Living a simple life can be very satisfying. It allows you to eliminate much of the unnecessary busyness in your day so you can focus on what means the most to you.
One of my priorities is to grow as much of the food we eat as possible. First, I just love the way fresh food tastes. Since I primarily grow heirloom vegetables, my tomatoes are juicy, delicious, and have just the right amount of acid. The tomatoes in the grocery store may look good, but they taste more like cardboard.
Next, there is just something satisfying about digging in the dirt, watching the miracle of a tiny seed growing up and turning into a vegetable all its own, and offering even more seeds inside for future gardens.
And then there is the savings. I can grow more vegetables with one $3.00 package of seeds than I could ever afford to buy at the grocery store. And I can even take that to the next level by saving the seeds, which prevents me from buying more seeds in the future. At least, more of the seeds for plants I already grow. I’m not admitting to buying seeds that look good and I think I might like to grow one day…like those Globe Artichoke seeds that came in the mail last week.
But growing my own food also provides a sense of security for me. By knowing how to do it, I can do as much as possible to alleviate or even prevent any hardships from food shortages that may occur from floods, drought, fires, pandemics, or escalating prices.
I don’t consider myself a doomsday prepper, but I’m also not a naïve person. I do live in the real world and can see where some preparation needs to be made just in case things do start to swirl down the drain. So, I pay attention, do my due diligence, and enjoy my Simple Life, but still work towards improving my self-sufficiency skills.
And one of these skills is to learn how to save the seeds from the vegetables, herbs, and fruit that I grow. Learning this skill really started off as more curiosity for me. How does it work? Does it work, and work well? Could I do it successfully? It’s taken some time, trial, effort, and yes, a few failed attempts, but so far, I have at least a 50% viability rate -with some seeds, such as squash and cucumbers, reaching 85% viability. But admittedly, there is still room for improvement.
My end goal is to establish my own small scale seed bank which will have seeds for most everything we grow, plus a few I can use for bartering purposes. This will ensure I can continue to provide food for my family even if seeds become too expensive, or unavailable.
A seed bank is pretty much what it sounds like – a place to store and preserve seeds for the long term. On a large scale, there are approximately 1,000 Seed Banks worldwide, which store any possible seed available, from vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers, grains, grasses and more. The main purpose of these seed banks is to have seeds available to regenerate areas affected by floods, fires, drought, or other massive devastation. My seed bank will be on a much smaller scale – one I can maintain right here at home.
It doesn’t take ‘The Big One’ to send us into survival mode. Losing a job, medical expenses and other things may cause us to require cutting back. One of the best ways to do that is to grow as much of your own food as possible. And that’s where having a seed bank can help.
You may also be asking why you would want to save seeds, when there are so many available to purchase. There are several benefits to saving your own seeds, the first of which is to save money. Once I begin saving my own seeds successfully, I won’t have to buy more.
Additional benefits include preserving a viable food source, assuring yourself of growing favorite varieties that may eventually become unavailable, and you can select seeds from the stronger plants, which means eventually your plants will adapt better to your climate and produce better. In some cases, you may also be providing continuity for your heritage.
But there is a caveat to saving seeds. Primarily, seeds can most easily be saved from open pollinated or heirloom plants. However, some seeds cannot be legally saved as they are protected by patents and licensures. This is primarily geared towards hybrid seeds packaged by larger corporations. Cross pollination can also be an issue if proper planting isn’t maintained. In many cases, crops such as corn, which is wind pollinated, requires planting either at a distance from each other or planted using the succession method to prevent this from happening.
There is also the question of which plants you can save seeds from. For the most part, heirloom plants are the way to go. These are open pollinated and tend to produce what is referred to as ‘true’ seeds. In other words, if you save seeds from a Granny Cantrell tomato, when you plant those seeds you will get Granny Cantrell tomatoes.
Hybrids, on the other hand, are the result of cross breeding of two or more different varieties. A good example of hybridization is tomatoes. The ones you get in the grocery store have been hybridized to allow for shipping and uniformity in size and color, which means several different types were used over a course of several attempts. Unfortunately, the tomato may look good, but it also lost most of its flavor in the process. And if you plant the seeds from a hybrid plant, you aren’t guaranteed to get the same type of fruit. Instead, it may revert back to one or other type that was used for cross breeding, and those may not grow well, or produce anything worth eating.
Now that you know which plants are best for saving seeds, the next step is which ones should you save? These would be the seeds from the plants that you and your family love to eat and are suitable to your growing zone and climate. Don’t stop with just the vegetables. You also will need to flavor your food, so consider the herbs you use on a regular basis. You may also want to save the seeds from favorite flowers or grains you enjoy growing.
The next step is understanding how to create your own seed bank. It isn’t difficult. For storage, you can store your seeds in small glass jars or use seed envelopes, such as the glassine type. All saved seeds should be kept in a cool, dark, dry place. The freezer is a great choice, if the seeds are packaged properly.
Zip top mylar bags are a great way to keep seeds when they are stored in the freezer. For my seed bank, I use a combination. Some seeds are stored in seed envelopes, which are then placed in mylar bags. This allows me to keep types together – lettuce seeds in one bag, tomatoes in another, and so on. Some of my seeds are in small jars, which I then place in a small plastic storage box with a sealable lid. Both the bags and boxes fit in the freezer, and it makes it easier to locate the seeds I need.
As with most things, there is more to learn about saving seeds and starting your own seed bank. If this is something that piques your interest, there are quite a few books and products I can recommend to help you get started. Just stop in at my Amazon shop for a list of these and other great books on gardening. And if you want to order heirloom seeds to get your seed bank started, I highly recommend Mary’s Heirloom Seeds, Bakers Creek Heirloom Seed Company, and Seed Savers Exchange. All three have an excellent quality and selection of seeds that will work well in your garden. You can find all of the links in the show notes below. And just so you know, I am an affiliate for Mary’s Heirloom Seeds. If you do purchase seeds from her, I may make a small commission, but it won’t affect the price you pay!
You may or may not be in crisis mode today, but it is always wise to prepare for the future. One of the smartest ways is to start your own Seed Bank. Even if you aren’t in crisis mode, you can always use the seeds to start your garden. It’s a skill that will never go to waste and may be more beneficial than you can ever imagine.
If you want to learn more about living a Simple Life, just visit my website at www.thefarmwife.com/ . If you’re enjoying listening to these podcasts, please support the show by clicking the SUPPORT button in the show notes. When you do, you’ll be helping me continue bringing you fun and helpful ideas for living the Simple Life you love!
If you have questions or just want to stop in for a visit, you can do that through email at thevirtualporch@gmail.com. And be sure to subscribe – you don’t want to miss a single conversation. I'll be sitting on the porch every Monday morning waiting for your visit!
Thanks again for stopping in. I will see you next week on Living a Simple Life with a Back Porch View. And while you are waiting for the next episode, grab that glass of refreshment, pull up a rocker, and sit back for a while. It’s time to relax and enjoy.
My Amazon Shop
Mary’s Heirloom Seeds *Affiliate Link
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company
Seed Savers Exchange
