"In agriculture and gardening, seed saving is the practice of saving seeds or other reproductive material from vegetables, grain, herbs, and flowers for use from year to year."
Collecting seeds of crops grown from open-pollinated, non-hybrid plants for use in the next planting season, ensuring preservation of genetic diversity and adaptation to local environmental conditions.
Botany: Understanding the structure and functions of plants is essential when saving seeds.
Genetics: Understanding how genes are passed down from parent to offspring helps in understanding seed saving.
Breeding: Knowing how to breed plants selectively to achieve the desired traits is essential when saving seeds.
Crop selection: Choosing the right crops to grow and harvest seeds from is crucial for successful seed saving.
Harvesting techniques: Knowing how to harvest and handle seeds properly is important to ensure optimal seed quality and viability.
Preservation methods: Understanding how to store seeds properly can help preserve seed quality for years to come.
Germination testing: Knowing how to test seed viability before planting is essential to ensure optimal seedling growth.
Seed cleaning: Learning how to clean seeds properly ensures that they are free of debris and contaminants.
Seed packaging and labeling: Proper packaging and labeling help preserve seed quality and ensure that they are identifiable for future use.
Seed exchange networks: Participating in seed exchange networks can help expand seed diversity and preserve traditional agricultural practices.
Seed libraries: Seed libraries provide access to locally adapted and traditional seeds, which can be valuable resources for both beginners and experienced seed savers.
Seed sovereignty: Understanding and advocating for seed sovereignty, or the right of communities and individuals to maintain control over their seeds, is essential for preserving traditional agriculture practices.
Basic Seed Saving: The practice of saving seeds from the previous year's crops for use in the upcoming growing season.
Natural Selection: Seed saved from plants that display the traits that are favorable to the environment or that are best adapted to the climate, soil, and pests. This process leads to plants that are more resilient and resistant to local conditions.
Intergenerational Seed Saving: The practice of saving seeds for the next generations, developing a long-term strategy for seed breeding and saving.
Selection using cultivation practices: Farmers choose to cultivate and save seeds with traits that are desirable through transferring the seeds from the best crops to the next cycle of planting.
Line Breeding: A process of inbreeding where plants with better qualities are selected and saved for growing year after year.
Mass Selection: The practice of selecting individual plants that show the desired traits and save seeds in bulk, allowing natural cross-pollination.
Hybridization: Cross-pollinating two different plants to create a new hybrid plant.
Open-pollination: The practice of allowing plants to pollinate naturally, leading to a mix of different plant traits.
Clonal Propagation: Reproduction of plants by asexual means such as cuttings or grafting, where the new plant will be genetically identical to the parent plant.
Polyculture Seed Saving: A process where a mixture of crops and plants are grown together, having a diverse growing environment, and encouraging biodiversity while saving seeds from various plants.
"Seed saving includes saving seeds from annuals and nuts, tree fruits, and berries for perennials and trees."
"This is the traditional way farms and gardens were maintained for the last 12,000 years."
"Sometimes known as brown bagging"
"There has been a major shift to purchasing seed annually from commercial seed suppliers."
"Much of the grassroots seed-saving activity today is the work of home gardeners."
"Seed saving (sometimes known as brown bagging) is the practice of saving seeds or other reproductive material (e.g. tubers) from vegetables, grain, herbs, and flowers."
"for use from year to year for annuals and nuts, tree fruits, and berries for perennials and trees."
"beginning in the latter part of the 20th century."
"This is the traditional way farms and gardens were maintained for the last 12,000 years."
"The practice of saving seeds or other reproductive material... for use from year to year."
"This is the traditional way farms and gardens were maintained for the last 12,000 years (see first agricultural revolution)."
"In recent decades... there has been a major shift to purchasing seed annually from commercial seed suppliers. Much of the grassroots seed-saving activity today is the work of home gardeners."
"In recent decades... there has been a major shift to purchasing seed annually from commercial seed suppliers."
"In recent decades... there has been a major shift to purchasing seed annually from commercial seed suppliers."
"the practice of saving seeds or other reproductive material... for use from year to year."
"seed saving (sometimes known as brown bagging) is the practice of saving seeds or other reproductive material (e.g. tubers) from vegetables, grain, herbs, and flowers."
"This is the traditional way farms and gardens were maintained for the last 12,000 years."
"Much of the grassroots seed-saving activity today is the work of home gardeners."
"there has been a major shift to purchasing seed annually from commercial seed suppliers."