Join Seed Savers Exchange and South Sioux City Public Library on learning how to incorporate a Seed Saving program into your library. Seed Savers Exchange will talk about basic seed saving skills and Herman’s Garden (a seed donation program). The South Sioux City Library will talk about their program and also materials you can add to your collection. Speakers: Grant Olson, Seed Savers Exchange; Dave Mixdorf, Director, South Sioux City Public Library.
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2. What is a Seed Saving Library?
• A place where members of the community
can check out or swap seeds.
• A place for educational classes on gardening
and sustainability issues.
• A collection of materials that will assists
patrons on how to grow their own food and
become more self-sufficient.
• An opportunity for like-minded people to
meet and discuss current issues.
4. You would no more think of
getting rid of a copy of---
Charles Dickens-
A Tale of Two
Cities
5. But every year we loose more and
more varieties of fruits, vegetables,
and field crops.
Watermelon
Radish
6. • This loss of varieties translates into lower genetic
variability in our food plants.
• Lower variability means lower adaptability to
stresses such as disease or climate change.
• Each time a seed variety is lost, we lose another
chance to feed ourselves in a world of changing
climate and shrinking resources.
• (http://howtosaveseeds.com/whysave.php)
7. Just five biotech giants
• Monsanto
• Syngenta,
• Bayer,
• Dow
• DuPont
8. Since the 1990’s the
five companies have
bought up more than
200 other companies
to dominate our
access to seeds.
9. That is where Seed Saving
Libraries can help.
• The basic idea is that you plant the seeds, let
some of them go to seed, then return some
of these next generation seeds back to the
library for others to borrow.
10. Benefits of a Seed Saving Library
• Participants can reduce their food cost.
• Return flavor back into your food.
• Maintain regional food choices.
• Participate in history, maintain genetic
material from past generations.
• Develop our self-reliance.
• Participate in the circle of life.
23. Our mission is to save North America’s diverse,
but endangered, garden heritage for future
generations by building a network of people
committed to collecting, conserving, and sharing
heirloom seeds and plants, while educating
people about the value of genetic and cultural
diversity.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36. Seed saving is the process of saving seeds
from open-pollinated fruits, vegetables, grains,
flowers & herbs.
Traditional agriculture relied on seed saving to
maintain farms and gardens year after year.
When you save seeds from a particular plant
variety, you want those seeds to grow into a plant
that is identical to its parent plants. This trait is
known as varietal purity.
An open-pollinated variety exhibits varietal purity
and breeds true from seed; open-pollinated varieties
are maintained by allowing a natural flow of pollen
between plants of the same variety.
When pollen flows between different varieties
within the same species, this is known as
cross-pollination.
Cross-pollinated seed is not ideal for seed saving,
especially when you want to preserve a variety.
39. Is my plant a Hybrid or an OP?
Hybrid plants will not reliably produce seeds that will
grow up to be like its parent(s).
Open-pollinated plants can produce seeds that will
grow up to be like its parent(s).
Popular Hybrid Tomatoes:
Sun Gold, Big Boy, Early Girl, Celebrity
Popular Heirloom Tomatoes:
Brandywine, Amish Paste, Black Krim
40. What is my plant’s Species?
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Phaseolus
Species: vulgaris
common name: bean
binomial name: Phaseolus vulgaris
P. vulgaris will only cross with
other P. vulgaris beans. It will not cross with
runner beans (P. coccineus),
lima beans (P. lunatus),
or fava beans (Vicia faba).
71. Steps to Set Up a Seed Library
• Decide what type of library- check out or swap.
• Recruit volunteers.
• Figure out where you will house the seeds in your
library and how to house them.
• Contact seed companies about donating seeds or
purchase seeds. (try to stay with companies
located in your area of the country)
• Create records of the types. Place records into
circulation system.
72. Steps to Set Up a Seed Library- 2
• Put together promotional materials. Press
releases, handouts.
• Develop basic seed saving and other garden
related classes.
• Set rules on seeds that you will accept back into
your collection.
• Prepare signage.
• Create packets to place seeds into.
• Divide up seeds to packets.
• Introduce patrons to your seed library.
