Beginning Seed Saving

Humans have a long history of stewarding seeds. With limitations that come with modern seed patenting practices, many farmers do not have the rights to the seeds they grow.  These restrictive intellectual property rights stifle the farmer’s hand in shaping their seeds, as well as diminishing the genetic diversity in our food system. Seeds have been fundamental in what foods we eat, what medicine we take, the fibers we wear, and so many other components of our lives. We are just as shaped by our seeds as much as we shape them. When we lose a seed, we lose thousands of years of stewardship, history, biodiversity, flavor, culture, and connection. Seed saving is a gateway to our past as much as our future.

In order to get started with seed saving, The Seed Savers Exchange is the best first introduction. Their Seed Saving section is the best place to start learning how to save the seeds you grow, with articles and instructional videos for a variety of plants, with a breakdown of steps in the seed-saving process. The Exchange is also a great place to start collecting openly pollinated seeds through an online seed swap for growers across the world.

MOFGA has a great brief introduction to seed saving, which goes over the different steps in the process. To learn more about saving seeds for specific plants, UC Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County has a breakdown for a variety of vegetable and flower seeds.

Saving Our Seeds has publications based on region, plant, and techniques. Topics include isolation distances, organic seed processing and storage, and bean, brassica, cucurbit, pepper, and tomato seed production.  They have a great established collection of resources from seed-saving experts and programs.

If you want to share the seeds you save with your local community, The Seed Library Network is a great place to learn how to build local seed networks. Seed Saving in a Time of Change is a video they published about being part of the solution to limiting the genetic diversity crisis, as well as actionable steps you can take to create local seed networks. They also have a great collection of established seed libraries and other seed-saving resources.

Organic Seed Alliance does education, research, and advocacy to promote the organic seed supply. They have organic seed production courses, as well as resources for education and documentation.  For a condensed version of their resources, check out the A Seed Saving Guide for Gardeners and Farmers.

To be a seed saver is to grow climate-resilient, genetically diverse, and culturally significant seeds for the prosperity of your farm and the farmers of the future.

---

For more reading and information, visit:

For information on seed rights and intellectual property:

https://seedalliance.org/publications/a-guide-to-seed-intellectual-property-rights/ 

MOFGA’s collection of seed-saving resources:

https://www.mofga.org/trainings/gardening/seed-saving/

Lexicon of Sustainability video on seeds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?source_ve_path=Mjg2NjQsMTY0NTAz&v=edu9lfgMt28&feature=youtu.be

Southern Seed Exchange Blogs:

https://blog.southernexposure.com/

This resource was funded in partnership with the Transition to Organic Partnership Program