Seed Saving Fundamentals | Establish a Legacy
About the Author: Jeremy Starke
I've been growing vegetables since I was 12 — over 30 years in the dirt. I share what actually works in my own Zone 6b garden, and what I wish someone had told me when I started.
Zone 6b · North Carolina · Gardening since age 12Saving seeds is a skill that is as old as man cultivating the lands for survival. The bible has many parables about seed saving and sowing all throughout it. You know that having your own supply packet of seeds is definitely a good practice of preparedness. Are you really prepared enough though?
Acquiring your own supply of survival seeds in your storage is a start. It is vital & beneficial to learn the skills of saving seeds for your long term survival. You will want to practice this skill each year in order to forge this as one of your tools for survival.
Learning this will guarantee that you know what to do if called upon. You might even get some prize-winning tomatoes out of it.
Basic of Seed Saving
Understanding the basics of these methods will help you to get a better grasp on the steps you need to do to save seeds. First, you have to be able to discern the difference in the types of seeds that you want to acquire and ultimately grow. You also want to know how to store them for long term survival.
Let’s start with some base knowledge of what you need to know and walk you through the steps to get started with this practice:
Open-Pollinated vs Hybrid Seeds
You might have heard a number of different terms when people talk about seeds. This is an important topic that will help you distinguish what type of seeds you want to start in your collection. Get this wrong and your next batch of plants will flounder and most certainly not be viable.
- Open-pollinated – Plants that start from an open-pollinated variety and either self-pollinate or are pollinated by another plant of the same variety, will produce seeds identical to their parental plants. Simply put, this is the type of seeds that you want to acquire. These seeds are pure and untainted by science.
- Heirloom – This term refers to seeds that have been passed down from generation to generation. Typically, these are at least 50 years old varieties, so they have stood the test of time. These types of seeds are all open-pollinated in nature, so they are safe to grow for seed saving.
- Non-GMO – This refers to Non-Genetically Modified Organism. Some seed advertisers have adopted this terminology, but it generally means the same as open-pollinated. These are also pure seeds
- Hybrid – These types of seeds must be avoided altogether if you want to save seeds. Plants grown of this variety were cross-pollinated. Therefore, planting the offspring seeds will not produce the same as parental plants. You may get plants that never flower or other unwanted qualities. Avoid them like the plague. The seed packets may have an F1 or possibly some other hybrid terminology in the names of it.
Vegetable Planting & Growing Techniques
We won’t delve too deep into this topic, but certainly, check out our gardening site & resources for more information about growing vegetables. It is still important to seize & adapt a few of these important concepts correctly in order to be successful in saving seeds.
- Make sure that your plants have fully matured. Knowing the maturation dates will help you to figure out when the plant seeds are ready to collect. Begin to check the plants for signs of seeds forming. Some plants may change color or the fruiting part may bulge significantly. Other plants will flower and you’ll start to see signs of decay.
- Ensure that you collect seeds from your best-performing plants. Remember, “survival of the fittest” is an important natural selection method. It is best to avoid saving seeds from plants that did not fruit well unless it is a survival situation.
- Seed Cleaning is the practice of drying your seeds and removing any plant matter from the seeds prior to storing them. This is important for long term storage of your seeds
Hopefully, you learned that you need to add seed saving to your toolkit. It is not a complicated skill to learn and if done right will also save you money at the market each year if you highly adopt this.
Saving seeds is also preserving our past and ensuring the survival for generations to come. Check out our post here on saving tomato seeds if you want to start with an easy vegetable seed to save.
Meet Jeremy Starke
I've been growing vegetables since I was 12 — over 30 years in the dirt. I share what actually works in my own Zone 6b garden, and what I wish someone had told me when I started.
Zone 6b · North Carolina · Gardening since age 12 Read My Story →Frequently Asked Questions
What is seed saving?
Collecting seeds from your own plants to replant next season. It saves money, preserves favorite varieties, and adapts plants to your garden over time.
What is the difference between open-pollinated and hybrid seeds?
Open-pollinated seeds grow true to the parent, so they're ideal for saving, while hybrid (F1) seeds don't reliably reproduce the parent's traits. Save from open-pollinated and heirloom plants.
How do you store saved seeds?
Dry them thoroughly, then keep them in labeled envelopes or jars somewhere cool, dark, and dry. A fridge works well for long-term storage.
