Saving Seeds: The Gardener's Guide to Growing and Saving Vegetable and Flower Seeds

by Marc Rogers, Ben Watson (Editor), Polly Alexander (Illustrator)

Overview

Enjoy a delicious bounty of heirloom vegetables every year. Marc Rogers guides you through the time-honored and cost-effective tradition of collecting seeds from this year’s harvest to grow next year’s crop. Learn how to select and store seeds from proven varieties of more than 100 common vegetables and flowers. Through saving seeds and growing heirloom plants you’ll not only have a thriving garden every summer, you’ll be saving money and preserving local flavors at the same time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780882666341
Publisher:	Storey Books
Publication date:	01/03/1991
Series:	Down to Earth Gardening Book Series
Edition description:	REVISED
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	187,244
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Marc Rogers has written the popular and useful Saving Seeds.

Table of Contents

Part I: Basic Information

Chapter 1 Why Raise Seeds?

Chapter 2 What Is a Seed?

Chapter 3 How Seeds Are Formed

Chapter 4 Annuals, Biennials, and Perennials

Chapter 5 Pollination

Chapter 6 Selecting Seed Parents

Chapter 7 Collecting Seeds

Chapter 8 Extracting and Drying Seeds

Chapter 9 Storing Seeds

Chapter 10 Testing Seeds

Part II: The Vegetables

Table I: Characteristics of Common Vegetables Saved for Seed

Monocotyledoneae

Poaceae (Grass Family)

Liliaceae (Lily Family)

Dicotyledoneae

Polygonaceae (Buckwheat or Rhubarb Family)

Chenopodiaceae (Goosefoot Family)

Tetragoniaceae (New Zealand Spinach Family)

Brassicaceae (Mustard or Cabbage Family)

Fabaceae (Bean Family)

Malvaceae (Mallow Family)

Apiaceae (Celery Family)

Solanaceae (Nightshade Family)

Cucurbitaceae (Gourd or Cucumber Family)

Asteraceae (Aster Family)

Table II: A Checklist of Some Seed-Borne Vegetable Diseases

Part III: The Flowers

The Best Flowering Ornamentals to Save for Seed

Mail Order Seed Sources

Further Reading

Glossary for Gardeners

Average Frost Date Maps

Editorial Reviews

This paperback…will be treasured by both frugal gardeners and those committed to preserving old-time and regional strains of plants.”

United Press International

“This compact, clearly written book…is packed with common sense advice including how to pollinate, how to avoid unwanted crosses, and which plant qualities to look for….Novice and skilled gardeners alike will wish to experiment with this rewarding and satisfying practice.”

Library Journal

“Here in one compact paperback is all you need to know about growing garden plants from seed.”

Newark Star L edger

“Rogers tells you all you need to know to raise, harvest and store seeds for popular and easy-to-grow vegetable and ornamental plants. It’s a plus, not only for the frugal gardener, but as a means of preserving heirloom varieties.”

The Plain Dealer

“[Saving Seeds] tells you how to collect, dry, and store seeds, how to test them for germination and what to look for in the plants from which you save seeds.”

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

From the Publisher