How to Save Heirloom Seeds

Why is seed saving important? Saving seeds can help gardeners save money, grow better crops and become more self-reliant. Learn how to save heirloom seeds.

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By AdobeStock/EsanIndyStudios

Why is seed saving important? Saving seeds can help gardeners save money, grow better crops and become more self-reliant. Learn how to save heirloom seeds.

When you save your own seeds, you are joining a chain of farmers, gardeners and seed savers that dates back to the Stone Age. All domestic crops were once wild plants that early humans selected to feed themselves or, later, their livestock. Today, gardeners save seeds for many reasons.

  1. Money Savings. Every time you buy a seed variety, you invest in your future. For example, I just bought some expensive ‘Midori Giant’ soybean seed, and I feel better about the high price tag because I know I’ll have the variety as long as I continue saving seeds from my plants. (With soybeans, you simply let the last picking dry on the plant and you have next year’s seed.)
  2. Seed Security. Hundreds of excellent plant varieties have been discontinued as big corporations have consolidated the seed industry and focused on more profitable hybrids. If you save your own seed, however, you control the supply. I save seed for ‘Miragreen’ and ‘Blizzard’ peas, ‘Lutz Green Leaf’ beets, and ‘Scarlet Keeper’ carrots because these varieties all grow well here in Maine but have become difficult to find in seed catalogs.
  • Updated on Dec 7, 2023
  • Originally Published on Nov 2, 2012
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