Blog Post: A More Focused Approach to Seed Saving

[macmex]

This is a blog post I did for Homesteading Edu. It's been the most popular post I've done to date. Since Homesteading Edu is no more, I'll post it here.




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 many new seed savers, I was enamored with the huge selection of interesting varieties available. Soon I maxed out my ability to maintain what I had and became frustrated. Over time I adopted a more focused approach to seed saving, which I call “drilling down.”

“Drilling down” means I focus on fewer varieties.

I do limit myself on how many varieties I grow. Humanly speaking, I can’t grow them all, and I’ve also discovered that with too many varieties to maintain, there is a “law of diminishing returns” in regards to the pleasure obtained. After a point I can’t really enjoy what I’m growing if I’m stretched too thinly. When I’m too stretched I also struggle to be organized and do a good job of maintaining seed purity, etc.

“Drilling down” means I really focus on those varieties.

I put in larger plantings of the varieties I do grow and I get to eat a higher percentage of the harvest.  I keep track of things like size of leaf, flower color, days to flower and to seed, flavor and texture as well as quirks in growth habit. One thing I really enjoy is to go out to a planting and write down all the observations I can, as I slowly inspect the plants. Also, I take lots of photos. By doing this I often observe details I would normally miss due to lack of time. Then, I take time to compile my observations.

It took me more than 35 Years to Recognize some Key Characteristics of an Heirloom Bean.

Here’s a Summary of Why I Prefer a More Focused Approach to Seed Saving

• There is an overwhelmingly large selection of varieties, too many for me to master.
• Native pollinators appear to be on the increase in our garden and cross pollination is more of a problem.
• Life’s pace isn’t slowing down, and I don’t need the garden to add to the stress.
• I’ve come to realize that relatively few will treasure those varieties I’ve come to love, so I better do it.
• Heirlooms get better with age. It’s true. They may come to me with a history, but if I keep them long enough I add to their history.



Tomato Rocky came to my family when I was a kid. It already had a history, but I’ve added to it.

The Story of Tomato Rocky

• I enjoy “the quiet life.” Why not learn contentment and the appreciation of what I already have, instead of constantly pursuing more?
• I like being “the world’s expert” on a given variety! It’s not hard to become that, if one “drills down” on a lesser known variety. Remember, “lesser known” isn’t necessarily “inferior,” it’s just not          as well known.

Ron Cook “drilled down” on okra seed, inherited from his grandmother. The result was Heavy Hitter, perhaps the best okra variety ever grown.

Lengthy Thread with the History of Heavyhitter Okra

[glen]

Very good article George. I think that the drilling down concept is pretty sound. I am in the process of trying to find out what variety's of peppers I want to drill down with. Or, focus on. Once I do there will be only a few variety's that I will consistantly grow. My yard is so small that I have no choice but to drill down. In your case, you may have to rethink your drill down approach once you retire. You will have a lot more time on your hands. I grow plants solely for the enjoyment of it. If I can I like growing a lot of variety if the seed is available to me.
For me, It is solely about the fun of it. As long as it is fun for me and I am able, I will have my little backyard garden. Slowly but surely I am narrowing down my keepers and getting rid of the losers. If gardening ever quits being fun I will stop doing it altogether. I doubt that will ever happen.

[macmex]

Well, actually, taking this approach doesn't necessarily mean that a person grows only a few varieties, just not as many as they might if they weren't trying to be more focused. I can't say that I put this kind of focus on every variety, every year. But for the last 10 years, at least, I have selected a couple varieties to really focus on, taking notes and photos... documenting all that I can. I can't do this with every variety I have, every year.

Blogging has restrictions. If one uses too many words they get a poor rating by Google. If they stray outside the chosen topic they get a poor rating. I'm not complaining, as it does teach one some very good skills for writing, but there are more things I'd liked to have said in the blog. Those things would have gone in have to go in the comments afterwards.

Another point which I didn't make, but which is pertinent, is that my preference for focusing doesn't mean that I don't appreciate those seed savers who are big collectors. There's definitely a place for that. But, I would say that's kind of a special calling. The average "garden Joe" who collects tons of varieties will end up with a crossed up mess and... a few years down the linemost will either be gone or crossed up. But I've known (and still know) some amazing seed savers with great organizational skills, space, resources and the ability to keep everything straight. One I know has something like 5 freezers, all loaded with labeled seeds.

The thing I would miss, if I did this kind of approach would be growing my old friends every year. This year, for instance, I didn't plant Tennessee Cutshort, so as to have more space for other varieties. I felt a "hole" in my garden, all summer, because of it.  

