What is seed saving? Benefits of Saving Seeds

Seed saving is the thoughtful process of collecting and preserving the seeds from your garden so that you can use them again in the following year. While many people today may find it easier to purchase their seeds from the store each and every year, for countless generations in the past, people made the effort to save their own seeds to cultivate their gardens the next growing season. Often times, communities would come together to swap seeds with one another, nurturing not only their gardens but also fostering connections among neighbors, leading to vibrant and thriving local gardens. They didn’t rely on giant catalogs to browse through or long shelves of seeds to choose from; instead, they had to develop and improve the seeds they had through careful selection and cultivation. While the modern convenience of picking seeds from store shelves has its many benefits, it’s important to remember that there are plenty of advantages to saving your own seeds at home. With just a little practice and patience, you can embark on this rewarding journey as well!

Benefits of Saving your own seeds

The questions you may be asking yourself right now are, “Why would I want to save my own seeds?” That is the exact question you should definitely be asking! While it may be tempting to browse through the endless variety of options available in stores, the very best choices for your garden are probably already growing right in your own backyard! By saving your seeds, you not only ensure that you have the most suitable plants for your local environment, but you also embrace the rewarding process of nurturing the unique fruits of your labor.

• Locally Adapted Seeds

  • Plants make small shifts and changes over time to survive and adapt in their current environmental conditions. By utilizing the diverse seeds from your own garden, these plants will already be well-prepared for the specific conditions you provide! This means they will be perfectly primed to not only thrive but also flourish in your unique area, taking into account the local climate, water availability, soil composition, and other important factors.

• Saves Money

  • While seed shopping can be a fun and exciting experience, it can also become quite expensive over time. Luckily, saving seeds from your own garden is essentially a free and rewarding alternative! Just one healthy plant from your garden can often produce hundreds, if not thousands, of seeds. This means you'll have more than enough seeds for many successful gardening seasons to come, plus you'll have the joy of sharing surplus seeds with your friends and local community, fostering a sense of connection and sustainability.

• Good For the Environment

  • Many seeds are cultivated all over the world and imported to the United States, which contributes significantly to the increased use of fossil fuels and generates a substantial amount of packaging waste. By choosing to grow your own seeds, you can play an important role in lowering greenhouse gas emissions and reducing the amount of trash created from one-time-use packaging items. Additionally, it’s worth noting that some seed farms may employ harmful planting techniques that can be detrimental to local ecosystems, leading to further environmental issues.

• Chemical Free Seeds

  • One of the main reasons I grow my own food is so that I can enjoy healthy, chemical-free produce right from my garden. The only way to truly know for sure that your food is free from harmful chemicals is to take the initiative to grow your own food. The same principle applies to seeds! When you grow your own seeds from your garden, you can be confident that they will be free of chemicals as well. This means there will be no lead, glyphosate, or other hazardous toxins present in your plants, allowing you to savor the goodness of nature without any worries!

• Preserve Biodiversity

  • There are hundreds of thousands of incredible varieties of fruits, vegetables, beautiful flowers, and aromatic herbs in the world. And yet, when you browse through seed catalogs or explore the aisles of big box stores, you will often find only a limited selection of varieties available to choose from. This unfortunate situation has resulted in a significant loss of genetic diversity of plants across the globe, which can have serious implications for our ecosystems. By taking the initiative to grow your own unique varieties at home, you are not only enhancing your garden but also potentially preserving the genetic diversity of these vital plants, ensuring that those diverse varieties can continue to thrive for future generations.

• Preserve History and Stories

  • Many plants come with their own unique history and fascinating stories that can enrich our gardening experience. You can take the time to research the extensive history behind numerous heirloom varieties that continue to thrive and exist in gardens today. However, you can also begin creating your very own personal seed story starting today. For example, we have a delightful variety of sweet pea flowers that we lovingly grow each year, known as “Nana’s Sweet Pea Flowers.” These beautiful blooms were one of my late grandmother's favorite flowers, and by planting and nurturing this particular flower, it gives us the joyous reminder of her presence every time the flowers blossom and fill the air with their sweet fragrance.

• Fun!

  • You may encounter a few challenges along the way, however, the incredible journey of seed saving is uniquely personal to you and your garden, and it can truly be a blast! You might accidentally uncover a fascinating new variety or develop a wonderfully disease-resistant plant that thrives in your environment. You never quite know what surprises are coming next, but what you do know for certain is that your favorite varieties of plants will reliably come up every single year! So, take the time to experiment, explore new possibilities, and most importantly, enjoy the process!