The Seed Garden Sample

8/9/2019 The Seed Garden Sample

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The

SEED

GARDENThe Art and Practice of Seed Savinedited by lee buttala & shanyn sieg


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2 THE SEED GARDEN

CONTENTS

IntroductIon • 000

The Art and Practice ofSeed Saving • 000

WHY SAVE SEED S • 000

BOTANY OF SEED SAVING • 000

Nomenclature and Taxonomy • Propagation

• Flowers • Pollination and Fertilization •

Fruits • Seeds

MATING SYSTEMS • 000

Mating Systems • Pollination Methods •

Insect Pollinators • Floral Diversity

STAYING TRUE: Seed Saving andVarietal Maintenance • 000

Open-pollinated Versus Hybrid Varieties

• Isolation and Pollination Management •

Population Size and the Maintenance of

Genetic Diversity • Rogueing and Selection •

Crop Improvement • 000

CULTIVATING FOR SEED • 000

Plant Lifecycles • Photoperiodism and

Vernalization • Timing and Spacing • General

Plant Culture • Seedborne Diseases • 000

HARVESTING AND

CLEANING SEEDS • 000

Harvesting • Cleaning Seeds from Dry-Fruited

Crops • Cleaning Seeds from Fleshy-Fruited

Crops • 000

SEED QUALITY, STORAGE AN

GERMINATION • 000

Seed Quality and Longevity • Seed

Content • Home Seed Storage • GeTests • Seed Dormancy

THE SEED GARDEN • 000

Planning for Seed Saving • Choosin

• Seed Saving in the Vegetable Gar

Beginner Recommendations • 00

Plant Profiles • 000

INTRODUCTION • 000

Common name directory • 000

Plant Profiles • 000

APPENDIX: Seed SavIng MaSter tab

APPENDIX: gerMInatIon table • 00

APPENDIX: REGIONAL AND C LIMACTIC

conSIderatIonS • 000

APPENDIX: legalItIeS • 000

APPENDIX: Seed Screen SIzeS • 000

gloSSary • 000

Index • 000

acknowledgeMentS • 000


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4 THE SEED GARDEN The Botany o f Seed Saving

For some gardeners, an understanding of botany can

transform the magical and mysterious path of a plant—f

seed to seedling, from flower to fruit, and back again int

seed—into something more measured and technical tha

wondrous and spiritual. But as one comes to understand

the scientific underpinnings within the formation of a se

this deeper understanding of botany only works to reinfo

a belief in the miraculous processes at work in the garde

bringing with it a deeper appreciation of the merging of

and science which is at play in the horticultural univers

in the tradition of seed saving.

The

BOTANY of SEEDSAVING


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they then all became

members of the newly

named Brassicaceae

family. Many garden-

ers – who remember

these crops as part of

the original family –

still commonly use

the term crucifer

when speaking of this

group of plants. Whilethese reclassifications

may be frustrating to

a gardener who has

learned the old name

of a genus or family,

they rarely impact the

work of a seed saver.

Propagation As most gardeners know, plants can be repro-

duced in more than one way. When a gardener

is interested in collecting seed and using this

seed to grow more plants, the process at play is

known as sexual reproduction because genetic

material from two parents are being combined to

create new offspring in the

form of seeds. These seeds

will become plants that

have characteristics of both

parents because they share

their DNA. But many plants

can also be reproduced

asexually through vegeta-

tive propagation, which

typically involves taking a

part of the plant – a root,

a leaf, a stem, or a division

of a plant – and inducing

it to develop into a plant of

its own. These plants willbe genetically identical to

their parent and this process

is used in the propagation

of many perennial and

Conversely, it

may also come as a

surprise that ‘Rouge

Vif D’Etampes’

pumpkins and ‘Winter

Luxury’ pumpkins

belong to the same

genus (Cucurbita), but

are separate species.

‘Rouge Vif D’Etampes’

pumpkin is aCurcurbita maxima

cultivar , while ‘Winter

Luxury’ pumpkins are

a variety of Cucurbita

pepo. Although closely

related, and referred to

by the same common

name, these two

pumpkins will not interbreed with each other.

