Saving Seeds for the First Time

Jul 4th, 2008 by tommy

Heirloom Tomatoes

I have recently begun to be interested in seed saving and preserving historical vegetable varieties. While in college and during my first job where we performed variety trials to determine high producers in Oklahoma, I was definately concerned with hybrids and thought the old varieties were useless. Now, in my home garden setting (and with the passing of 10 years), I have changed my outlook.

During college I learned that you cannot save seed from a hybrid plant and expect to get good results the following season. A tomato will always produce a tomato, but the offspring of a hybrid will not be true to type and will likely produce poorly. With open pollinated varieties, such as many heirlooms, you always get plants that are just like their parents. It’s important to note that when planning to save seed, you should ensure the variety you are interested in is separated by a good distance from any others of the same species. When cross pollinating occurs, your offspring plants will not be the same as the parents. In a sense, this actually produces a hybrid.

Another thing I’ve come to realize over the years is that the large seed companies are creating monopolies on the best producing varieties. This is fine for commercial production, but what about home gardeners and those wanting to preserve historical types?

The answer, as you may have already realized, is to grow open pollinated or heirloom vegetables.

I found a great website, Seed Savers Exchange, which sells and promotes old varieties of many vegetables, herbs, and flowers. I have joined the exchange ($35 a year) and also have ordered the following beans to start on my journey:

Hidatsa Shield Figure Bean
Brockton Horticultural Bean
Calypso Bean
Painted Pony Bean
Speckled Cranberry Bean

Seed Savers Exchange also helps connect seed savers together through an annual spring catalog. I hope to be able to sell some of the bean seeds I collect this season. I think I will also produce some lettuce seeds (Black Seeded Simpson) and radish (Cherry Belle).

This is really an exciting pursuit. I’d love to hear of your own seed saving experiences.

Happy saving!

-Thomas