Learn the Seedsaving Secret That Makes Gardening Easier

Saving money is the LEAST of the reasons to save your own seeds!

For the last few years, we have been saving seed from the garden and replanting it. Over time, these plants are adapting to our climate and our gardening methods. Today we'll take a look at our landrace daikon radishes, our landrace corn, and our landrace pumpkin varieties. It's truly amazing how the vigor of the plants increases. We're breeding vegetable varieties right in the backyard, and seeing what works with the climate. Saving seeds makes gardening easier!

[FreeAmerican-mmmy]

I am in my 60s and I live in North Alabama. I am still growing a variety of beans my grandfather called "Cherokee Indian Beans." He said they were very common in Lawrence County, Alabama when he was a young boy.

They look like Cherokee trail of tears beans, but they are brown, not black. I feel like I am keeping a little history alive.

[lukegerlach]

I was doing this with garden beans long before (by accident) I knew about the value of breeding for a land-race, by simply being lazy and forgetting to collect some beans and I realized that year after year I had volunteers that had come up and could survive my half-of-the-year flooded and half-of-the-year dry Northern Arizona climate and now I have a climber that looks like a tiger eye with the occasional purple showing up and produces like a hybrid, now to do this with my chickens by breeding Sumatra, olde English game and American game into my leghorns and marans'

[jesseferguson]

Another thing that's inspiring about Joseph Loft houses book is that it's not just about plants that are adapted to your climate is also about plants that are adapted to your gardening habits. For instance, some gardeners use trellises some gardeners let plants sprawled on the ground. Some gardeners use irrigation, some gardeners depend on rainfall. His book and your work have been very inspirational to me in my garden and journey. Thank you for everything and God bless. I am praying for your family and the loss that you have suffered

[nancyseery]

I want to save seeds just so I have the knowledge of being able to do things for myself. I don't have a cow, but I learned to make all types of dairy products. I learned how to can several types of foods, just so I could if I grow extras( or freeze) just so I can if I need too. Every year I find at least two new veggies, herbs and flower to grow just for the knowledge. Don't wait until you need knowledge to learn, learn something new every day!!! God bless and keep growing ( your brain will thank you). Thank you, David for all you teach us!

[SouthernLatitudesFL]

Amen! I still have a seed addiction but we are buying less and less from the big companies.

[thehomeschoolkids]

My tomatoes are invasive in my garden after only a couple years of doing that.
Now I don't even need to plant any, there's so many that have come up I'm thinking of putting a box by the road labeled free tomato plants.
😄👍 Landrace gardening book is now on my shopping list.

[lauramccament]

Very interesting! I'm a novice gardener. This year I planted spaghetti squash seeds, some from a new package and some that I had saved from one I grew and ate last year. I labeled them, because I assumed the new pack would grow better --- not. My own germinated better and came up much faster! I'm very impressed!

[danburke]

I'd been landracing sweetcorn and beans and lettuce and whatever else I saved seed from for a couple of decades. After reading Lofthouse's book I felt affirmed that I was doing something good rather than just being sloppy.

[josephlarsen]

then you spread those seeds out to all your neighbors, and have them add their favorites so that you never get inbreeding in your own landrace. Pretty exciting stuff

[leomiranda-castro]

Thanks for sharing! I agree 100% that the Landrace book is a must read 📚 one. It is bringing nature back to what she does best. "Mix, plant, observe, collect, repeat" that's the model!

[MynewTennesseeHome]

I've been saving seeds for decades but only really started paying attention to the results in the last few years. I haven't segraggated varieties in years. This is going to sound gross but, I have a bucket toilet and the aged humanure sprouts hundreds of tomatoes every year. They are the hardiest, most prolific tomatoes I grow.

[zacharypinegar]

I turned free packs of county seed library, peas, beans and cowpeas into summer cover crops aplenty. Also I have a pumpkin sitting in my storage grown from your seeds harvested fall of 21. Still chilling

[SunshineCountryChickens]

Growing your food is a long process for reasons like this. We need to invest time in the process to become successful, never give up!

[StubbsMillingCo.]

It’s that ancestral connection maaan! 😂 but seriously it is! At least for me. It’s what our ancestors did, if they didn’t they didn’t eat. I’m not saying that’s how it should be but look around….

[Oktopia]

I have saved seeds from Calendula for years and years. I have now started saving from other plants as well and even from wild plants. I love free stuff :D

[edwena]

When I was listening to one of your videos I wasn't sure what you meant by landrace. Now it all makes since. Thank you for all you teach us. Even this young senior gardener.

[EverettSmithLoveisAll]

I just went down the bean rabbit hole with Joeseph and it's good stuff.

[billastell]

I've been a seed saver for years. David is right, you get the best seeds for your personal conditions by saving seeds.

[marysurbanchickengarden]

Saving seeds that cross pollinate and planting them out every year you will eventually get a landrace that you can name after yourself. I'm a little old to start that now but I'm going to do it anyway. My offspring might one day have a Mary tomato or a Mary cucumber etc.

[TheUltimateGardener]

Awesome Video David! Keep up the amazing work!🤩