73. Seed Saving Libraries with Links
Arizona- Pima County Public Library
www.library.pima.gov/seed-library
California- Richmond Public Library
http://www.richmondgrowsseeds.org/seed-saving.html
San Francisco Seed Library
http://www.sfseedlibrary.org/home
Seedfolks Community Seed Libraries
http://www.theseedfolks.org/
Seed Library of Los Angeles http://slola.org/
Hudson Valley Seed Library
http://www.seedlibrary.org/about-us-hvsl
Colorado - Westcliffe Public Library – Westcliffe
http://westcliffegrows.weebly.com/
76. Potential Classes
Basic Seed Saving, Starting Garden Seeds
Square Foot Gardening, Seed Companies
Salad Gardens Insects: Friend of Foe
Growing Herbs Growing Flowers
Container Gardening Companion Planting
Organic gardening Food Preservation
Landscaping Wildlife Gardens
Water Gardens Backyard Ponds/ Streams
Rain Gardens Rock Gardens
Roses Prairie Gardens
Berries and Fruit Composting
Gardening With Kids
Flower arranging, dried flowers
Tomato Tasting Competition (Watermelon, Pepper)
Choosing the Right Tree for the Right Location
77. Seed Savers Exchange Webinars
http://www.seedsavers.org/Education/Webinars/
Seed Savers Exchange: Vegetable Planting and Seed Saving
Instructions http://www.seedsavers.org/Education/Seed-
Saving-Instructions/#beet
Vegetable Seed Saving Handbook
http://howtosaveseeds.com/index.php
Seed Matters http://www.seedmatters.org/
Colorado State University Extension
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/Garden/07602.html
International Seed Saving Institute http://www.seedsave.org/
Organic Seed Alliance- A Seed Saving Guide for Gardeners and
Farmers http://www.seedalliance.org/Publications/publication-
download-forms/download-form-1/
78. Video Links
Richmond Grows Seed Saving Library
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQEmmdfWhHI&feature=player_embedded
How to Save Peas and Beans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjUssS970-U&feature=player_embedded
How to Save Lettuce
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9kAJMiN5NrE
Public Library Association Conference - Seed Lending Library
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=u7hDkMo04qQ
Seed Saving Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Uq9E7qruc&list=FLGfxWVLm3O9qimbGSrOe0Cg&feature
=player_detailpage
Seed Saving Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=FLGfxWVLm3O9qimbGSrOe0Cg&feature=player_detailpag
e&v=gbLpIQrAa_8
Seed Saving Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=FLGfxWVLm3O9qimbGSrOe0Cg&v=YnpWSfzWCxk&featur
e=player_detailpage
88. Grant Olson
grant@seedsavers.org
David Mixdorf
dwmixdorf@southsiouxcity.org
Seed Savers Exchange
http://www.seedsavers.org/
Notas do Editor
Seed saving is the process of saving seeds from open-pollinated fruits, vegetables, grains, flowers & herbs. Traditional agriculture relied on seed saving to maintain farms and gardens year after year. Today, many gardeners continue this tradition for a variety of reasons: reconnect with traditional agriculture reduce annual seed purchases maintain genetic diversity in the food system preserve rare or storied varietiesAs soon as you begin to think about preserving particular varieties, whether they be family heirlooms or commercial varieties that are no longer available, it is important to understand how to maintain that variety’s characteristics.[click]This type of preservation seed saving can be easily conceptualized by its goal: when you save seeds from a particular plant variety, you want those seeds to grow into a plant that is identical to its parent plants. This trait is known as varietal purity.So if I have a large red, ribbed tomato with excellent, sweet flesh, I want to be able to harvest the tomato, save the seeds, store them through the winter, plant them in the spring, and towards the end of the summer I want to be harvesting ribbed red tomatoes with excellent sweet flesh. Maintaining these characteristics is only possible with open-pollinated varieties.[click]An open-pollinated variety exhibits varietal purity and breeds true from seed. Open-pollinated varieties are maintained by allowing a natural flow of pollen between plants of the same variety. However…[click]When pollen flows between different varieties within the same species, this is known as cross-pollination. Cross-pollinated seed is not ideal for seed saving, and is worthless when you want to preserve a variety and its characteristics. If you are less concerned with maintaining the characteristics of a particular variety, cross-pollinated seed can still be saved and planted again in the spring, but you do not necessarily know what that plant will look or taste like.[click]
So, back to our red tomato. [click]Lets say that I’ve planted a mild, orange, cherry tomato right next to my large, ribbed red tomato.[click]If a bee were to move pollen from one variety to another, the seed produced could grow into a plant that exhibits traits of both varieties – maybe we’d end up with a medium-sized, orange, lightly-ribbed tomato with a mild flavor.This might be acceptable if you’re only interested in seed saving to cut down on your garden budget, but if you’re interested in perpetuating a variety that maintains its characteristics year after year, you must take steps to prevent cross pollination.[click]
Fortunately, tomatoes are not usually very susceptible to cross-pollination. The same is true for beans and lettuce. This makes beans, lettuce, and tomatoes an excellent introduction to first-time seed savers interested in preserving particular varieties.As we continue to talk about varieties and plant types, it is important to discuss how plants are labeled – and it is very important that everyone knows what I mean when I say the word ‘bean’.[click]