Becoming familiar with the botanical names of

plant species is essential to the seed saver as it tells

of a relationship between plants in a manner that

common names such as collards and broccoli, or

pumpkin, do not.

Occasionally, the taxonomic classification

or name of a collection of plants changes as

scientists’ understanding of

the relationships between

plants deepens and evolves.

For example, many spe-

cies belonging to the

Brassicaceae family (a family

is a collection of genera that

are closely related) used to

be known as members of the

Cruciferae family, named

after their characteristic

cross-shaped, cruciform,

four-petaled flowers. When

scientists found that these

plants, which includevegetables such as kale,

broccoli, cabbage and

cauliflower, were part of a

broader family of plants,

that surround a rose bud before it opens—protect

the flower bud during development, while the

petals can play a role in reproduction by attract-

ing pollinators with their patterning and color.

While these parts can encourage the re pro-

ductive process, they are considered accessory

parts and are not needed specifically for sexual

reproduction. However, for seasoned seed savers,

petals can often hold clues as to how a specific

plant approaches pollination.

Not all flowers are created equally and whattype of flowers a plant has impacts how it can

reproduce. Botanically, a perfect flower—which

is also called a bisexual flower-- must have both

female and male reproductive parts, the pistil

and stamen, in one flower. An imperfect flower

is unisexual, and is commonly referred to as

either a female flower or male flower. Plants that

have both unisexual female flowers and unisexual

male flowers on one plant are known as monoe-

cious (this term derives from the Latin for one

household, meaning male and female flowers

live on the same plant). Corn is an example of a

monoecious crop plant, where the male flowers

woody plants, as well as with a few vegetables

such as Jerusalem artichokes and sweet pota-

toes. However, relatively few vegetable crops

are primarily reproduced vegetatively. Most

are grown from seed, and for the seed saver, a

general understanding of how a plant flowers and

produces seeds is necessary for the preservation

of coveted varieties of vegetables.

FlowersMany gardeners consider flowers as things ofbeauty, much more than as a sum of their botan-

ical parts, but in the life of a plant, the role of a

flower is anything but decorative. A flower is the

seed and fruit producing structure within a plant.

Within the structure of flowers there are male

and female reproductive parts that allow a plant

to create offspring in the form of seeds.

Flowers, botanically defined most simply as

the reproductive organs of angiosperm plants,

provide a useful tool for understanding how read-

ily a species will reproduce and what is needed

for it to succeed in making it through the various

stages of sexual reproduction in plants: pollina-

tion, fertilization, fruit and seed set.

The female reproductive organ or the female

part of a flower is known as the pistil. The pistil is

comprised of three parts, the ovary, the style, and

the stigma. The stigma is the receptive surface at

the top of the pistil that receives the pollen from

the male parts of a flower, and it is connected to

the ovary by means of a tubular style. The ovary

houses the ovules, which contain egg cells and

will develop into seeds if fertilized. The ovary

itself matures into a fruit upon fertilization.

The male reproductive organ of the flower

is called the stamen. The stamen is made up of

the anther and the filament. Pollen grains, which

supply the sperm cells for the fertilization of the

ovules, are produced in and released from the

anther, which is presented on the end of a long,protruding stalk, or filament.

The flower also has petals and sepals, perhaps

the most recognizable parts of a flower. The

sepals – such as the small green modified leaves

Although this flower is from a variety of cabbage, it is

indistinguishable from the flowers of other members

of the species Brassica oleracea, including Brussels

sprouts, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and

European kale. These crop types are capable of repro-

ducing with one another but any offspring from such

crosses would unpredictable as to their appearance.

Common names can prove confus-

ing. Both of these fruits are known as

pumpkins, but as they are not from the

same species, these two varieties, tk and

tk, cannot breed with one another and

produce fertile offspring. For this reason,

knowledge of a plant’s botanical name is

of use to the seed saver in understanding

which plants may cross or interbreed.


