Are you letting your okra go to seed? This season, I’ve had plenty of okra, and I’m starting my annual practice of saving okra seeds for next year. Even though today’s growers can easily purchase any kind of seed from commercial seed suppliers, saving seeds from treasured vegetables and flowers is a gardening tradition.
Admittedly, hybrid seeds offered through commercial outlets often outperform saved seed because of extensive genetic research. Proprietary laws actually prevent most farmers from saving the harvests for future planting. Even so, a significant number of home gardeners save seeds out of habit and personal interest. Most grassroots seed-saving is the work of home gardeners. Saving heirloom seeds can protect biodiversity and also save money.
Seeds were first patented in the U.S. through the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970. Control of our food system protects commercial yields. The privilege to save seeds for agricultural crops was sheltered for a while, but that protection ended in the early 21st century with changes in technology and law. While commercial farmers do not save seeds as in the past, the home gardener can still legally save seeds. Some nonprofit associations also maintain seed stores of heirloom varieties to be purchased by home gardeners.
Each fall, I save heirloom seeds from okra, cucumbers, butterbeans, peppers and some tomatoes. I also save seeds from perennial natives and prolific seed-bearing annuals like zinnia. My garden and flower beds are openly pollinated by bees, wasps and butterflies. Open pollination is important because genetically, plants grown from these seeds adapt to local conditions over time.
Local varieties are sometimes called landraces. A landrace is a traditional variety of plant that has developed tolerances to local pests and diseases. Landraces are distinct from cultivars and from standard breeds. Numerous farmers worldwide grow landrace crops, and most plant landraces are associated with traditional agricultural systems. Landraces have been grown for millennia. Significantly, our increasing reliance upon modern cultivars actually reduces biodiversity, because most genetic diversity of plant species lies in landraces and traditional varieties.
If you are interested in heirloom vegetable seeds, I can recommend offerings maintained at Clemson through the South Carolina Crop Improvement Association. This group sustains a relationship with Clemson University and offers heritage seeds from beans, peas, okra, corn and an occasional gourd. For more information, visit clemson.edu.
If you are interested in seeds for native plants, I can recommend that you turn to sources like the South Carolina Native Plant Society at scnps.org. Also check out botanical gardens such as the N.C. Botanical Gardens at ncbg.unc.edu/plants/. There’s much to discover about native plants. If you have access to “the wild,” or better yet, have a friend who will share seeds from a naturalized area, many wildflowers can be easily propagated from saved seeds by the backyard gardener.
Seed collecting takes time and requires commitments and space, so don’t make it hard to do. Each year, I collect seeds from common purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), Confederate Rose (Hibiscus mutabilis) and other hibiscus that grow in my flowerbeds.
I have had good luck with growing Carolina Spicebush (Calycanthus floridus, also known as sweet shrub), and American Strawberry Bush (Euonymus americanus). I love the bright red seeds on Strawberry Bush, also called “Hearts A-Busting.” From September to October the showy scarlet seed capsules open to reveal purple insides and bright orange seeds. I’ll have a number of Strawberry Bush plants that I’ve germinated from seed ready to donate for next spring’s Master Gardener plant sale.
Admittedly, some native plants have cultivation requirements that can frustrate the casual grower (like me). So, I am not disappointed if my collected seeds do not germinate well. Many natives, for instance, require months of cold stratification, or take too long to grow from seed, Methods for collecting, cleaning, and storing wildflower seeds and techniques for “breaking” dormancy can be quite involved. Fortunately, other propagation methods are layering and stem cuttings.
Most importantly, maintain a system for identifying your collection. Experimentation is fun, but we all need a way to identify those seeds collected in fall when we get ready to sow in spring.
Happy seed collecting! By the way, did you attend the 40th Annual S.E.E.D. event at USCA? Master Gardeners were there providing information about open pollination. By saving seeds and supporting S.E.E.D., Master Gardeners share a creative and generative approach to life!
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