EDITOR’S NOTE: This gardening column was authored by Eric Larson.
What inspired me to write this column is that I got an email a few years ago in early September from a reader that was wondering whether she should be saving seeds.
She hadn’t been gardening very long. Seed gathering was even shorter. She asked me for my opinion on how to gather seeds or even trying to save any seeds.
Anecdotally, I had gathered some very colorful Indian corn seed, unusual gourd seeds, and a number of everlasting flower seeds for many years and used them as decorations around different Thanksgiving tables.
Before my dad went to Canada, he asked me to continue to grow seed that he had gathered from Zinnias that my mother loved to grow and that I would continue to grow to honor her memory.
One example I remember of gathering some seeds in the past is that I had planted a crock-necked yellow squash and a zucchini which grew within 6 feet of one another.
After the season was over, I harvested each of the squash. There was enough left over that I could save some seed of the squash.
I planted the seed from these squash hybrids and grew them for the following season.
My wife, daughter, and I found the first batch of squash that had a chance to cross and had both the zucchini green and crook-necked yellow characteristics in the same squash tasted bitter and was substantially harder to eat than other squash that I had grown.
Why gather seeds?
By saving seeds you’ll always have seeds of your favorite variety.
Because you’ve been able to order a seed variety from a commercial source in the past doesn’t mean it will always be available. Seed growers do discontinue growing varieties that are not profitable for them to carry.
You may have seen something in a particular variety of a seed that others don’t see. Seeds can be expensive to purchase, especially if you want to grow a rare plant. If you can grow your own vegetables in your garden from seeds, it makes no sense to buy all of your seeds.
Not all seeds can be harvested annually. For example, cabbage, celery, beets, or carrots must be harvested in the second year of growth.
Space in the garden will also have to be set aside for growing these biennial plants.
Saving and trading seeds is an exciting way to discover that one half of all seed varieties being grown today has no commercially available source.
There is no way you will find these plants in any seed catalog or over the internet. Heirloom seeds that you may like to grow may only be found by trading for these seeds.
Seed gathering has been a part of every culture in human history.
Only 70 years ago, gardeners would have to figure out what portion of their seeds they would plant for eating and how much to save as seeds.
Today we simply pick through any one of the massive number of seed catalogues available or google ‘seeds’ to see all the latest varieties.
We have neglected the responsibility of saving seeds.
However, successful seed breeding has been done since ancient times and by far less technologically advanced people. Native American Indians have been saving seeds for hundreds of years.
Their heirloom varieties have preserved a genetic memory of all the previous generations of seeds. The Cherokee people still plant varieties of corn that are found only in eastern North America.
These specialized Maize or corn seeds work perfectly in the moist eastern woodlands, usually planted to a depth of only 1 to 3 inches.
However, in the arid southwest the Hopi and Navajo farmers have bred a relative of this corn seed that does well planted 8 to 12 inches deep in sand, down where the moisture can be found.
This dryland corn must be able to do something that eastern corn cannot; it must grow up through a lot of topsoil to reach the surface.
This characteristic took generations to achieve consistently. Each successive generation of corn had to adapt to being planted deeper than the previous generation.
In time the Hopi and Navajo ended up with a plant that could be planted deep enough to reach the moisture but grow up through many more inches of topsoil. The plant adapted to the situation.
Hybrids can become very challenging. For example, when planted in close proximity they develop into an altered plant.
These altered plants may not look, taste, or be as safe to eat as you may want for your family. This means that if you are going to save your seeds, you will carefully select seeds from plants with the most desirable traits.
Have a great stroll through your garden this week. If you encounter challenges let me know at ericlarson546@yahoo.com.
Soon I shall be writing a blog connected with my website www.ohiohealthyfoodcooperative.org.
