Saving Seeds Handbook

A Go-to Gardener's Guide To Saving Seeds Successfully

In recent times, several gardeners have taken an interest in saving seeds from their plants; however, the process of saving seeds can be scary, but yet simple. Seed saving takes some time and effort, but it is well worth it for gardeners, irrespective of the level of experience.

Once you've found a variety that suits you, saving seeds from it will enable you to repeat your success time after time. Why? Because plants are much more sensitive than you might think to the growing conditions distinct to each garden. What works well in your garden may not work in your neighbor's. There are other factors at play, including your specific microclimate, the microbiological health of your garden soil, and chemical or other harmful exposure. Other factors are the minimum distance between plants of similar species, which is important so that cross-pollination does not take place with another variety, as well as the minimum number of plants that need to be grown to conserve the innate genetic diversity.

It's also important to identify the characteristics of the variety so that when grown, plants not breeding "true" are not picked. It is also important to adhere to effective seed storage procedures to keep the seed viable. We can go on and on about how well informed you need to be before you start saving seeds, but we can't; hence the reason why this book, Saving Seeds Handbook, was written, to provide you with virtually all you need to save seeds successfully.