SEED-SAVING TROUBLESHOOTER
Q What is a heritage vegetable? A There’s no hard and fast definition as to what ‘heritage’ or ‘heirloom’ means, but it always refers to open-pollinated seed (not F1 hybrids). There’s usually an assumption that the cultivar existed before the Second World War. Q What’s the difference between F1 hybrids and open pollinated? A F1 hybrids are made by crossing two distinct parent plants to give uniform, vigorous offspring. However they don’t breed true to type so offspring won’t resemble their parents. Seed does come true to type with open-pollinated cultivars, so one generation should resemble the next, as long as no pollen creeps in from different cultivars. Q Can I save my own seed? A Absolutely! For thousands of years humans used to save seed and it’s only over the past half century that these skills have started to disappear. An easy starting point is plants that self-pollinate including peas (see left), beans and tomatoes because there’s less risk of pollen coming in from other cultivars so they should come true to type. Q Where can I buy heritage cultivars? A You could join the Heritage Seed Library (www.gardenorganic.org.uk/ heritage), which gives you access to six packets of seed a year from its catalogue of around 150 cultivars (the library contains some 800). Or try Thomas Etty (www.thomasetty. co.uk), Seeds of Italy (www.seedsof italy.com), The Real Seed Catalogue (www.realseeds.co.uk), Pennard Plants (www.pennardplants.com) or The Organic Gardening Catalogue (www.organiccatalogue.com). Q What are seed swaps? A These community events are mostly held over winter, when people bring packets of labelled seed to swap. Seedy Sunday in Brighton is one of the biggest (3 Feb 2019; www.seedy sunday.org), but you could always start your own swap with friends.