Seed Saving 101
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The document outlines the importance of seed saving to preserve North America's heirloom plant diversity through a network dedicated to collecting and sharing open-pollinated seeds. It offers essential guidelines for effective seed saving, including understanding plant lifecycles, pollination methods, and proper seed storage. The survival of old varieties depends on home gardeners and local markets, as they are often not prioritized by commercial agriculture.
Seed Saving 101
- 1. SEED SAVING 101 Seed Savers Exchange Grant Olson
- 2. Our mission is to save North America’s diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity.
- 7. Seed saving is the process of saving seeds from open- pollinated fruits, vegetables, grains, flowers & herbs. Open-pollinated varieties are maintained by allowing pollen to flow only between plants of the same variety. When pollen flows between different varieties within the same species, this is known as cross-pollination.
- 9. Intentional, controlled cross- pollination is used to create hybrid seeds. Hybrids will only exhibit reliable characteristics in their first generation. Seeds harvested from hybrid plants will not likely grow up to look or taste like their parent. To save seed, you must start with open-pollinated seeds and plants.
- 10. choosing to save seeds
- 12. things to know as a seed saver: 1. know your variety 2. know the lifecycle of your plants 3. know how your plants pollinate 4. know how to isolate your plants 5. know how many plants to grow 6. know your environment 7. know when to harvest your seeds 8. know how to prep your seeds for storage 9. know how to store your seeds 10. know how to share
- 14. Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales common name: bean binomial name: Phaseolus vulgaris Family: Fabaceae Genus: Phaseolus Species: vulgaris P. vulgaris will only cross with other P. vulgaris beans. It will not cross with runner beans (P. coccineus), lima beans (P. lunatus), or fava beans (Vicia faba). What is my plant’s Species?
- 15. common names can be misleading
- 16. crop types can contain multiple species
- 17. species can contain multipe crop types
- 18. vegetables may have ‘weedy’ relatives
- 19. know the lifecycle of your plants
- 21. annuals
- 22. biennials
- 23. know how your plants pollinate
- 24. (flower structure) anther produces pollen seeds form in ovary after fertilization stigma receives pollen
- 25. selfers
- 26. keel
- 28. fused anthers
- 33. know how to isolate your plants
- 34. grow only one variety
- 35. distance
- 36. time
- 37. barriers
- 38. barriers
- 39. know how many plants to grow
- 40. Population Size Strongly Outbreeding Ex. Brassicas Strongly Inbreeding Ex. tomato Generally Inbreeding Ex. pepper Generally Outbreeding Ex. Squash
- 42. know when to harvest
- 46. know how to prepare your seeds for storage
- 47. dry seeds
- 48. threshing
- 49. winnowing
- 50. wet seeds
- 51. (fermenting)
- 52. rinsing
- 53. drying
- 54. dry too wet
- 55. know how to store your seeds
- 57. know how to share
- 60. traits of a good seed saver: observant organized inquisitive
- 61. for more information: Seed to Seed, Suzanne Ashworth A Seed Saving Guide for Gardeners and Farmers, OSA www.seedalliance.org/publications SSE Webinars www.seedsavers.org/webinars
- 62. The old varieties are threatened today, not because of any deficiencies, but because they are not suitable for factory farmers and the food processing industry. As long as food crops are being bred for machines and large commercial growers, the needs of the home gardener will be of marginal importance. The old varieties will survive and flourish only if they continue to be grown by backyard gardeners and sold by local farmers markets, organic food co-ops, and CSAs. Suzanne Ashworth Seed to Seed
Editor's Notes
- #4: when we talk about ‘our garden heritage’, we can be referring to: family heirlooms (give brief Grandpa Ott’s story)
- #5: old market varieties (give brief Moon and Stars watermelon story)
- #6: moremodern OP varieties that have become important to American gardeners
- #9: this is a simplified illustration of cross-pollination.
- #11: people choose to save seeds for many reasons (briefly discuss some reasons for saving seeds). your reason to save seeds can impact your practices significantly. if you’re only interested in saving seeds to save a bit of money, you may have different tolerances for cross-pollination and population size than if you have a very rare family heirloom that you’d like to maintain.
- #15: importance of knowing common name vs scientific name
- #20: (carrot flower)
- #21: every flowering garden plant goes through a similar cycle: seed, plant, flower, fruit/seedhead, then back to seed. to find the seeds, look first for the flower.
- #22: annuals produce flowers in their first year (list examples of annuals). however, not all gardeners are accustomed to letting their plants reach the flowering phase of their lifecycle. lettuce is an example.
- #23: biennials require a cold period to stimulate flower production in their second year of growth (discuss examples, including chard)
- #26: some plants are likely to self-pollinate as a result of their flower structure
- #30: despite having perfect flowers, several crops are potential outcrossers – pollen often moves between flowers and between plants
- #31: despite having perfect flowers, several crops are potential outcrossers – pollen often moves between flowers and between plants
- #32: some plants have separate male and female flowers and so require insects to move pollen from one flower to another. because insects aren’t picky about which plants they harvest pollen from, these crop types can be easily cross-pollinated with another variety in the same species growing close by.
- #41: this rudimentary graph gives a general guideline for population sizes: the more inclined toward outbreeding your crop type is, the larger the population you need to maintain it. population size depends on crop type, but it is also circumstantial – if you’re able to buy in new seeds every few years, you might not need to save seed from 80 cabbage plants.
- #42: what is the feasibility of growing particular crops for seed in your area? also, what are your neighbors growing (corn, for example)?
- #44: dry-seeded crops should be left on the vine until fruit is brown and brittle, seeds inside will be very hard
- #45: for some wet-seeded crops, market maturity = seed maturity
- #46: for other wet-seed crops, market maturity ≠ seed maturity
- #48: dry seeded crops
- #49: threshing
- #50: winnowing
- #51: wet-seeded crops have fleshy fruits with seeds inside. first, seeds must be removed from the flesh.
- #52: finally, seeds must be allowed to dry.
- #53: seeds must be rinsed.
- #54: finally, seeds must be allowed to dry.
- #55: seeds must be sufficiently dry before storage
- #57: seeds should be kept dry and cool during storage. protection from bugs and rodents is also a consideration. glass jars, metal boxes, or pest-proof cabinets are potential considerations. and be sure to label your seeds well!
- #59: the Yearbook
- #60: seed swaps, seed libraries, organizing community seed groups