As gardeners, it is important to have a basic understanding of plant taxonomy. On the screen now is the classification for the common bean. The hierarchical structure probably looks familiar to you – this is the Linnaean classification system. This system categorizes plants into groups with similar characteristics, then breaks those groups into smaller, more specific categories, on and on, until a single species remains.As relatively new seed savers, it isn’t important to understand the whole system – we’ll only talk about the last three classifications: Family, Genus, and Species.[click]Gardeners should know the families of their garden plants for crop rotation and general growing guidelines – beans belong to the Fabaceae family, often referred to as the Legumes, along with peas.Though knowledge of plant families is useful, seed savers can really get by if they only know their plants’ genus and species. Thankfully, this is easy to find out because most seed packets will list the plant’s genus and species.[click]A plant’s genus and species make up that plant’s binomial name, sometimes called the scientific or Latin name. The binomial name for the common bean is Phaseolus vulgaris.Cross-pollination can only happen between plants in the same species. So…[click]The common bean, or Phaseolus vulgaris, will only cross with other beans belonging to the Phaseolus vulgaris species. Runner beans, lima beans, and fava beans, even though they are all referred to as ‘beans’, all represent different species. Pollen from these different species cannot contaminate each other – you could grow runner beans, lima beans, fava beans, and common beans right next to each other without worrying about cross-pollination.It is important to note that there can be a lot of diversity within a plant species. There can be hundreds, even thousands of different varieties within a single species – we have offer 4,300 different tomato varieties in our annual Yearbook, for example. Beans belonging to Phaseolus vulgaris can be bush beans, pole beans, dry, wax, or snap beans – they will all cross with one another. Make sure that you take note of the binomial name when you are planning your garden.Common names can be even more confusing with other plant types, especially related to squash or Brassicas, but we won’t go into that here. If you’re interested in saving seeds from plants other than the three we’ll discuss today, please watch archived version of our presentation Planning Your Garden for Seed Saving.[click]
Tomatoes, beans, and lettuce are all self-pollinating annuals (although tomatoes are perennials, they are grown as annuals in much of the United States, particularly here in Iowa). Their flowers are designed in such a way that pollen does not readily flow between plants, and they produce seed within the first year of their life.The photos on the screen use lettuce to illustrate the lifecycle of a self-pollinating annual.Seeds are sown in the spring, the seed germinates and sprouts, and the plant begins to develop.Lettuce is eaten in its early stage of growth.At some point, the plant begins to produce flowers. Beans and tomatoes simply produce flowers along their vines, but lettuce goes through a process called ‘bolting’ – when days get longer and warmer, the lettuce plant sends up a stalk to produce flowers.When visitors tour the farm, sometimes I’ll stop at a bolted lettuce plant and ask my audience if they know what plant is in front of them. Often, visitors have only seen lettuce plants in their immature, edible stages – many of them never guess what the tall, scraggly, multi-flowered plants in front of them are.The flowering phase of a plant’s lifecycle is one of the most crucial for seed savers to know and understand. Fortunately, the varieties we’ve chosen to focus on in this presentation are fairly simple. If you are interested in understanding the biology and ecology of a more diverse group of plants, remember to check out our previous webinars.Self-pollinating plants, like tomatoes, beans, and lettuce, produce ‘perfect’ flowers. This means that each flower contains both male and female parts – the male part of the flower produces pollen, and the female part of the flower accepts that pollen and develops into a seed. This process is known as fertilization.Because there is a source of pollen so close to the pollen receptor, fertilization generally happens before pollen from a different plant has a chance to be transferred. Beans go through the fertilization process even before the flower has opened. Many tomato varieties have flowers which completely enclose the female pollen receptor with a contamination-shielding cone of pollen-producing anthers, which makes cross pollination highly unlikely. With lettuce, the femal pollen receptor actually emerges through the pollen-producing anthers, so pollen is transferred as the flower opens.After fertilization, seeds develop. Seed development can be seen easily in beans as bean pods grow and the seeds inside become more defined. Tomatoes enclose seeds within their fruit. It is important to know when the seeds are mature enough to be harvested, processed, and stored. We’ll discuss seed production and harvest for each of the plant varieties at the end of the presentation, but in annuals, the seed-producing phase ends the life-cycle of that particular plant.A quick note regarding self-pollination: just because a plant is inclined to self-pollinate does not mean that cross-pollination is impossible. Wind and insects can move pollen around and potentially contaminate varieties with stray pollen.Because of this, we recommend that seed-savers do not grow varieties side by side. If you are only growing two varieties of beans, for example, put them at either end of the garden to reduce the chance of cross-pollination.Keep in mind also that the information we’ve been providing is very specific to beans, lettuce, and tomatoes. Brassicas, for instance, have perfect flowers but are actually incapable of self-fertilization. Further, some self-pollinated plants can be easily cross-pollinated by insects and must be grown in isolation – peppers are a great example of this.[click]