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Watching a honeybee alighting on a flower or a hummin

floating in front of a blossom, foraging for nectar or polle

is one of those moments that takes a gardener away from

everyday tasks of weeding and cultivating, and reminds u

the special relationship between plants and their pollina

By delving more deeply into this universe and understan

the anatomy of a flower and the method by which a spec

is pollinated, seed savers gain insight into the various ma

systems of some of their favorite species and cultivars.

MATING SYSTEMS


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Four species of squash are normally grown as

garden vegetables. They share the same pol-

lination mechanisms and floral anatomy, and

respond to the same process of hand-pollination.

Although squash plants bloom continu-

ously over the course of the growing season,

each individual flower opens for just one day,and hand-pollination requires some planning

and attention to timing to ensure success.

Hand-pollinating squash plants occurs on two

consecutive days – beginning in the late after-

noon when flowers that are just about to open

are identified and secured shut, and completed

the next morning when the flowers are pollinated

manually.

Identifying flowers that are about to open

takes some practice, but is relatively straightfor-

ward. When in bud, the squash blossoms are

greenish yellow or pale creamy-yellow in color.

On the day before they open the fused petals will

begin to split open at the top and a small seam of

yellow will typically be visible.

Squash plants are monoecious, and both

male and female flowers need to be secured shut.

Female flowers are easily identified by visible ova-

ries, which resemble a small squash, located just

below their blossoms; the flowers without ovaries

are male. The male flowers, which provide the

pollen, should be secured shut with flagging

ribbon, tape, clothespins, or any other material

that will prevent the petals from expanding and

allowing insects access to their reproductive

organs. A flag is often inserted in the ground next

to each of the sealed flowers so that they can be

easily found the next morning amongst all of

the foliage. Follow the same process with female

flowers keeping in mind that care must be take

to leave enough of the petals intact to secure theblossoms again after hand pollinating. This will

ensure that the seeds produced are the product of

the manually transferred pollen and not from nat-

urally occurring insect pollination that can occur

on the same day after hand-pollination, while the

stigma is still receptive.

The following morning, hand pollination

is carried out during the time of day when the

squash blossoms are normally open. Flowers

can open just after dawn, and remain open until

early afternoon, though the exact timing andduration is influenced by environmental condi-

tions. The male squash flower, typically borne

on a long peduncle (stalk), should be picked

and brought to the female flower. First open the

male flower and remove the petals of the male

flower entirely, leaving the anthers and pollen

exposed upon the end of the peduncle. Moving

quickly, carefully open the female flower– the

goal is to complete the hand pollination process

before any bees intervene – and brush the pollen

from the anthers onto the entire surface of the

stigma. The pollen grains are large enough that

they will be visible on the stigma after pollina-

tion. Close the female petals up again and tape

them shut, ensuring that there are no openings

that pollinating insects can get through. The

petals will shrivel, and, along with the tape, will

likely fall off after fertilization is complete and

the fruit begins to develop. Tie a ribbon or some

other weather-resistant marker to the stem of the

hand-pollinated flower so the isolated fruit can

be easily identified at harvest.

Hand-pollination can be done using just one

male flower for each female, but some gardeners

choose to transfer pollen from the anthers of two

or three male flowers to the receptive stigma of a

female flower to effectively include more plants

in the reproductive population. If possible,

choose males flowers from a separate plant than

the one bearing the female blossom.

Expect low rates of successful polli nations whenfirst learning to hand pollinate a species. It is gen-

erally a good idea to pollinate at least four times

as many flowers as the number of fruits from

which one wishes to collect seed.

1. In the afternoon, identify male and

female flowers about to open.

2. Secure female blossom closed. 3. Secure male flower clo

4. Mark location of sealed flowers. 5. The following morning, collect sealed

male flowers from plants and locate

flower to be pollinated.

6. Working quickly, remo

male flowers and open fe

7. Still working quickly, brush pollen from anthers onto entire

surface of stigma. Pollen grains should be visible.

