Seed Saving Guidelines

Our aim is to provide the community with healthy, responsibly harvested, and accurately labeled seeds. Please help us maximize the value and usefulness of the seed library by following these basic guidelines when saving and donating seeds.

• Save only healthy, undamaged seeds.
   
• Make sure that seeds are clean and free of inert matter (dirt, stems, chaff, floss, etc). This will reduce the bulk that is stored, as well as the threat of possible pests and diseases.
   
• Save seeds only from healthy plants. Viruses can be transmitted through seeds. It’s also beneficial to have some selection for disease resistance by only saving seeds from strong, healthy plants.
   
• To preserve genetic diversity, save seeds from as many plants as possible.
   
• Some species, especially those of the brassica (cabbage) and curcubit (squash, melons) families readily cross-pollinate, producing many undesirable hybrids. Only save seeds from these plants if you have taken steps to isolate and/or hand-pollinate specific varieties so as to ensure that the seeds are true.
   
• For the same reason, do not save seeds from F1 hybrid plants. F1 plants produce seeds that will be different from the parent plant. While a valuable new variety may be discovered, the odds are low and most of the seeds will produce plants with undesirable qualities.
   
• Please label all seed donations with the information below. (You may use individual envelopes or any container to donate seeds.)
   
  • Plant name. Include the varietal name of food plants, and the Latin name of indigenous and other plant species. In the latter case, the Latin name helps to avoid confusion between plants of the same genus, or plants with various common names.
     
  • Date that seed was harvested
     
  • Location where seed was harvested
     
  • Any notes that you want to share about the plant in question.

Our thanks to the Community Seed Exchange of Sebastopol, CA, from which these guidelines were borrowed and adapted.