I’m hoping to inspire others to adopt an heirloom, open pollinated seed variety and nurture it along for as many years as it takes to pass it on to the next generation who may need these saved genetics to plant food for a future world.
— Lorna McMaster
HOW TO SAVE SEED IN FIVE EASY STEPS
If you are already a gardener, and want to become part of the seed solution, these easy steps will get you started on your seed saving journey.
Step 1. Stop buying hybrids and instead plant open pollinated varieties.
Hybrids may be pretty and productive, but they are also dead ends when it comes to seed saving due to the inbred nature of the parent plants. Be aware that when you buy your garden plants from commercial nurseries, hardware and grocery stores, you are probably buying hybrids, which are pointless for seed saving.
There has been a rebirth of small-scale internet seed companies featuring regionally adapted open pollinated seeds (see some of my favorites below). Read your seed catalogs carefully to determine whether your choices are hybrid (F1), or open pollinated (OP). Heirlooms are OP varieties that have been around for more than 50 years and are excellent choices for new seed savers.
Step 2. Understanding your plant’s life cycle will help you choose your seed project.
An annual grows from a seed and makes seed in one growing season before dying in the winter. These are the easiest plants to save seed from because seeds will usually mature before the frost. A biennial grows roots in the first year and goes to seed in the second year before dying off. Tender biennials like carrots and beets must be stored for the winter and replanted in the spring, which makes a bit more work for the seed grower. A perennial survives the winter and makes seeds every year. Perennials grown from seed tend to be fussy and slow growing but are worth the effort since they take very little work once established.
Along with when it makes seeds, you must be aware of how the plant is pollinated. Cross pollinated plants are either pollinated by the wind (such as corn, beets, and spinach), or insect pollinated (most other flowering plants.) Self pollinated plants, including beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce, pollinate themselves, and are therefore, the easiest plants to save seed from.
Step 3. Plant and grow out a minimum population, which is the smallest number of plants of a variety required for healthy cross pollination.
Unlike regular garden planning, the seed grower must plant more members of a species than they normally would to maintain genetic diversity. Every species has a different minimum population and will require anywhere from 10 to 200 plants to make a healthy seed crop. Luckily, these numbers have been well researched and are easy to find on seed saving charts found on any seed saving website.
Step 4. Respect isolation distance, which is the distance needed between members of the same species to keep them from cross pollinating and contaminating the genetics of the seed crop.
Isolation distance varies from species to species and is determined by how the plant is pollinated. For example, a bee will travel up to one mile, so the isolation distance for bee pollinated squash and other flowers, is one mile. These isolation distances can be found on the same seed saving chart as minimum population.
If you live in a neighborhood, or are part of a community garden, observing minimum populations and isolation distances may be difficult unless you communicate with your gardening neighbors. If you can agree to grow the same OP varieties, then everyone benefits. All those plants of the same variety in multiple gardens within the perimeter of an isolation distance will not only contribute to meeting minimum population standards, but the bees that fly between your gardens spread the diversity of pollen that will make every garden a seed garden. This is how we as communities can build resiliency and contribute to local food security in a changing climate.
Step 5. Learn how to harvest and clean your particular seed crop.
Seeds are generally harvested in the fall, so that the seeds will have time to fully mature, since immature seeds will not germinate. In general, seed heads or pods should be papery, brown, or grey, and have no green left in the stem before they are harvested. Seeds must be separated from the seedhead through a process called threshing, then the vegetable matter separated from the seed through a process called winnowing. Every seed crop is treated a little bit different, so I’ve included two of my favorite crop by crop seed growing resources:
FIND OPEN POLLINATED SEED
Click the links below to purchase seed at our favorite companies