The female flowers can be readily identified by the ovary located between the flower and the stem. The ovary will resemble a small squash; size, shape, and color will vary from variety to variety. Once a variety begins producing females we hang a very bright length of flagging tape from the field pole. This indicates to us that the variety is ready for HP to begin. For your purposes at home, this may not be necessary, but I am quite a visual person, and with the number of varieties we do, it is a necessary step.Tying the female at the appropriate stage is crucial to the success of the pollinations. The flower needs to be plump and puffy, soft when squeezed, and a peachy orange color at the tips. Each variety will display these characteristics in a slightly different manner, but all females of the varieties I’ve worked with do exhibit these signs when ready. You can see in this photo that the flowers on these females are blushing a yellow peach and the flower on the right is starting to separate at the tip just ever so slightly. These are females that will be open tomorrow morning. Absolutely do not tie any flowers that have already opened up.
Here is a closer look at the males that are ready to be taped. The male flowers should be exhibiting similar traits as the female flowers you just taped. They should be puffy and plump, have an orangey-yellow flush at the tips of the flower, and should be soft when squeezed, but not open. Again, do not tape any flowers that have opened! Once the total number of males has been determined for a variety, begin taping and flagging!
The exposed stamen should be dripping with bright yellow fluffy pollen.
Anthers shedding pollen.
Tomatoes, beans, and lettuce are all self-pollinating annuals (although tomatoes are perennials, they are grown as annuals in much of the United States, particularly here in Iowa). Their flowers are designed in such a way that pollen does not readily flow between plants, and they produce seed within the first year of their life.The photos on the screen use lettuce to illustrate the lifecycle of a self-pollinating annual.Seeds are sown in the spring, the seed germinates and sprouts, and the plant begins to develop.Lettuce is eaten in its early stage of growth.At some point, the plant begins to produce flowers. Beans and tomatoes simply produce flowers along their vines, but lettuce goes through a process called ‘bolting’ – when days get longer and warmer, the lettuce plant sends up a stalk to produce flowers.When visitors tour the farm, sometimes I’ll stop at a bolted lettuce plant and ask my audience if they know what plant is in front of them. Often, visitors have only seen lettuce plants in their immature, edible stages – many of them never guess what the tall, scraggly, multi-flowered plants in front of them are.The flowering phase of a plant’s lifecycle is one of the most crucial for seed savers to know and understand. Fortunately, the varieties we’ve chosen to focus on in this presentation are fairly simple. If you are interested in understanding the biology and ecology of a more diverse group of plants, remember to check out our previous webinars.Self-pollinating plants, like tomatoes, beans, and lettuce, produce ‘perfect’ flowers. This means that each flower contains both male and female parts – the male part of the flower produces pollen, and the female part of the flower accepts that pollen and develops into a seed. This process is known as fertilization.Because there is a source of pollen so close to the pollen receptor, fertilization generally happens before pollen from a different plant has a chance to be transferred. Beans go through the fertilization process even before the flower has opened. Many tomato varieties have flowers which completely enclose the female pollen receptor with a contamination-shielding cone of pollen-producing anthers, which makes cross pollination highly unlikely. With lettuce, the femal pollen receptor actually emerges through the pollen-producing anthers, so pollen is transferred as the flower opens.After fertilization, seeds develop. Seed development can be seen easily in beans as bean pods grow and the seeds inside become more defined. Tomatoes enclose seeds within their fruit. It is important to know when the seeds are mature enough to be harvested, processed, and stored. We’ll discuss seed production and harvest for each of the plant varieties at the end of the presentation, but in annuals, the seed-producing phase ends the life-cycle of that particular plant.A quick note regarding self-pollination: just because a plant is inclined to self-pollinate does not mean that cross-pollination is impossible. Wind and insects can move pollen around and potentially contaminate varieties with stray pollen.Because of this, we recommend that seed-savers do not grow varieties side by side. If you are only growing two varieties of beans, for example, put them at either end of the garden to reduce the chance of cross-pollination.Keep in mind also that the information we’ve been providing is very specific to beans, lettuce, and tomatoes. Brassicas, for instance, have perfect flowers but are actually incapable of self-fertilization. Further, some self-pollinated plants can be easily cross-pollinated by insects and must be grown in isolation – peppers are a great example of this.[click]
This photo shows feathering, or the expansion of the pappus from the beak of the seed. This signals seed maturation, when 30-80% of seed clusters display feathering, harvest.Choose between multiple harvests (an easy option for home gardeners) or single harvest.
