Lately I'm bordering on obsession with saving seeds. I'm infatuated with the idea that I can create varieties of vegetables and other food crops that thrive in my growing conditions. Reducing my dependence on buying seeds is an added bonus.
The problem and advantage of seed saving and plant breeding is that it takes time. I love the rhythms of the seasons, but also can't wait to see the fruits of my endeavour. While I wait, I raid the library for
books about farming, seed saving, breeding plants,
landrace gardening, and traditional agricultural methods. So I read, and I read, and I read... and I'm running out of books on the topic. While I wait for
Joseph Lofthouse's book of
landrace gardening to come out in print, can you recommend some more books for me to read?
Here's what I've read so far:
Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carol Deppe.
This is the single most influential book I've read in the last decade, perhaps my life. Deppe's approach to vegetable breeding is very down to earth. With her background in genetics Deppe has an almost poetic grounding in the how and why of plant breeding. Thankfully she also understands that most of us farmers and gardeners don't have the same educational background - all we want is ways to grow the plants we want to grow. There are some sections where she dives into the science and math of how genes interact, but she does it in a friendly way, with plenty of real life examples. One of the more interesting chapters was about Wide Crosses which talks about making crosses between species (in the traditional, pre genetic engeneering way), for example using wild relatives to breed disease resistance into food crops - the advantages and disadvantages of this. This book seems to get thicker with each publication as Deppe has more and more to say on the topic. I found the section with her view on Genetic Engineering and GM food crops to be eye opening. Instead of approaching the topic with the usual rhetoric of fear or praise, she takes a balanced look at the advantages and disadvantages of genetic modification, and critiques what this technology needs before it can become truly useful.
Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth
A must have for anyone saving their own seeds, even if it's just a handful of bean seeds for next year's garden. Ashworth discusses pollination techniques, isolation distances, roguing, inbreeding, outbreeding minimum population requirements, seed processing and seed storing. Most of the book is filled with information about specific species and how to select and save seeds from them. This isn't the kind of book that entices me to read cover to cover, but is my first go-to book for thumbing through about techniques and specific plant families.
The Organic Seed Grower by John Navazio
A book for those interested in producing seeds for sale, for organic growing. Seeds produced using modern methods are quite often grown very controlled conditions, with high inputs to reduce weeds, be rid of pests,
irrigation, fertilizers, and so on and so forth. Plants are selected on the bases that they do well in these high input conditions, but when seeds from these plants are grown in an organic setting with weeds and bugs, they don't thrive. By growing seed crops in organic conditions, we can create seeds that thrive in organic conditions. That's what this book is about, how to produce HIGH QUALITY seeds that thrive in organic setting. I love it! This is the first book where I've encountered 'foundation seed' and methods for maintaining variety and avoiding unwanted genetic drift. Although great information for the home gardener who interested in improving their seed saving skills, but it really is geared towards larger scale production.
The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe
The focus of this book is how to garden in good times, to prepare for hard times. Be it an End Of The World As We Know It situation, or the more mundane broken leg; perhaps job loss which means less money to spend on food, or job promotion leading to less time to spend in the garden, Deppe shows us how to garden in a way that allows for these minor and major life changes. Simple things like planing your garden so that the crops that require little or no water, are furthest from the hose, and the water intensive crops are closer. Saving and selecting seeds from your garden so that you can develop your own line thrives in your conditions. This book focuses on
staple food crops: Corn, Potatoes, dry Beans and Eggs. Deppe's diet is strictly gluten free and in the past she found it difficult to find foods that met her strict requirements for avoiding wheat contamination. By growing crops like her own flour corn she can create delicious meals that are healthy and gluten free. There is so much wonderful inspiration and information in this book.
One of the most useful bits of information in The Resilient Gardener is how to process seeds for long term and freezer storage. Instead of a shelf life of two years for squash, by using Deppes technique, your seeds could last ten times as long and still be viable.
The Tao of Vegetable Gardening by Carol Deppe
The companion book to The Resilient Gardener. This is a book about Mu Farming in the modern Western World. Working with the natural habits of plants, instead of forcing plants to do your biding, is easier on you and the plants. Even more thoughts on how to get the most out of your garden without resorting to unnecessary techniques. When adding a new task to the garden, it is useful to experiment, have half the old way and half the new way, see if this new method actually does improve. The whole book reminds me greatly of
Fukuoka's idea of "how about not doing this, or not doing that". The crops this book focuses on are tomatoes, summer squash, eat-all greens and fresh beans and peas. There is a great deal more to this book than a handful of crops. Well worth a read.
The Manual of Seed Saving by Andrea Heistinger
This is a lot like Seed to Seed with a few distinct differences. If you already have Seed to Seed, I don't think you really need this book. Heistinger has some different thoughts on seed processing techniques and a lot of lovely photos. The plant by plant section is in some ways easier to read than Seed to Seed, but misses out some of the important info like seed storage. One of the interesting things this book has is recommendations on selection characteristics for each crop.
What
should I read next?
Moderators, you hardworking saintlike people you, please feel free to do that magic linky thing so that the book titles link to the amazon in a way that provides remuneration to this site. Also, I don't know if I choose the right category, please feel free to do your thing.
Edited by moderator to add links to book summary threads.
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