Saving seed is the path to freedom and is key in becoming sustainably self-sufficient.

Self-sufficiency & Sustainability vs.Consumerism

We've become a consumer society and can buy anything we need.  It's packaged in colourful, enticing wrappers and claims to be the best, brightest, most effective or longest lasting on the market.  We buy into the advertising spin as well.  Becoming self-sufficient means we save, we store, we re-use. Self-sufficiency means; not going to the shop, not buying online, not discarding any item that may have another life, another purpose.  Sustainability and self-sufficiency are the antithesis of consumerism.

Recent economic downturns mean less disposable income, yet it can be difficult to adapt a different lifestyle or a different attitude.

Consider the total environmental cost of whichever consumer item is closest to hand at the moment!  Watch Rebecca Hoskins as she calculates the total environmental cost of a sandwich.  Does it make any sense?

Reduce Environmental Cost

We can reduce our environmental and financial costs in our practice of growing and rearing our own.  In the past, saving seed was an essential task each harvest.  It was done simply by setting aside a portion of the crop for next years harvest.  It just takes a little planning and understanding to make it a workable solution once again.

Plants that are grown from early spring have a greater tendency to go to seed by mid summer - excellent, that's the seed for next years crop. A second planting later in the season will provide food continuity.

Above, is an early crop of Mizuna which provided salad in late spring early summer on Our Smallholding.  By early July it began to bolt and flower.  Being a member of the crucifer plant family and much loved by bees, it was quickly pollinated and set it's seed.

Seed Saving

Previously, I've only gathered small amounts of seed, but this year I harvested the entire crop to ensure a genetic mix.  Like all life forms, a more diverse genetic base will grow stronger & healthier crops into the future.

I simply cut the stems with a secateurs as soon as I noticed some of the pods were beginning to open and shed seed and gathered them on a plastic sheet to take to the wood shed.  They were tied in bunches about the size of my wrist with twine from last winters hay bales and suspended from the rafter.  The sheet of plastic was laid on the ground beneath the suspended stems to gather the seed as it dries and drops.  Nature will do the drying and saving and I'll store them in a paper bag - label and date. 

Free Seeds

I expect to have a sizable quantity of Mizuna seed to give away in a few weeks time so watch this space if you'd like some for next spring.

Why would I give them away for free you might ask and the answer is because nature provided them from a packet of open pollinated seeds that was given to me as a Christmas gift.  The Earth does not levy a fee to give, we are just the keepers, we don't own them.  We will retain enough seeds for next years crop on Our Smallholding, the remainder will be distributed to anyone who wants them.