8. Thoroughly seal pollin

Mark flower for seed col

fruit can be readily ident


8/914 THE SEED GARDEN Lactuca sativa

a 2,000 year-old Roman recipe calls for using

lettuce to make a dish fairly recognizable to pres-

ent-day salad eaters, a collection of leaves dressed

with herbs, oil, vinegar and pepper.

GROWING LETTUCE FOR SEED

A self-pollinating annual with minimal isolation

requirements, most lettuce varieties will flower

and set seed readily in one growing season.

In fact, a moment gardeners typically lament

-- when flower stalks of lettuce emerge and the

leaves turn bitter – is the beginning of the seed

production process. These branched flower stalks

may reach 3 feet tall or more, but do not typi-

cally require staking. Lettuce plants being grown

for seed should be spaced 15 inches on center.

Lettuce can easily be planted at typical garden

spacing and harvested for eating with several

plants being left to develop into a seed crop.

Leaf lettuces being grown for seed may be lightly

harvested. For the best seed harvest, gardeners

should time sowing so that plants reach full size

prior to flowering (cool temperatures of approxi-

mately 60F are ideal for lettuce growth), so thatflowering coincides with a period of warmer tem-

peratures (ideally around 70F). In many northern

parts of the country, this is accomplished with

a typical spring planting, with flowering and

ranges from the burgundy red leaves of ‘Lolla

Rossa’ through blue and lime green to the

chartreuse of the butterhead variety ‘Mantilla’.

In addition, some varieties have speckled, tinted,

or blushed leaves such as the aptly named

‘Sanguine Ameliore’ that has foliage with a splash

of blood red. Leaves range in shape and formfrom the smooth, lanceolate leaves of ‘Amish

Deer Tongue’ and the lacy frilled leaves of ‘Reine

De Glace’ to the deeply serrated leaves of ‘Green

Oakleaf.’

Lettuces are grouped into categories. Loose-

leaf varieties, sometimes simply called leaf

lettuces, form loose, open heads and the full

spectrum of leaf colors and shapes can be found

among these types. They are also often harvested

young and as cut-and-come-again lettuce crops.

Butterhead, or bibb, lettuces such as ‘Ella Kropf’

form small, loose heads with leaves known for

their smooth, buttery texture. Crisphead, or

iceberg, cultivars develop a head of tightly over-

lapping leaves and romaine, or cos, lettuces are

easily recognized by their thick leaves with large

mid-ribs arranged into tall, upright heads.

A lesser-known member of the species

Lactuca sativa is celtuce, also known as Chinese

lettuce, asparagus lettuce, or celery lettuce.

Grown for its distinctive thick edible stem,

this variety is harvested when its stem is about

1½ inches thick and is used in stir-fries.

Oilseed lettuce, seldom seen in home gar-

dens, is cultivated for its seeds that are pressed to

extract cooking oil. Oilseed lettuce seeds yield up

to 35% of their weight in oil.

HISTORY

Thought to have originated in what is pres-

ent-day Iran and Turkey, archaeological evidenceindicates that lettuce was grown in Egypt more

than 6,000 years ago as an oilseed crop and as an

aphrodisiac. Lettuce gained status as a popular

vegetable in ancient Greece and Rome, and

Lactuca sativaLETTUCE

lettuce seeds can be viable for up to six

years, plant it out in the years ahead. And

with so many varieties of open-pollinated

lettuce available, seed savers have many

options from which to choose.

CROP TYPES

Primarily coveted as an essential ingredient in

salads, most lettuce is grown for its edible leaves

that range in color, shape, and form. Leaf color

Most gardeners have grown lettuce close to the point that seed can be collected wi thout even

realizing it. As a self-pollinated crop that typically bolts, flowers, and sets seed in one season

without taking over a huge amount of vegetable garden real estate, this is an easy crop for the

first-time seed saver, particularly if one starts with a loose-leaf variety. Many gardeners simply

allow a select few of their plants to set seeds, clean and store what they collect, and, since

‘Tennis Ball’ lettuce, which was grown by Thomas

Jefferson at Monticello, can be planted in an orna-

mental border along with ‘Bull’s Blood’ beets and

nasturtiums.

