Saving Vegetable Seeds: Harvest, Clean, Store, and Plant Seeds from Your Garden

by Fern Marshall Bradley

Save vegetable seeds as you harvest so your favorite plants can grow again next season. In this Storey BASICS® guide, Fern Marshall Bradley covers everything you need to know to successfully save seeds from 20 popular garden vegetables, including beans, carrots, peas, peppers, and tomatoes. Learn how each plant is pollinated, where to store your collected seeds through the winter, and how to test their replanting viability in the spring. Now you can grow the delicious varieties you love year after year.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2014

Reviews

[Anna Hillenburg]

Helpful if you are trying to homestead or build a self-sustainable garden. For someone learning how to garden, this was an edifying quick read, but I’m probably not going to put it into practice. Based on this book, it seems impractical to try to save my own seeds while living in the city with limited space and little control over pollination; I think I’m better off trusting heirloom/organic seed companies.

[DelAnne Frazee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Saving Vegetable Seeds - Harvest, Clean, Store, and Plant Seeds from Your Garden
Author: Fern Marshall Bradley
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Published: 6-25-2014
Pages: 96
Genre: Reference
Sub-Genre: Vegetables; Gardening & Horticulture; Techniques
ISBN: 9781612123639
ASIN: B00GU2EMDK
Reviewed For NetGalley and Storey Publishing
Reviewer: DelAnne
Rating: 4.5 Stars


Techniques for the everyday gardener to preserve the seeds. Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Squash, etc. Although the more exotic fruits and vegetables are not included. Which is not a terrible thing as most do not choose to grow them in their gardens.


My rating of "Saving Vegetable Seeds - Harvest, Clean, Store, and Plant Seeds from Your Garden" is 4.5 out of 5 stars.


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[Ligaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less than 90 pages of information on saving seeds. The author has a very basic, direct writing style, with a few illustrations thrown in. I had been saving seeds (haphazardly) for years and this book convinced me that maybe it's okay for me to just buy new seeds when I want and that it's okay to grow hybrid plants, even from seed. I had only been buying heirloom seeds but I wasn't harvesting seed from these plants regularly and I was losing out on the variety of hybrids. In Chapter 3, Saving Seeds, Crop by Crop, I only wish there were more crops included.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great, easy to read beginner's guide.

[Hitesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good Information on Propagation and saving your seeds !!!

[Scott Lupo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect beginners guide to basic skills on saving seeds for the most popular vegetables. Good information.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want it recorded that I’m in my homesteading era

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Saving Vegetable Seeds is another excellent edition in the Storey Basics series of tip books. Each book is around 100 pages, includes line drawings/illustrations, and is written in a friendly and easy to digest manner that is also very informative. I enjoyed this book - especially since I can look forward to saving quite a bit over store bought seed packages and can therefore control my own garden better.

The book breaks down as follows: 1) Getting started with savings seeds (what is a see? Are all seeds worth saving? It's in the genes. Simple seed saving. Coaxing seeds from leaf and root crops). 2) Seed saving techniques (growing great seeds, overwintering biennial crops, harvesting seeds, cleaning and drying seeds, storing seeds, testing seed viability). 3) Saving seeds, crop by crop (beans, carrots, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, melons, watermelons, onions and leeks, peas, peppers, radishes, squash, tomatoes). All the Storey Basics books have resources at the back for more information.

The book breaks down seeds and fertilization science, helping to provide the information needed to tell good from bad seeds. As well, troubling issues with gardens (especially community gardens) such as cross pollination and hybrids are discussed. Tougher seed collecting, as with a plant like a carrot that only produces seeds after the second year and have to be 'winterized' indoors, is given careful consideration. Germinating, testing, pollinating, cleaning, storing, saving - everything the reader needs to ensure a good viable seed in Spring is covered.

The illustrations are easy to follow and especially useful at the second half of the book, where seed collecting of individual plants are discussed. At 96 pages, there is just the right balance of information, without fluff, to ensure this is both a quick reference and also a useful read.

I am looking forward to using all these techniques and new knowledge with this year's garden.

Reviewed from an ARC.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Saving Vegetable Seeds is another excellent edition in the Storey Basics series of tip books. Each book is around 100 pages, includes line drawings/illustrations, and is written in a friendly and easy to digest manner that is also very informative. I enjoyed this book - especially since I can look forward to saving quite a bit over store bought seed packages and can therefore control my own garden better.

The book breaks down as follows: 1) Getting started with savings seeds (what is a see? Are all seeds worth saving? It's in the genes. Simple seed saving. Coaxing seeds from leaf and root crops). 2) Seed saving techniques (growing great seeds, overwintering biennial crops, harvesting seeds, cleaning and drying seeds, storing seeds, testing seed viability). 3) Saving seeds, crop by crop (beans, carrots, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, melons, watermelons, onions and leeks, peas, peppers, radishes, squash, tomatoes). All the Storey Basics books have resources at the back for more information.

The book breaks down seeds and fertilization science, helping to provide the information needed to tell good from bad seeds. As well, troubling issues with gardens (especially community gardens) such as cross pollination and hybrids are discussed. Tougher seed collecting, as with a plant like a carrot that only produces seeds after the second year and have to be 'winterized' indoors, is given careful consideration. Germinating, testing, pollinating, cleaning, storing, saving - everything the reader needs to ensure a good viable seed in Spring is covered.

The illustrations are easy to follow and especially useful at the second half of the book, where seed collecting of individual plants are discussed. At 96 pages, there is just the right balance of information, without fluff, to ensure this is both a quick reference and also a useful read.

I am looking forward to using all these techniques and new knowledge with this year's garden.

