As we’ve seen in recent years, securing seeds for gardening has become a challenge, especially in times of crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. During spring 2020, seed demand surged, leading to shortages in stores and online suppliers struggling to keep up. This surge in gardening interest, driven by the desire for food security and a source of entertainment or exercise, left many people scrambling for seeds. While things have calmed down since then, if another major crisis hits, we could face similar difficulties in obtaining seeds. For this reason, it’s wise to consider seed saving as a proactive step toward ensuring a reliable, home-grown food supply.
Why Save Seeds?
Saving your own seeds is a practical way to ensure a consistent seed supply, independent of external sources. By saving seeds from open-pollinated varieties (as opposed to hybrids), you guarantee that the seeds will reproduce true to the original plant, giving you reliable results year after year. Unlike hybrids, which are bred from two parent plants and may produce unpredictable offspring, open-pollinated seeds, also known as heirloom seeds, will consistently yield the same plant variety when saved.
Before you start saving seeds, check the seed packet for the variety’s status. Hybrid varieties will have “F1” marked after the name, indicating that they are a first-generation cross that will not reproduce true to form. Open-pollinated varieties, on the other hand, will breed true every time.
Isolation for Successful Seed Saving
One of the most important aspects of seed saving is ensuring that plants do not cross-pollinate with other varieties. Cross-pollination can lead to unexpected and undesirable traits in future crops. This is especially true for plants that are pollinated by insects, wind, or even other plants in different gardens. To avoid unwanted cross-pollination, you’ll need to consider isolation distances and methods.
For self-pollinating plants like tomatoes, beans, peas, and lettuce, cross-pollination is less of a concern. A simple isolation distance of 10 feet (3 meters) from other varieties will usually suffice. However, for wind-pollinated crops like beets and spinach, which can have pollen carried over long distances, you’ll need to take additional precautions. Insect-pollinated plants like leeks, carrots, and onions require more careful handling, such as enclosing them in protective netting or bagging individual flowers to prevent unwanted pollination.
Know Your Plant’s Pollination Needs
It’s crucial to know which plants can cross-pollinate with each other. For example, celery and celeriac can cross, as can beets and Swiss chard. Squash varieties, depending on the species, may also cross within their genus. Even wild relatives like Queen Anne’s Lace can cross with cultivated carrots, which makes managing your plant varieties more complex.
Seed Storage Life
Once you’ve successfully saved seeds, it’s important to store them properly to maintain their viability. Many seeds, if stored in cool, dry conditions, can last for several years. For example, seeds from crops like squash can be stored for up to six years, while seeds from root vegetables like parsnips, leeks, onions, and shallots should be saved every other year to maintain freshness. Understanding the expected lifespan of seeds can help you plan your seed-saving strategy to reduce costs and ensure a sustainable seed supply.
Seed Storage Lifespan for Common Vegetables
- Parsnips: 2 years
- Leeks, onions, shallots: 2 years
- Peppers: 3 years
- Sweet corn: 3 years
- Beans (fava, green, runner): 4 years
- Peas: 4 years
- Tomatoes: 5 years
- Eggplant, beets, Swiss chard, cucumber: 5 years
- Lettuce: 6 years
- Brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, kale, etc.): 6 years
- Carrot, celery, celeriac: 6 years
- Squash (winter, summer, pumpkin): 6 years
By saving seeds, you can secure a steady supply of home-grown produce, even in uncertain times. Remember, every seed saved not only ensures your own food security but also helps build resilience within your gardening community.
Do you have any seed-saving tips or stories from your own gardening experience? Share them below and help others learn how to safeguard their food supply through seed saving.