We had a great time at our community garden seed saving workshop on Saturday in Kitsilano. I was really struck by how much of a community we really are. David Catzel, our workshop leader talked to us about planning to grow for seed, especially the ones that require larger populations to maintain good genetic diversity (squash, leeks, beets, carrots, broccoli, kale). So we could grow a larger communal plot of carrots one year for example and save seed from it, or if we grow the carrots in our own plots, we can mix the seeds together and then share them around.
David gave us some good resources, which I list below. I would add one other, my all time favourite book from Dan Jason, Saving Seeds As If Our Lives Depended on It.
Seed Saving Books
Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties – Carol Deppe
Enduring Seeds: Native American Agriculture and Wild Plant Conservation – Gary Paul Nabhan
Return to Resistance; Plant Breeders Handbook – Raoul Robinson
Seed to Seed – Suzanne Ashworth
Seed Saving Websites
Salt Spring Seed Sanctuary (Dan Jason)
Seeds We Need (David Christensen)