Boosting Your Garden's Productivity & Preserving Seeds for the Future

There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to purchase your favorite seeds only to find out they are sold out for the season. Make sure you have the seeds you need to grow your favorite flowers and vegetables this season and next.

Consider buying quality seeds in bulk and properly storing them which will boost their longevity for many years. The key is to keep the seeds cool and dry.  The drier the seeds are kept, the longer they will remain viable. Store seeds in airtight containers at 40°F (4.5°C) or lower for best results. Colorado State University provides tips on extending seed storage.

Keep it simple with the help of True Leaf Market. It offers several products to help you be prepared for this season and beyond, including an Emergency Heirloom Storage Seeds –Long Term Storage Can. It conveniently contains over 50,000 seeds to keep you well stocked for years to come. The 16 varieties of heirloom garden seeds were selected for their tenacity and adaptability to grow in most regions.  

The kit includes pea, radish, onion, spinach, Swiss chard, cabbage, beet, carrot, lettuce, bean, corn, cucumber, zucchini, pepper, winter squash, and tomato seeds. The basics that most gardeners like to grow and cooks like to prepare. The seeds are dried and sealed in Ziploc mylar pouches and resealed in a large can, preserving them for future plantings.

The kit includes a booklet to help you grow a productive garden. It also guides you through the process of collecting and saving seeds from this year’s harvest to use when planting next year’s garden.

Saving seed is a rewarding and sustainable experience. Open-pollinated heirloom plants set seeds that will grow into plants similar to the parent plant. Different seeds require different methods of collecting and saving. Beans and peas, for example, are collected once the pods turn brown and seeds rattle inside. Tomato seeds, on the other hand, are scooped out of the gelatinous center of the tomato, placed in water, and set in a warm place to ferment. The good seeds sink to the bottom and then are removed from the mix, rinsed, and allowed to dry.

If you already have a storage system you like, consider investing in the Organic Heirloom Seed Assortments. They have selected an assortment of garden seeds, eliminating the hassle of planning a garden.  Select the 10-assorted or 16-assorted mix that best fits your gardening needs.

If that’s not enough, check out the Emergency Heirloom Bug Out Seed Bag.  It contains a total of 22,000 seeds consisting of 34 of the easiest and most prolific vegetable seeds. These seeds are sealed in a weatherproof mylar bag to prevent spoilage for seasons of successful plantings. The package includes a 75-page Vegetable Growing Guide to help you be successful in your garden

Whether new to gardening, experienced, or looking for ways to be more sustainable, consider enlisting some of these strategies this year. 

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