in my garden. But an entire book on seeds does not sound very fun, so I’ll stick to my favorite garden plant. Drum roll… Green beans! Being relatively new to the whole garden thing, I did not have a very “fruitful” harvest. My bush bean plants produced like a charm though! I even had enough for food storage, freezing and to eat. It was delightful to have fresh beans for dinner, especially since I have never had fresh green beans before.
My husband and Mother-In-Law, prefer to use Blue Lake Bush beans. They are known for being hardy, quick maturing and to produce season long. They weren’t kidding when they meant season long! We buy bulk seeds from Mountain Valley Seed, located in Salt Lake City, Utah. My bush bean seeds came from Idaho. Now the frustrating part comes in. I could not find a farm listed that supplied these seeds. When researching Idaho bean farms, I had no such luck either. At least I know they came from US soil. What I did find out, is that Organic seeds are ridiculously priced. One pound of commercial Blue Lake Bush Beans, is $4.95. It is the same price for treated bean seeds as well. A pound of Organic Blue Lake Bush Beans? A whopping $18.42. Almost four times more in price.
Why is organic so much more? There is no use of pesticides, herbicides or any chemicals used. Sure that can be a good thing, but not protecting crops from bugs, fungi and weeds creates lower crop yields. And thus, the outrageous price.
What does treated seed mean? Typically it means that the seed is coated with a substance that will protect the seed from developing fungus and rotting in the soil. It is not commonly used in home gardens, as it is easier to plant all the seed at the correct time. Treated seed is used mostly by farmers who have lots of ground to plant, and have to start earlier than recommended, in order to get all the crop in the soil by the right time.
Whatever your preference is, there is no difference in taste between the three products, it just comes down to personal preference.
Tracing products back to the very original origin, is rather difficult and can be frustrating. Personally, I am not very concerned with where my food comes from, but I prefer it be from the USA.



"Bean Bush, Blue Lake." Mountain Valley Seed Co. Mountain Valley Seed, 2015. Web. 27 Sept. 2015. <http://mvseeds.com>.

"Canning Lids." Ball. Hearthmark, LLC Dba Jarden Home Brands., 2015. Web. 27 Sept. 2015. <http://www.freshpreserving.com/>.