Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, 2nd Edition

This is the most authoritative and in-depth book on seed sewing, growing, and saving that I have ever read. It is not a picture book or a basic introductory book - rather this is the book you go to when you have a specific plant, and you're not sure how to start the seeds, or how long the seeds will keep in storage, or how exactly to capture pollen and hand pollinate plants when your natural pollinators are absent. It has an overview of seed propagation and breeding information, including things like how pollination works, and what the different kinds of pollinators are, different kinds of seed processing techniques, how to store the seeds, and then it goes into an in-depth, family by family, plant by plant, everything you ever needed to know guide. This was very useful when I wanted to grow corn, and everyone said you can't grow corn if you only have a few plants. What I found was, you can grow corn, you just have to make sure you help the pollination along (and she shows you how in illustrations), and you probably won't get good results from any seeds you save because corn plants need a wide variety of genes to be healthy. But growing seeds from a packet - only a little hand holding needed. I have also found that this book has useful information on growing plants, and which varieties work well in which region. When I was looking up corn, it talked about which varieties to grow in New England, what problems are prevalent in New England, and how to deal with the various pests in the area. When I wanted to save my sunflower seeds for a tasty snack - she showed me the best time to pick the flowers, how to keep them away from the squirrels (and blue jays, and other critters), and how to dry them so the seeds were easier to separate. When I was curious as to why some of my black beans actually looked like the nearby empress beans, this book had the answer, and also what to expect if I actually wanted to try to plant them. The only thing I would wish for more of is illustrations. She gives descriptions on how to pick and process each type of seed, but sometimes I wasn't sure if I had the right plant, or if it was THIS part or THAT part. In some cases (such as the corn pollination), there were illustrations to help, but sometimes I wished for more. If you are looking for a single reference book on seed sewing, seed saving, plant breeding, or seed varieties that are best for your area - this is the book for you. A very well done, very authoritative and detailed book.

Love this book. I highly recommend buying this one if you are planning on seed saving from your own garden. Very detailed on just about every seed you can think of. It tells you when to pick and how to process to get the best shelf life and germination out your saved seeds.

I recently bought this book. If you plan to save seeds, you need the information in this book. Some seeds are not as simple as remove, dry and then store until ready to plant. What the book gives you: A brief history of the plant. It doesn't spend a lot of time on this but does provide some history if it is known. Pollination, crossing and isolation of the plant. It goes into detail on this part which can be important. It gives enough information that should prevent mistakes such as crossbreeding when you don't want to crossbreed. Seed production, harvest and processing. This section gives info on when to pick fruit to save the seeds and what if any special steps need to be taken for them to be viable. For some plants, this is important. Seed statistics. This gives info about how long seeds can be stored. It also talks about seeds per ounce and germination rates. Regional growing. This talks about information that may be specific to a region. For one plant, it talks about seven different regions of the USA. While the book is encyclopedic in arrangement, just looking up the seed you want to save in the back takes you right where you need to go. I only have one book for saving seeds. With the info this book has, I don't think a second book would add anything I need.

I think Ashworth has made a splendid job with this book, especially as there are none like it on the market. There`s a lot of good solid info, and everything you need to save seeds from a vegetable variety is easily found. All in all pretty much as good of a reference book as you can wish for. A minor thing that irritates me, is that when after every vegetable some regional experts give their advice on growing the vegetable at hand, I get the feeling that even if they have not even tried some plants, they give the advice "They can`t be grown in this climate". I myself am from Finland, and I still grow some of the vegetables they mention every season here!

Whether you're an ordinary gardener or a doomsday prepper looking for a book on how to grow life-saving food, this is the book you want. It goes over every single common plant out there, and explains everything from how to properly plant seeds and care for your plants, to how to pollinate and propagate more seeds for future crops, to which plants grow best in which regions. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

This book is a fabulous reference on seeds, saving seeds, information on the plants, and even the planting of the seeds/tubers, etc for each zone in the US. For a seed saving guide this book is amazing! The only issue that I had was that the book was written from the authors own interaction with the plants, and in some cases, in your location, you may need to look a little further into other sources for planting guides in your area. But hey... I didn't even expect a planting guide to be included, and especially not specific to growing zones, so total bonus for all of the pertinent information on planting that was included.

If you are at all interest in independent agriculture and heirloom crops, this book is an absolute MUST HAVE. I found out about this title through Seed Saver Exchange ( [...] ), checked it out at the library and finally bought my own copy. The brief intro is instructive and enlightening without being preachy. It describes the development and importance of seed saving and clearly outlines the threat that our agricultural heritage is facing due to agrichemical conglomerates. Then: 20 or so pages covering the basics of pollination, maintaining varietal purity, proper harvest and storage. After that it walks through the different vegetable families carefully and completely. The tone of this book speaks to the common individual (no degree required), it has frequent instructive photos and many references in the back concerning seed saving here and around the world. I cannot recommend this book enough! Also, I suggest getting a new copy. This is one of those books that you will be turning to frequently and wearing down. Might as well start out with sturdy binding.

Love this seed saving book. Breaks done your varieties into what you have to worry about cross pollinating during the growing season that could affect the genetic stock, as well as goes over seed saving do's and don'ts. Well worth the investment and nice quality for the price!

Text heavy, old fashioned black and white photos and very few of them. This book is not for the backyard garderner looking for simple facts on how to save their seeds. This is not the book you would turn to quickly to find the answers your after. From my perspective it's a two star but from a person that likes heavy reading it would probably be a 4 or 5 star.

excelente livro, muito boas dicas

If you live in the United States, or even in Canada this book will be very helpful for you. If I was a Europeran I would try to find a different book tho, Informations in the book are for U.S residents but if you live in the southern border of Canada you can still get valid information for your region, even if its not in the book. Lots of fun information such as the history of each species, as well as very technical information good for both beginners and experienced gardeners. Its a great step by step guide from seed, to seeds, as the title says.

excellent book :: must have

This has all the information needed for a beginner to save seeds.