Saving Saving Resources
Here is a collection of seed saving resource we have found extremely helpful!
We ask that when you bring seed into our Seed Library that you follow certain protocol. We want people who take seed to get what was on the label and we want to protect from passing on disease. The
- Save from healthy plants. Even if a disease does not get passed on through the seed, we do like to have some selection for disease resistance by only saving from healthy, strong plants.
- Save from a number of plants so that the seed has some genetic diversity in it. The quantity that is optimum depends on the type of plant, for self-pollinating plants a minimum of 6 plants is necessary, for cross pollinating you want to save from much a larger population – see seed saving information sheets.
- If the plant cross pollinates you want to make sure you keep it isolated so it stays true. Check with a seed saving chart or book to get isolation distances.
- When you bring seed to share at the Seed Bank please label with as much information as you can.
- We all save seed from a favorite that might not be from a number of plants or isn’t super healthy, or maybe we like some interesting crosses. You are welcome to bring those seeds just make sure you write that down on the label so others know they are participating in your experiment.