Planting a garden may just be the most exciting part of the growing process. Whether it is your first time or your twenty-fifth season, the anticipation of fresh spring greens emerging in your backyard never gets old. As you browse through plant catalogs and uncountable wonders of seed suppliers making your necessaryheirloom seedpurchases, you may begin to feel overwhelmed. Where and how do you get started collecting garden seeds as you embrace a self-reliant life?
Choosing Garden Seeds
当然，在你保存第一轮种子之前，你必须种植一些植物。一种方法是从商店购买园艺种子。它们通常是纸或塑料包装的，适合较小的花园。Always read the labels and be aware that some seeds may be treated with fungicides, and others may behybridsthat will not produce seeds but you can save for future use.
Hybrid plants are created by crossbreeding specific parent plants and as a result, their offspring are often sterile. Although the saved seeds may germinate the following season,they will not be true-to-typeand will be less vigorous.
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Avoid the previously mentioned treated seeds and hybrids at all costs and save yourself trouble in the future. It is far better to learn how to save your own open-pollinated seeds and preserve tasty varieties for generations to come. Plus, the harvest from your garden will be far superior (and diverse!) compared to anything you can buy from the store.
你不需要在商店里购买种子，你通常可以在种子交易所找到或交换花园种子——种子交易所主要是指可以在当地种植的植物。在当地市场，你可以按重量或一小杯购买。这是一个好迹象，当种子可以收集和传递-一个小小的种子的力量，它养活我们年复一年。
Heirloom and non-GMO seedscan also be purchased online from reliable growers.
Why You Should Choose Heirloom Seeds
Plants in nature always make their own seeds in hopes that they will drop to the ground, be carried off by the wind or by birds, and come to life again when the season is right. Saving your own heirloom seeds will save you money in the long run as you only have to buy them once. You can amass hundreds of seeds in one season, and share them with other gardeners to start a seed bank of your own.
Saving heirloom seeds alsopreserves genetic diversity. In a world of abundance, diversity is king. In the past century, we have been slowly losing bountiful varieties of heirloom seeds, and we desperately need this genetic diversity to overcome plant diseases, drought, and climate change, as well as providing food security for ourselves. We must accept the decision to become self-reliant and self-sufficient, rather than relying on corporations to feed us in the future.
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Heirloom varieties will adapt to your unique soil and garden conditions. Seeds do well when they grow in similar environmental conditions from one year to the next. For example, if you order seeds from a company that doused the plants with water, they may not do so well in your arid garden. With open-pollinated heirloom varieties, you can learn how to select your own best seeds, and pick through them for certain desirable traits.
How To Save Garden Seeds
Sowing seeds is a satisfying process. Watching them germinate is a whole other feeling of success. Collecting them, however, is an enlightening experience. As you plant your garden and save your seeds, you will also want to take into consideration the effects of cross-pollination.
This can sometimes be a good thing as you will end up with color variations within the same crop. Other times you will want to preserve a specific trait, in which case, you may need to isolate crops either by increasing the planting distance or by using covers.
Entire books are dedicated to saving seeds, so for the specifics about herbs, flowers, and vegetables, dive into an encyclopedia and gather the knowledge for individual plants. In order to become an excellent seed saver, you’ll want to find out how long every seed is viable and the best ways to preserve their variety.
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As the gardening season progresses, you will inevitably note that some plants are more vigorous than others. Those are the ones you will want to save. Mark the plant with a tie to remember which one it was, because as they age you may just forget!
When To Save Seeds
Seeds are collected when plants reach maturity, and this time will differ from plant to plant.
Wet Seeds
Seeds from tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, melons, and cucumbers are consideredwet seedsand are best gathered when the fruit is overripe. Allow zucchini seeds to mature inside an almost inedible casing — watch for those prize-winning enormous ones!
As for English and pickling cucumbers, they will need to be beyond the stage of eating, and almost to the point of turning yellow, for the seed to be totally mature. Leave it to sit an extra month in the garden and enjoy the sun before bringing it in to scrape out the seeds.
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Tomato seeds are a special case; they can be fermented, dried on a paper towel, or buried. In this last case, let the tomato rot on the ground, or bury it an inch or two under the soil and cover it with mulch. Volunteer tomatoes will emerge the following spring, just like magic.
Dry Seeds
另一方面，干种子通常来自于形成心皮的植物。从莳萝到豆类、豌豆、罂粟，再到胡萝卜种子、金盏花和香菜。保存种子的经验会告诉你的手指，在你安全储存种子之前，种子应该保留多少水分。当你想到香料架上的香草时，让你的直觉发挥作用。
他们是吵闹的吗?它们会在你的手指间碎裂吗?你能从手掌吹出它们吗?如果是这样，它们就可以手工采摘了。为了确保它们干燥，你可以把它们放在远离太阳的室内陶瓷板上晒几天。
Saving Garlic
Garlicshould be a staple in your diet and in your pantry, and it is so easy to grow! If you want to save your own for planting the following growing season, all you have to do is dry it out and wait. It’s a little more complex than that, but the most important part is curing the garlic properly.
This means that storing garlic in a cool, airy place, away from both sun and rain is required. Entire heads can be dried out on a wire mesh, though we’ve had the most success with hanging it up to dry. Braid your softneck garlic and trim the roots. Leave it to hang in low temperatures (like those of a pantry) throughout the winter, and take a head for kitchen use when necessary.
How To Store Your Saved Seeds
Flowers are an essential part of any garden, big or small, because they provide habitat and food for beneficial insects. Seeds from flowers can often be stored as is. Remove the individual seeds only when you are ready to plant. Otherwise, they can be stored in a glass jar throughout the winter.
把种子放在阴凉、黑暗、温度稳定的地方，它们生存的机会很大。在储存之前一定要确保种子足够干燥。虽然它们可以储存在冰箱(密封容器中)，但只要湿度水平不剧烈波动，最好尊重自然的方式。
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Find a pest-free spot in your homestead and store them in glass jars, cloth bags, or paper sachets, and remember as you’re doing it, you are engaging in a survival activity.
确保所有的种子都贴上植物品种名称和收获日期的标签。虽然大多数种子有独特的形状、颜色或气味，但许多看起来很像!卷心菜或大头菜，韭菜或洋葱——只有在它开始生长之前，你才能从标签上区分它们的区别。
Seed saving experience comes with time, so challenge yourself to save more and more, season after season. It is worth every bit of effort that goes into it.
Saving seeds is fun and rewarding. Get growing, and start collecting and sharing the knowledge too!
Resources
Cheryl Magyar is an environmental freelance writer and sustainable life designer with a passion for growing food locally and organically — meat and vegetables alike. She lives with her husband and homeschooled daughter in the hills of northern Romania. Without a car, a fridge, or running water on their homestead, they have come to love the ways of old, and embrace sustainability. Read more of their stories and poems inspired by the environment atForest Creek Meadows.
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