Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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255 of 265 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Save 'em or lose 'em., January 12, 2000
Sixty million American gardeners buy their seeds from mail order seed companies. In the period 1984-1987, 54 of the 230 seed companies in the U.S. and Canada went out of business, resulting in 943 non-hybrid varieties becoming unavailable. One answer to the extinction of food crop varieties is Seed Savers Exchange, the publisher of Seed to Seed. Begun in 1975, SSE maintains more than 18,000 rare vegetable varieties at Heritage Farm in Decorah, Iowa. Another answer is for individual gardeners to save their own seed from non-hybrid varieties. Varieties that grow and taste exceptionally well in specific areas can be planted year after year from home-grown seed. A further advantage is protection from seed price increases. Ashworth provides definitive information on seed gathering, processing and storage techniques. Twenty family entries include taxonomy, pollination characteristics and techniques, general production and processing techniques. Each of the 160 species entries includes botanical classification; pollination, crossing, and isolation; seed production, harvest and processing; seed viability. Ample black-and-white photographs complement the text. Hybrid seeds are in the control of large companies. You can be in control of heirloom varieties that do best in your garden. Happy eating.
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93 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
worthwhile, March 17, 2006
This book is very practical and easy to understand. It's more encyclopedic in style rather than conversational, so if you aren't sure that you'll be saving seeds from your garden this year, you'll probably find it kind of boring. If you are slightly interested but unconvinced, I would recommend Carol Deppe's "How to Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties" instead. Her enthusiasm for the subject carries over into her writing style, and she includes lots of entertaining anecdotes and information that will be useful even if you don't decide to save seeds.
But if you know you want to start saving seeds, or enjoy saving seeds and want to get better, this book will be indespensable.
The book is mostly about vegetables, with a few grains and herbs also described. For each type of garden plant, several topics are covered:
--A general description (where it originated, how it is used in different cultures, etc.)
--Botanical classification
--Pollination (such as wind vs. insects), crossing and isolation
--Seed production and harvesting
--Seed statistics (% germination, how many seeds in an ounce, how many varieties offered in major catalouge)
--How to grow the plant from seed
--Regional growing recommendations for 5 very generalized regions (Mid-Atlantic, Southeast/Gulf Coast, Upper Midwest, Southwest, Central West Coast, Maritime Northwest) These are very brief, but useful.
I wish I would have gotten the book sooner, because I don't have too much gardening experience and I would like to have a big garden (well, as big as my yard will allow...) The regional recommendations often include when you should plant a vegetable indoors and when to transplant or direct seed outdoors. It would have been nice to do the last few week's seed starting with a little less guesswork.
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60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive Work on Saving Seeds, February 26, 2006
This is the complete and definitive seeds saving guide for 160 non-hybrid vegetable crops, with detailed information about each vegetable. It is technical but clearly written so that the reader can understand the intricacies of maintaining varietal purity and proper seed harvesting, drying, cleaning and storing of seeds. Botanical classification, flower structure, pollination method, isolation distances, caging, and hand pollination techniques are included. If you're looking for information on saving ground cherry seeds, you'll find it here. Sources for supplies and seed saving organizations are listed in the back.
This is the definitive source on seed saving and is invaluable to growers interested in conserving unique vegetable varieties. This book should sit on your shelf next to a copy of Carol Deppe's "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties" because saving seed is the basic method of plant breeding. When you save the seed of your biggest tomatoes rather than your smaller ones, you are practicing plant breeding by selecting what genetic material to perpetuate. The seeds from your big tomato will produce plants that also will produce big tomatoes.
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