Seed Saving Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect—with Catherine Howell

As our climate changes and growing conditions become more challenging, seed diversity and seed saving are becoming increasingly vital to our future. Put bluntly, without seeds, we can’t grow food.So I was delighted to be joined by Catherine Howell, from the Seed Sovereignty Programme, to learn more about how those of us who grow in small spaces can support seed diversity - and even save some of our own seeds (timecodes below).I was particularly struck by the joy Catherine has witnessed when people discover the extraordinary abundance of seeds that plants produce, with a single lettuce plant giving thousands of seeds. Sharing those seeds doesn’t just distribute a useful resource - it can also help to bind communities together.I also loved Catherine’s encouragement to have a go at seed saving without worrying about doing everything perfectly.TimecodesHere are the main topics we discussed, with timecodes if you’d like to skip to a particular part:00:00 Introduction00:56 How Catherine became a seed saver03:54 Why seed saving feels different: wellbeing, abundance and sharing08:34 Why home-saved seed can perform better13:14 Commercial hybrids versus heritage varieties18:54 Favourite heritage tomato varieties20:52 The best crops for saving seed in containers23:47 Do you need several plants to save good seed?27:36 How seed saving can bring communities together28:48 Why it matters where you buy seed34:20 Seed swaps and the Heritage Seed Library37:08 Other easy seeds to save - chillies and peppers40:28 The best resources for learning seed saving44:07 Drying and storing seed: common mistakes48:04 Seed resilience in a changing climate51:34 Reasons for optimism - and causes for concern54:44 If you save one seed next year, make it peasUseful links To learn more about the practicalities of seed saving, here are a few of the resources recommended in the podcast. I’ll share more links - including all the seed companies Catherine mentions - in a separate seed-saving post shortly.* Vertical Veg: How to Save Tomato Seeds - an easy one to start with - my short step-by-step video with seed expert Peter Brinch. * Back Garden Seed Saving by Sue Stickland - Catherine's seed-saving 'bible', with accessible crop-by-crop guidance.* Real Seeds: How to Save Your Own Seed - free instructions for individual vegetables, including isolation and crossing.* Seed Sovereignty Programme - Catherine's programme, with events and information about training.More about Catherine and the Seed Sovereignty ProgrammeCatherine Howell is England Lead and Northern Region Coordinator for the Seed Sovereignty Programme -“A food revolution starts with seed”- a project of the wonderful Gaia Foundation, which also supports creative communications such as Wake Up Call.Catherine supports seed-sovereignty work - including training, celebration and advocacy - from the Scottish Borders to Birmingham. She works with farmers and growers across community and commercial settings to restore power, control and agency over the seeds they need to grow food, while advocating for agroecological growing and biodiverse food-production systems. Get full access to Vertical Veg: Container Gardening by Mark Ridsdill Smith at verticalveg.substack.com/subscribe