At one time, seed saving was a necessity. Gardeners and farmers carefully selected and stored the best seeds from their harvests, ensuring they had seed for planting in subsequent years. The knowledge of pollination, purity, harvesting and storage of seeds was all part of survival and learned within the family and community.

The rise of commercially available seed resulted in a trend away from seed saving. Farmers and gardeners simply purchased new seed every year. Growing concern regarding the loss of commercially available seed offerings however, led to a grass-roots movement in the late 70’s and early 80’s dedicated to seed saving.

Today, recognition of the importance of crop genetic diversity is exemplified by the many local, regional and national efforts devoted to conserving the heirloom, traditional varieties that were once so prevalent. For both home gardeners and seed bank operators, the fundamentals are the same in terms of saving seed and maintaining purity. What follows are some basics to get you started saving seeds.

A healthy agriculture can only take place within nature and in co-operation with its processes, not in spite of it and not by ‘conquering’ it.

– Wendell Berry, from A Continuous Harmony

Successful gardening depends on utilizing what nature has provided. While there are basic tenets that hold regardless of the environment in which you’re gardening, certain approaches and techniques are unique to different environments. What it takes to garden successfully in Seattle differs from Boston, which differs from Tucson. If you’re familiar with gardening in humid climates, you will quickly discover `that many of those practices no longer work well in the desert.