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. Marc Rogers has written the popular and useful Saving Seeds. Grow It, Save It! Looking for something to add excitement and interest to your garden? Try raising and saving seeds for your own vegetables and flowers! Saving seeds is a time-honored tradition that many gardeners are rediscovering. Anyone can become a successful seed saver -- the only limitations are your time, space, and interest. And the benefits of growing and storing your own seeds are many: * Save money on expensive yearly seed bills. * Select seed from plants that have thrived in your particular growing conditions. * Preserve old-time and regional favorites, including heirloom vegetables and flowers that your grandparents grew. * Share seeds from your favorite flowers and vegetables with family, friends, neighbors, and other gardeners. Detailed seed information for each vegetable and flower gives you everything you need to know about how to raise, harvest, and store seeds for a lifetime of fruitful home gardening. 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 "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
