giveaway: learning to save seed, with seed savers exchange’s tim johnson

DOES YOUR GARDEN PLAN include an end game of seed saving–of letting favorite edibles produce not just a delicious harvest, but also the start of next year’s plantings, and of generations beyond?

“The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving,” just released by Seed Savers Exchange in collaboration with Organic Seed Alliance, provides a comprehensive overview of seed saving–both art and science. It includes detailed how-to’s on more than 75 crops: how to grow them with a seed crop in mind, right through to harvest, cleaning and successful storage. (Enter to win a copy in the comments box at the very bottom of the page.)

One of the book’s expert contributors, Dr. Timothy Johnson, head of preservation and also the seed bank manager for Seed Savers in Decorah, Iowa, joined me on the May 4, 2015 edition of my public-radio show and podcast to help us start our gardens with seed saving in mind.

Tim has worked for more than a decade in the field of conservation, helping to preserve wild and domesticated plant species. Now, with a fulltime staff of 12, he maintains the Seed Savers’ plant collection—more than 20,000 different varieties in about 100 species, primarily edibles. (Part of SSE’s Heritage Farm is in the photo below.)

Read along as you listen to the May 4, 2015 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below, as we learn what seeds to try to save, and how, as backyard gardeners. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

read/listen: seed saving,a q&a with dr. tim johnsonQ. Despite your expertise in managing the Seed Savers collection, how would you rate yourself at home as a seed saver?

A. As a seed saver, I consider myself to be a novice.

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