Is saving heirloom seeds worth the time and effort?
Heirloom seeds breed true, meaning that the fruit from seed you harvest from the current fruit will be the same, generation after generation. This means that if you like the current harvest you can use the seeds with confidence that they will give you the same thing next time. Hybrid seeds have been cross-bred to achieve improvements in flavor, productivity, disease resistance, holding capacity, or other characteristics which people want and request. The next generation cannot be counted on to be the same as the original plant, and thus we need to continue buying seed from the seed grower. Producing seeds in your own garden is no big problem if you’re growing crops with seeds in the fruit, such as tomatoes, peppers, etc. However, for things like lettuce, cabbage, onions, etc. you have to let the plant stay in the garden while it “goes to seed” – sometimes for as long as a second year. This can make a mess of your garden, and foul up your plans for continuing to grow food to eat. Harves