[glen]

George, you should do more blogging right here on this forum. We have no restrictions. And, we like you so we are going to be very forgiving as far as how many words you use in a particular posting. Blogging, like gardening, should be fun. If it is not fun, why do it? And, gardening is a hobby that should be for everyone. If you want to only grow a couple of variety's of veggy's forever, then why not? Its your garden. Its your hobby. As you said, there is room for all of us in this hobby. We can't learn everything about gardening in one lifetime. So, do what you would like and grow what makes you happy. For me, I want to grow something unique if possible in my garden. If I can buy it in the super market, why grow it? Thats just me. I am a seed saver, because I cannot buy seed. Not because I feel responsible for preserving a variety for humanity. Thats too much responsibility. Gardening isn't for every one. It should be though.   And, seed saving, although it presents its challenges, is fun.  That makes it worth while on its own.

[macmex]

There is a place both for blogging and for this forum, and fortunately, they contribute to each other. Homesteading Edu was "my other job," it was not only started to help people with skills necessary to live better, more healthy and economically, but also as a long term means of employment and income for Jerreth, Emily, myself, and Chris and Flea Christensen. We actually make nothing on the blogging (zip), but it is an integral part of the website. The courses are designed to generate some income. But the blogs not only generate interest in the website, they also provide material for internal links used in our courses. It's complicated, but search engines have criteria which determine how visible a website is, to those who are looking for such material. Internal and External links, within web pages, not only enhance their utility, they also amplify their availability.

Green Country Seed Savers has become my #1 favorite source for external links. I link to our posts all the time, and what's happening is that Green Country Seed Savers is also beginning to boom, as the benefits work both ways. People far and wide read the links to Green Country Seed Savers and drop in here.

Even as administrator, Proboards doesn't give me the ability to do some of the things which would promote the forum. But I could do it through Homesteading Edu.

It was a long, hard journey, getting Homesteading Edu up and running. We worked at it for 7 years. Jerreth studied, completed, and obtained a master's degree in online instructional design, applying what she learned to Homesteading Edu. We had had to pay for that degree as well as a multitude of components and services required to get the website up and running. I would say that our net profit, at the 5 or 6 year mark was somewhere around negative $4K, not counting the cost of the master's degree. 

It was a labor of love.  

Having said that, the amount of work involved in doing a single blog is pretty great. I'm doing well to do a blog a week. And, I can't even copy what I've done and paste it here. It simply won't work. So, I try pasting the links to the blogs here, where we can discuss them, as well. Then, some other day, perhaps, I will find it handy to post the link from here, into a course or blog, over there. 

[glen]

I have to agree that this blog has bloomed. Thanx for all the good work George.

[macmex]

This thread was kind of messed up and unreadable. I just fixed it and thought I'd bump it back up. The topic is actually pretty important for seed savers. New seed savers are prone to acquire  immense collections of seed before they finally realize that they can't properly maintain them. There are a couple of ways to deal with larger collections:

1) Keep the seeds frozen and only grow a limited number each year.
2) Expand your garden, in many cases because of isolation requirements, multiply gardens.
3) Reduce the number of varieties grown.

I find with the first option that after a point it's almost like not having a variety. Either I'm going to grow it or not and after four or five years I feel that I lose touch with a variety. Still, freezing is a great option for long term storage and maintenance of rare varieties.

In the second scenario I have noted that my time, space and energy is limited. Even before reaching the point of collapse, I lose quality control. (There are some seed savers who chronically send out crossed seed because they are aiming too high, regarding number of varieties they maintain.


The third option is really ideal. Though there is the shortcoming that we don't have enough seed savers to spread all the varieties around adequately. We need to multiply seed savers!

[hmoosek]

I need to do this myself. I’m always searching for some unknown variety. Seed collecting can become an addiction. There’s no way under the sun a person can grow all the varieties out there. I learned that sometimes back, but I couldn’t stop collecting. This year I cut way back and actually didn’t miss (much) a big garden. Well, I actually did miss it, but I found other interest. My porch tomatoes were fun, till the wind blew them off the porch that is. Grrrrrr.

I have this old truck we don’t drive, so I put them on the tailgate and when we are expecting wind, I push them into the bed of the truck and close the tailgate. Works pretty good for smaller sized tomatoes.

My beans are another issue. I need to get them in the ground somehow. I think they would do better. They seem to grow fair, but it’s still hard keeping them from drying out between waterings.

I used to be worlds worse about buying packages of seeds from the dollar store when they were .10 a packages. Seeds I “thought” I might grow “someday.” I have a big box of decade old seeds from cabbages, Spinach, Flowers, shucks I don’t know what all I have in that box. They weren’t kept in a freezer because there’s only so much space for both seed and food.

It’s a sickness !

[heavyhitterokra]

I'm the same way. Who knows how many times I've bought seeds for 10 cents per package in the Fall of the year, just to forget what I did with them over the Winter months. I keep telling my wife, "As far as hobbies go, that's still cheaper than a bass boat or a bird dog and a 12 ga. shotgun."

[hmoosek]

Ain’t that the truth