If you were gardening in 2020 you likely remember the shortage of seeds that happened when the world shut down and suddenly everybody was growing a garden. Many seed companies were overwhelmed with the influx of orders and that shortage continued into the 2021 season. There’s nothing more disappointing than to peruse a beautiful seed catalog and make out your list of favorites to grow, only to be told the company is sold out. Enter seed saving. If you grow heirloom or open-pollinated varieties, you can avoid this problem all together by saving your own seeds. Not only is it cost effective but often times you are creating a stronger strain that is going to work particularly well in your garden each subsequent year because the parent plant has been exposed to, and survived, everything your climate can throw at it. Today on Just Grow Something we’re digging into why we should add seed saving to our list of garden tasks, even if it isn’t for every variety we grow in our garden. We’ll talk about the practice of saving seeds, including plant selection and pollination control, and go step-by-step into how to extract, clean, dry, and store those precious commodities to be sure we have plenty of options for our gardens for years to come. Let’s dig in. Episode Resources: Plan Like a Pro is open for fall registration! Get started here: Plan Like A Pro | Just Grow Something with Karin Velez Resources mentioned in this episode: Ep. 63 - Proper Seed Storage: Moisture levels, storage conditions, containers, and more Chart of Seed Viability and Simple Seed Germination Test Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group Check out how you can become a patron on Patreon Positively Farming Media Podcast Playlist on Spotify --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/justgrowsomething/message