Growing your own garden seed year after year is sustainable, self reliant, satisfying and a big money saver. I am proud to say that I have not purchased seeds for over 20 years now. It took research and years of trial and error to learn how to grow my own garden seeds.
Some seeds are easy to grow, like beans for instance. If you grow beans, you already have next years seed – just let the beans dry on the plant. It’s the same story with corn: Once you have grown corn, all you need to do is to let the corn dry on the plant to get seed for next year.
In order to grow your own seed, it’s best to start with heirloom or open pollinated seeds. Heirloom seeds have been reproducing the natural way for hundreds of years and are sustainable for growing your own seed.
Use no less than twelve plants to grow any one kind of seed. If you use just one or two plantsĀ for seed each year, the gene pool will not be diverse enough to sustain good quality offspring. In other words, your seeds will become inbred. I have done this and it seems ok at first, but as the years go by, the plants get smaller and weaker until finally, they just fail. So always use as many specimens as you can.
Something else to look out for is cross pollination. Any two plants that are related will cross pollinate, giving you a hybrid seed – which you don’t want. Some plants are related that you might not ever suspect. Here is a quick grocery list of a few related plants that will cross:
- spinach and beets will cross
- any kind of squash or pumpkin will cross with each other
- cucumber and watermelon will cross
- cabbage, kale, turnip, mustard, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, collard greens, arugula, kohlrabi, napa cabbage, savoy cabbage, rutabaga, and radish are all related to each other and will cross pollinate: making seeds of some freakish formation of the two plants that cross.
Any one set of the above groups of plants will cross pollinate with each other. On the other hand, you also have plants that are self pollinating. Even though these plants might be related to their neighbors, it won’t matter. Self pollinating plants do not rely on insects or wind and will not cross pollinate unless you force them to cross by hand. Plants like tomatoes, peppers, beans and peas will not cross and it’s ok to grow different varieties in the same space.
Some plants such as corn will produce seeds in the same season, while others take two or three years to produce seeds. Below is a list of links to my quick and easy YouTube tutorial videos on how to grow your own seeds for several different plants. I invite you to check these out if you are curious and would like to learn more about growing your own seeds. Enjoy!
How to Grow Carrot Seeds – Part 1
How to Grow Carrot Seeds – Part 2
How to Grow Beet Seeds – Part 1
How to Grow Beet Seeds – Part 2
How to Grow Cabbage Seeds – Part 1
How to Grow Cabbage Seeds – Part 2
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