For many g

of lettuce b

its leaves h

unpalatable

stalks serve

savers of an

of ripened s

FAMILY: Asteraceae

LIFECYCLE: Annual

SUGGESTED SPACING: When growing lettuce for seed,increase spacing to at least 12 inches (30 cm) oncenter

OTHER REQUIREMENTS: None

FLOWER TYPE: Perfect, self-fertile flowers grouped intoinflorescences called heads. Multiple heads arefurther arranged in a panicle.

POLLINATION: Self-pollinated (autogamous)MATING SYSTEM: Almost entirely self-pollinating; pollina-tion typically occurs before the stigma emerges.

ADDITIONAL CROSS-POLLINATION CONCERNS: Lettuce iscross-compatible with wild lettuce (Lactuca serriola),but the self-pollinating nature of the species makesthis of little concern. Keep wild lettuce weededwithin lettuce beds or plantings.

FRUIT TYPE: Dry, indehiscent, single-seeded fruit(achene). The fruit acts as a seed for propagationpurposes.

SEED MATURITY: Seed maturity occurs after market matu-rity, when the pappus emerges. At maturity, seeds arereadily dispersed by wind.

SCREEN SIZES: 3 ⁄ 64 × 3 ⁄ 4–6 ⁄ 64 × 3 ⁄ 4 inch (1 × 20–2 × 20 mm)

EXPECTED SEED LIFE: 6 years

ISOLATION DISTANCE

Seed Saving:10–20 feet(3–6 m)Commercial Production: 50 feet (15 m)

POPULATION SIZE

For Viable Seeds: 1 plantFor Variety Maintenance: 5–10 plantsFor Genetic Preservation: 20 plants

Lactuca sativaThree times actual size


9/916 THE SEED GARDEN Lactuca sativa

cold temperatures immediately after germination

have all been cited as additional or compounding

influences.

Flowering triggers vary so much from

variety to variety that there is no exact formula

for predicting flowering times, but some gen-

eral patterns between market classes are fairly

well accepted. Celtuce and loose-leaf types are

typically the earliest flowering, while the heading

types flower later—with crisphead lettuces typi-

cally requiring the longest season to flower. Theflower stalks of tight heading types occasionally

need assistance emerging, which can be done

by cutting an X in the head as it reaches market

maturity or by cracking the head open with a slap

of the hand. Beginner seed savers are advised to

start with a loose-leaf variety, preferably one they

have grown to full size maturity in their garden.

Most varieties of lettuce mature individual seeds

12 to 21 days after fertilization.

VARIETY MAINTENANCE

When growing lettuce for seed, a separati on

of ten feet between varieties is recommended

primarily to prevent any unwanted crossing that

may occur as a result of flowers from adjacent

plants rubbing against each other, but given the

short flowering time of individual blooms and

the shape of the flower, home gardeners may

choose to reduce this recommended distance if

seed is being collected for personal use. Although

gardeners have been known to harvest seeds from

just one or two plants, they should attempt to har-

vest seeds from at least 5 plants for personal use;

with the optimum population size for the genetic

preservation of a healthy variety being 20 plants.

As isolation distances are minimal, there i s little

to no need for controlled pollination.

Off-type and especially weak or diseased

plants should be rogued before seed production

and collection, and lettuce crops may be checked

for head type and shape, leaf type, leaf color,and texture. Some traits to consider for variety

improvement include early vigor, color and leaf

form, flavor, head type, disease and pest resis-

tance, and bolt resistance.

seed set occurring during the warmer months

of summer, but gardeners in other regions may

find that this is best achieved at the time they

are accustomed to planting their main lettuce

crop--possibly in late summer, fall, or even winter

depending on regional conditions. Leaf lettuce

plants grown for seed probably need to remain in

the garden at least xx days to reach full maturity.

