Should I start my organic veggie garden with organic seeds?

I'm starting an organic raised bed veggie and herb garden. I am doing all the planning beforehand so that I don't screw it all up.

My question today is: how important is it to start with organic seeds?

If it is really important then I can't just go to Lowe's or Target and pick up packs of seeds. I would have to find them online. There are websites that I found that sell organic veggie and herb seeds, but most are from much further north than me....like Michigan, while I am in Florida. I read that it is better to get seeds that are already used to the climate I'll be growing them in.

Soooo, I found just one organic veggie seed site that was based out of Florida, which has a minimal selection (http://www.eonseed.com/) and another (http://www.tomatogrowers.com/) that just sells tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant.

My only other idea was to find out how to trade with other organic gardeners in my area via DG...I would just have to trust that they grow organically.

I'm hoping that someone will tell me I can just go to Lowe's or Target, but don't just tell me that because its what I want to hear :)

It's really a personal choice whether you get organic seeds or not. You could start with non-organic seeds, and as long as you use organic growing practices, your produce should be just as pesticide-free and healthy as if you start with the organic seeds (you probably couldn't sell your veggies as "certified organic", but I doubt you'd want to go to all the trouble and expense to get yourself certified anyway).

However, if you buy the organic seeds, then you're supporting people/companies who've made the commitment to garden/farm responsibly just like you have, rather than getting seeds from some big seed place that may not be committed to environmentally friendly or sustainable growing methods.

If I start with non-organic seeds, garden organically, and harvest only my own seed from then on, would my seed become less and less "non-organic"? I wonder what the USDA standards are for classifying a seed as organic because somewhere down the line the seeds we have today, even organic ones, had to come from a non-organic origin...unless they were harvested and stored from the 1800's or something.

Right??

I'm not sure what their standards are--I would guess that if you start with non-organic seeds (as long as they're from a source that wasn't genetically modified--that's a whole other story!) and grow them organically, then at some point the seeds that you collect could be considered organic. But I don't know the specifics of how their rules work!

Since I'm assuming you're not planning to go to all the $$ and trouble to get certified so you can sell your produce as organic and you're just doing this for your own family's well being, I think you can feel fine about the quality of the food they'll be eating even if you start with the non-organic seeds. So it really comes down to whether you want to go the extra step of trying to support people who grow organically by buying the organic seeds, or if that's not practical for you due to cost, availability of the seeds you want, etc.

I really would prefer to use organic seeds - supporting organic farmers is equally as important to me as the health aspect. I just don't really have a good source. I suppose I could just try to buy what organic seeds I can and get the rest from Lowe's.

Anyone have any good sources for organic veggie seeds in the southern U.S.?

Mail order is probably your best bet for the organic seeds--I don't grow veggies so hopefully someone else will have some suggestions for you of exactly where to look, but that's something I don't picture being able to find a very good selection locally, I think you'll have much better luck finding the ones you want if you do mail order.

We use organic seed. www.southernexposure.com is a great company.