If you have gardened for long, you have wanted to store seed for longer periods of time than what can normally be done by sticking the envelopes in a drawer. Perhaps you have purchased more seed than you need. Maybe …
Let’s think about seed companies and seed savers. Occasionally I hear comments from new gardeners which indicate that they consider seed saving to be to be in competition with seed companies or that seed companies are somehow against seed saving. …
Seed saving is a natural extension of gardening. There are lots of reasons to become a seed saver. For one thing, the seed saver gains access to WAY MORE variety, both in garden seeds and unique harvests. Starting out, like …
What is a “double standard tomato?” In Kinds of Tomatoes: What’s Best for You we defined a standard tomato as one which breeds true from seed, generation to generation (“open pollinated” would be a synonym), but there is another kind …
Have you ever been confronted with the question of whether to grow heirloom or hybrid tomatoes? When I hear it, I cringe, yet probably not for the reason(s) you might think. I do have a preference, yet phrasing the question …
If you would like to provoke some really animated discussion in a group of gardeners, just ask for their idea of “the perfect tomato.” I can almost guarantee, if there are five gardeners in the room, they’ll provide you with …
If you love tomatoes in any form and can garden, you’ll probably want to grow some yourself. Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding things to grow in a vegetable or container garden, and if you find you really enjoy …
Barksdale Wax Pole Bean was one of the two first bean varieties I started saving seed from, back in 1984. In 1983 Jerreth’s grand parents obtained the seed from the Claude Barksdale family, who in turn got their seed from …
Beans are probably the main crop which introduces gardeners to seed saving. They show a wonderful diversity in every way imaginable. Some beans have stunningly attractive seed, but bean crosses do sometimes turn up. A cross occurs when one variety …
Gardening is a passion for me. Back to my earliest memories, even before the term was coined, I have loved seed saving. For most of my adult life I have known that I am blessed and cursed “to be a …