Indigenous peoples believe
that we don’t own the seeds, but we borrow them from our children ... so it’s
our responsibility to make sure they’re in really good hands and in good shape
for the generations that follow us.
Do we want seeds that have
been drenched in chemicals? Giant corporations now control most of the seed so
they can sell more of their chemicals and have even managed to copyright some (genetically
modified) seeds so they actually own them.
We need to dispel the myth that somehow shop bought seeds
are better. Let’s preserve seeds and retain them in the commons by using them,
saving them, and passing some on.
Read more articles :
Suitable plants for seed saving
are those that are open pollinated.
Pollination occurs
naturally by wind, insects, birds or animals (including humans) carrying pollen
between the plants and mixing
genes. In some of these self-pollination occurs in flowers with male and female organs in the same flower, such as peas
and tomatoes - so these are nice and easy for seed saving beginners. They are
called inbreeders.
F1 hybrids are
inbred seeds, often clones, which usually
don’t produce viable seed, if they do they may be quite different from the
parent plant.
Heirloom
or heritage seeds have been grown and passed down over many generations.
All heirlooms are open pollinated.
To avoid cross pollination varieties from the same family should not
be grown nearby.
There are detailed descriptions of
various techniques for seedsaving for individual vegetables here and you can
go on a seed saving course here.
However the basic
technique is the same :
Some vegetables such as carrot and leek do not produce a flower in the first year, they are called biennials. To seed save from these you need to lift the mature plant/root at the end of the growing season and store overwinter, replanting in the spring so the plant can form a flower head and produce seed.
Garden Organic has done a survey on seed saving highlighting a demand for more events providing
people with the opportunity to swap seeds and learn more about seed saving.
Norfolk Organic Group offers a seed swap among members at
most of our events as well as a knowledge bank of people who are also happy to
share their experience growing and saving seed.
The Heritage Seed Library publishes
a seed list for members to request seeds that are grown by Seed Guardians and
returned to the library. You can choose from 175 rare and unique heritage
varieties including 79 certified organic.
Places to buy organic seeds :
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
