From “Books to Grow On” Page–“Seed to Seed”

•  Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth

 

Problem: You just grew the biggest Cherokee purple tomato of your life–free of blemish and disease. Unfortunately, your seed saving knowledge for future bounty is shockingly nil.

Solution: Home gardening guru Suzanne Ashworth (who donated her text to support The Seed Saver’s Exchange, an 8,000 member genetic preservation organization in Decorah, Iowa) has given all fledgling seed savers hope with her comprehensive (bible) book, “Seed to Seed”. The author covers seed preservation techniques on over 160 non-hybrid vegetable crops, ranging from the Peruvian Carrot to the Unicorn Plant.

The encyclopedic style book unveils vast information about each vegetable including its botanical classification, flower structure,  pollination techniques, and the integral final stages including harvesting, drying, cleaning, and seed storage. There’s even a section dedicated to regions, as well as how to start each vegetable from seed.

“Seed to Seed” reads like a reference guide, but it also broadcasts hope to growers who don’t tread on the path bleached out by corporate mono crops. Furthermore, it hearkens the reader back to when families held on to Darwin worthy seeds in order to preserve a way of life for a whole community. Seed to Seed” demonstrates that sharing and preserving something as tiny as a seed can save something as gargantuan as Mother Earth.