By choosing lettuce varieties suited to different

regions of the country, seed savers can help

ensure successful seed production.By limiting or eliminating overhead watering

during seed production, a gardener can improve

seed quality. Commercial growers in wet regions

of the country collecting larger crops even

protect their lettuce from rain with a hoophouse

or overhead cover, but for the home seed saver

these techniques are optional.

FLOWERING, POLLINATION,

AND SEED SET

Because the perfect flowers of lettuce have fused

anthers that shed their pollen in towards the

stigma, they are almost completely self-pollinat-

ing. Like other members of its Asteraceae family,

what appears to be a single

flower on a lettuce plant is

actually a composite flower. 15

to 25 individual flowers, known

as florets, are arranged into an

inflorescence known as a head;

each floret opens for just one

day, and usually just for a few

hours. If fertilized, each floret

has the ability to produce a

single seed and given that there

are numerous heads on each

plant, which can flower succes-

sively over a period of 40 days

or more, a single lettuce plant

can produce a thousand seeds

if properly harvested. Bolting,the setting of a flower stalk, can

be triggered by increasing day

length, but high temperatures,

moisture stress, and exposure to

For many gardeners, the sight of

lettuce bolting signals that its leaves

have turned bitter and unpalat-

able but these flower stalks serve

a reminder to seed savers of an

impending harvest of ripened seed.

The emerging pappus signals that seed matu-

rity is approaching. At full maturity, achenes

will be dispersed by wind currents.

Another method

allows one to harvest all

at once and is used by

commercial growers.

When approximately

60-75% of the seed heads

are mature, plants are

pulled up, roots and

all, and transitioned to

a space where they can

continue drying. Plantsare placed on landscape

fabric with seeds heads

pointed toward center

of cloth and then left to

mature and dry for about

a week prior to cleaning.

In humid or rainy locales,

this process may be modi-

fied by putting plants into

bags or tubs and bringing

them inside a garage or

other protected space.

CLEANING

Cleaning methods vary depending on how the

seed was collected and how much chaff is pres-

ent. If achenes were gathered by shaking plants

or grabbing seed heads, there should be relatively

little chaff and cleaning techniques can focus

on separating the seed from the pappus. Lightly

rubbing the clusters together between your hands

or against a screen should provide enough force

to separate the seed and pappus while not dam-

aging any seeds. Once separated, the seed lot can

be winnowed, but as the seed is often about the

same weight as the pappus, this is not always the

most successful separation technique. Screening

can prove quite effective at separating seed.

While lettuce is a crop often suggest ed for begin-

ner seed savers because of the ease of triggering

seed production and the ease of collection, it isone of the more challenging to clean. But, if the

seed is for personal use, and was disease free and

thoroughly dried, storing an imperfectly cleaned

lot is likely not to prove detrimental.

HARVEST

The sequential flowering

pattern in lettuce gives

rise to a similar pattern

in seed maturity with

seed developing over an

extended period on each

flower branch. When

the seed “feathers”, or

produces a light grey

pappus -- tufts of hairs oneach seed that facilitate

wind dispersal, the seed

is mature.

The fruit and seed

of lettuce are so closely

interdeveloped that they

are almost indiscernible.

The seed remains in the

fruit at maturity—it is

actually the single seeded

fruit (achene) that is

sown. Although the fruits

are indehiscent and do

not break open, seed should be collected before

it is dispersed by wind.

A simple seed gathering technique, useful if

seeds are being collected from just a few plants, is

to hand harvest individual seed heads and trans-

fer into a small bag or container. Provided the

pappus has formed but not yet fulfilled its seed

dispersal function, taking hold of the pappus and

picking it along with the seed is an easy method

of hand collection. Each seed head should

produce about 15-25 seeds, making this an ideal

method for a gardener to collect a small quantity

of seeds for home use, and more can be collected

easily as other seedheads on the plant continue to

mature over the coming weeks.

Another technique involves bending fruiting

branches into a paper bag, and gently shaking

to dislodge seeds. This process is slightly moreefficient and can be started when about one third

of the seed heads are mature and can be repeated

every week or two until the desired amount of

seed has been collected.

Documents

The Seed Garden Sample