As we talk about seed production and harvest, it is important to think about the health and diversity of your plants. Seeds should only be saved from healthy plants, and healthy plants require healthy soil. Just because your plants may be grown for seed does not mean that they require any less care than plants you grow for food – in fact, for the health and vigor of your future gardens, it is even more important that the seed you save represent your most robust plants.Maintaining healthy plants could be a whole separate webinar, but there are a few things to remember: keep your soil fertile inhibit the spread of diseases control harmful insects and other pestsIf your plants are healthy, your seed should be as well. Seed health affects germination rates as well as plant vigor in the next generation.To further ensure the health of future plant generations, you should save seeds from a number of different plants within a particular variety. For self-pollinating plants like tomatoes, beans, and lettuce, a population of 20 individual plants would be ideal.Of course, space restrictions can be a major limiting factor with regard to population size – not every gardener has room to grow 20 tomato plants of the same variety, and if you’d like to save seeds from two or three varieties, very few gardeners have space for 40 to 60 tomato plants in addition to all of the other fruits and vegetables they’d like to grow.A more realistic guideline might be that seed savers should simply grow as many plants as they can in the space they have.Saving seeds from several plants of the same variety ensures a more resilient plant population in the future. If you only save lettuce seeds from a single plant, all of your future plantings will have the exact same strengths and weaknesses of its parent. Perhaps a particular plant bolted extremely early; it is likely that any plants grown from that parent’s seed would also bolt extremely early – a somewhat undesirable characteristic if you want to be able to harvest lettuce for salads into the summer.By saving seeds from many different plants, you keep your population genetically diverse and avoid undesirable ‘bottlenecks’ such as early bolting, susceptibility to diseases, etc.On the other hand, you may find that one of the lettuce plants you’ve grown does not match any of the other plants within that variety. If you are saving seed in order to preserve a particular variety and its characteristics, it is important to rouge out any plants that are off-type, or dissimilar from the other plants in your population. If you have a loose-leafed plant among 20 headed lettuces, remove it from the garden, preferably before it flowers, and do not save seed from that particular plant.[click]
We’ll end the presentation by talking briefly about seed storage. The photo on the screen shows one of the freezers here at Heritage Farm used for long-term seed storage. Obviously, home gardeners do not have this type of facility, but neither do home gardeners require the same type of long-term preservation storage that we do.It is helpful to remember that seeds contain embryonic plants that are just waiting for the right conditions to germinate and grow. Most garden plants require moisture, oxygen, and warm temperatures to begin this process.Ideal conditions for storage, then, should deprive seeds of these three things, particularly moisture. Seeds should be dried thoroughly before storage – passing the ‘break’ or ‘shatter’ tests described previously.If your seeds have been sufficiently dried, store them in an air-tight container and place them in a cool, dry location. Cooler temperatures slow the metabolism of the embryonic plants, allowing them to be stored longer. Do not store them in a refrigerator, however, which is generally too moist.Some home gardeners will try to store their seeds in the freezer, but this is not necessary for home gardeners planning to grow out their saved seeds within a couple years. It can also be harmful to seeds, as even a little moisture inside the seed can freeze, expand, and crack the seed.Later this year, we will be presenting a separate webinar on seed storage in order to cover additional plant types and further illustrate the principles we’ve introduced here.[click]