How to Save Seeds from Biennial Plants
WE SAVE SEEDS for many reasons: tradition; the idea of seed sovereignty and not being beholden to seed companies; and ensuring that our favorite cultivars don’t disappear. The most obvious reason for seed saving is that we want more plants. And when it comes to saving our favorite vegetable seeds, more plants mean more food. But some vegetables are easier to bring to seed than others. Self-pollinating annuals, such as lettuce and beans, are the easiest from which to save seed. These are followed by other annual crops, such as tomatoes, pumpkins, or peppers, which may require some level of isolation or pollination management, but other than that are grown similarly to how they’re grown for eating.
Biennial crops (varieties that flower, bear fruit, and set seed in their second season before reaching the end of their life-cycle, such as beets, chard, and