Reviewed from an ARC.

[Aly Abell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many gardeners, I have been growing vegetables for years but never have experimented seriously with saving seeds. The only plant from which I have regularly saved seeds is molokhia, a green leafy vegetable related to okra. The seed-containing pods hang so prominently on the molokhia plant, practically begging to be picked. For any other plant, saving seeds just seemed to be more trouble than it is worth.

Saving Vegetable Seeds by Fern Marshall Bradley takes the mystery out of seed saving. The author starts with a brief overview of why you would want to consider saving seeds, along with the basics of plant reproduction so that you can understand why the process is somewhat different for various types of plants. The overview is followed by a section on general techniques for seed-saving. The text is accompanied by very clear and helpful illustrations that show exactly how to do such things as hand pollination of squash flowers and winnowing to separate collected seeds from chaff.

The final main section consists of detailed advice on specific vegetable crops. The author does not cover every single obscure vegetable but focuses instead on the most popular vegetable crops that account for the majority of what is grown in most home gardens in temperate climes. Bradley includes both “easy” and “challenging” plants, so a gardener can choose to start with the easier plants for seed saving and move on in subsequent years to those that are more difficult.

The book is short enough that you can quickly read it cover to cover. I read most of it during a single short plane ride. Despite the short length, the book contains plenty of content and detail that will call you to pick up the book frequently for reference as you start on your first seed saving project. Reading the book will motivate you to do exactly that; the book makes seed saving seem to be a very reasonable project rather than an esoteric art. I recommend Saving Vegetable Seed for anyone who has been interested in saving seeds but has thought that it would be too bothersome.

I received an advanced reading copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. See my full review at http://wyrtwizard.blogspot.com/2014/0...

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saving Vegetable Seeds: Harvest, Clean, Store, and Plant Seeds from Your Garden was a short read, but filled with all the basic information you'll really need to start saving seeds from your garden. Author Fern Marshall Bradley broke the entire process down by separating the steps into these three chapters: Getting Started with Saving Seeds; Seed-Saving Techniques; and Saving Seeds, Crop by Crop.

All the basics of seeds are identified and defined in the beginning of the book, such as the cross section of a seed, the parts of a flower and how seeds form from them, and self-pollinating vs. cross-pollinating crops. In the seed saving chapter, she walks the reader through her five steps of seed saving: taking care of your plants; harvesting the seeds; cleaning and drying the seeds; packing and storing; and testing viability. Included is how to control pollination (important in open-pollinated types of vegetables), and how to hand pollinate.

Probably the most helpful for me as a gardener was how to test seed viability. I've saved lots of seeds from my garden over the years, but doing a test on the seeds viability was something I've never done. The vegetables Bradley details are beans, carrots, corn, cucumbers, lettuce, melons and watermelons, onions and leeks, peas, peppers, radishes, squash, and tomatoes.

Handy book if you are planning on doing some seed saving, with the varieties she details.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a beginning vegetable gardener and I found this book to be very helpful and informative. I had no idea how much I did not know about saving vegetable seeds. I learned that some plants like carrots only make seeds the second year so you have to leave them in the garden and put mulch around them or move them to someplace where they won't freeze if you live in the north so that they will grow the second year and produce seeds. Some seeds have to be fermented and some plants need to be hand-pollinated and some plants should be planted separate from others or they will cross-pollinate and you won't get good seeds from them. The book is well written and the directions are simple enough for even a beginner to understand. I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being an intermediate level gardener, I probably wouldn't be choosing this book for myself. That's why I decided to review this when I had the chance. It hadn't been that long ago when I was just getting my hands dirty in the garden. I wish I had this information available then, I might have been able to avoid some early mistakes.
The book is laid out very well and follows a logical path through the seed saving process. The illustrations add to the text and help visualize some concepts that might be foreign to those just starting out.
All in all it's a good starter book and something to be referenced back to as your skills improve. Even those of us who think we know what we are doing should be reviewing and brushing up on our techniques, or looking for new ones.
Happy Saving!

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive and reader-friendly book about, well, saving vegetable seeds. I have been a seed-saver for quite a few years, but still learned a lot from this book, including hints on how to avoid cross-pollination (unfortunately, for many plants this would be almost impossible for urban gardeners), and a primer on plant reproduction, plant parts, and identifying male/female flowers. I suspect most of this was taught in 10th-grade biology, but if, like me, you were surreptitiously playing poker using M&Ms as chips in the back of the classroom, you can probably use a refresher course.

I received an ARC of this book from netgalley.

[Cheryl Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that after reading this very informative book, that I will be better prepared to preserve seeds with next year's garden. I am a beginner at gardening and it just makes sense to learn to save vegetable seeds. There is more involved with saving seeds than I expected but it will not be difficult to try. The pictures in this book are very clear and directions are easy to follow. I recommend keeping this book on-hand for reference when it is time.

Received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. That is rare because I never say I enjoy reading a book. Right. Wrong. I like plants. And I wanted to know more about how to save vegetable seeds and I believe this book helped me learn more. I like the last chapter that talks about how to save different types of vegetable seed. It was fun to learn how many plants I need to save seed from a particular variety of vegetable.
Now all I need to do is grow the plants.

[Katelyn Bolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice easy read for anyone looking to up their gardening game and store their own seeds. Goes through easy, moderate, and challenging seeds to harvest and includes visual diagrams when necessary. I would recommend to the intermediate level gardener.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So informative, so EASY to understand! I felt very daunted at the prospect of harvesting my own seeds, but after reading this book I'm just so excited to give it a try.

[Amy]

Informative, little and easy to read, I would own this.