Every Seed Tells a Tale

A new book from Seeds of Diversity

180 pages Illustrated with photos $35.00 plus shipping Go to the order form

Did you ever wonder about the culture of Canada’s garden plants, or the history of your own garden? Seeds of Diversity is proud to release our largest collection of stories of seed heritage. Every Seed Tells a Tale - Stories of Plants, People & Places That Have Contributed to Canada's Seed Heritage is the book for you. This book is the ultimate source for seed heritage stories and information that the gardener can use.

It makes a great gift for your gardening friends. Chapters include fascinating stories of heritage vegetables, fruits, grains and flowers. Stories are told of modern-day seed savers who have rescued these precious garden treasures. Our indigenous peoples, pioneers, scientist-breeders, immigrants and others in our past are brought to life in these pages.

Every Seed Tells a Tale is for all of us who are passionate about heritage plants. The stories of Canadian seed savers and their plants can inspire us!
     Janet Wallace, editor of Canadian Organic Grower magazine

As far as I’m concerned, Seeds of Diversity is the single best resource for Canadian gardeners interested in preserving a living part of our shared history. Their book is a fascinating read that I’ll be keeping on my bookshelf for easy reference for years to come.
     Bridget Wayland, editor of Harrowsmith magazine

How to Save Your Own Seeds

48 pages Illustrated with photos $12.00 (includes postage) Go to the order form

Seeds of Diversity announces the new fifth edition of our popular seed saving handbook "How to Save Your Own Seeds". This 48 page handbook is greatly expanded from the previous edition, and has been restructured to make plant family relationships more clear. It demystifies the techniques of saving seeds from common garden vegetables, giving simple detailed instructions for each type.

Written by gardeners, for gardeners, this is a manual for home seed savers as well as small-scale commercial growers. Whether you are learning to save rare heirloom varieties, discovering how to save money by growing your own seeds, or simply interested in learning more about the finer aspects of seeds and gardening, this is an excellent beginner's manual. Sections for the advanced seed saver give details on seed production of biennial crops (beets, carrots, celery, leeks, etc), hand pollination of corn, squash, cucumber and melons, and many more helpful hints.

Over 60 photographs illustrate the techniques used by Seeds of Diversity members, in their own gardens. As well, a new index lists the isolation requirements and seed viability of more than 80 species of garden plants.

Contents:

• General principles of seed-saving
• Self-pollinating vegetables (beans, eggplant, lettuce, okra, peas, peppers, tomatoes)
• Cross-pollinating vegetables (broccoli, chinese cabbage, corn, cucumbers, gourds, melons, mustard, radishes, spinach, squash & pumpkins, sunflowers, watermelon)
• Biennial root crops (beets, carrots, celeriac, leeks, onions, parsnips, winter radishes, rutabagas & turnips, salsify)
• Biennial members of the cabbage family (brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale & collards, kohlrabi)
• Other biennials (celery, endive, parsley, swiss chard)
• Vegetative reproduction (potatoes, jerusalem artichokes, strawberries, etc).

For the preservation work of Seeds of Diversity to be successful, our members must know and follow proper seed saving techniques, including how to keep varieties from crossing with each other. If you are planning to save your own seeds and possibly offer them in our Seed Exchange, we encourage you to order this handbook and learn these valuable and simple techniques.

This handbook is also a popular winter and late-summer item for garden stores and catalogue retailers. Contact our office for information on our reasonable wholesale rates for this book in either English or French editions.

Funding for this handbook was provided in part by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Agricultural Adaptation Council's CanAdapt program. Funding for the translation of this handbook was provided in part by Heritage Canada.

La conservation des semences du patrimoine

Guide de production domestique de semences

48 pages Illustré de photographies 12,00$ frais de poste inclus Go to the order form

Ce manuel sur les techniques de production de semences est notre publication la plus demandée, autant par des jardiniers amateurs que par ceux qui jardinent sur une plus grande échelle. Ce manuel, écrit par et pour des jardiniers, démystifie les techniques de production de semences de légumes ordinaires, et donne des instructions simples, mais bien détaillées pour chaque espèce.

Ce manuel est un excellent guide pour ceux qui veulent apprendre à préserver des variétés du patrimoine, ou menacées, ou encore, pour ceux qui sont simplement intéressés à mieux comprendre l'art et la science du jardinage et de la production de semences.

Le manuel contient aussi des sections plus approfondies sur la production de semences de plantes bisannuelles, la pollinisation manuelle du maïs, courges et citrouilles, et autres conseils utiles.

Table des matières:

• Renseignements généraux sur la production de semences
• Multiplication végétative (pomme de terre, topinambours, etc.)
• Légumes à autopollinisation (haricots, pois, tomates, laitues, piments, aubergines, okra)
• Annuelle à pollinisation croisée (brocoli, choux chinois, moutarde, radis d'été, épinard, tournesols, citrouilles et autres courges, gourdes, concombres, melons, melon d'eau, maïs)
• Cultures racines bisannuelles (betteraves, carottes, céleri-rave, panais, radis d'hiver, rutabaga et navets, salsifis, oignons, et poireaux)
• Membres bisannuels de la famille du chou (chou pommé, choux de Bruxelles, chou-fleur, chou frisé et chou cavalier, et chou-rave)
• Autres bisannuelles (céleri, persil, bette à carde, et endive)

Pour assurer le succès du travail du Programme semencier du patrimoine Canada pour la préservation des variétés du patrimoine, il importe que nos membres connaissent et appliquent les techniques adéquates de production et récolte de semences, y inclut les méthodes pour empêcher la pollinisation entre différentes variétés. Si vous voulez produire vos propres semences, et peut-être offrir une partie de votre récolte dans l'Annuaire d'échange de semences, nous vous encourageons à commander ce manuel. Vous trouverez que les techniques décrites dans ce manuel sont simples, faciles à apprendre et très utiles.

Selling Heritage Crops

A Handbook on Niche Marketing and Sales Techniques for Small-scale Growers of Heritage Crops

by Jim Dyer 35 pages $8.00 incl postage Go to the order form

The sequel and companion to our "Niche Market Development" handbook, this guide takes you through the many successful (and unsuccessful) ways to market and sell heritage produce.

Many growers enjoy working with heritage varieties, and enjoy the knowledge that they are helping to preserve an important genetic resource. Unfortunately, growing good produce and selling it require very different skills. Much has been written about growing heritage crops, and many growers have learned the hard way how to sell them. Until now, there has not been a guidebook specifically written to help you navigate the uncertain terrain of marketing and selling your specialty heritage produce.

This handbook covers niche marketing, lessons learned from real Canadian heritage-crop growers, market research, merchandising, presentation, advertising, promotion, pricing, quality control, various ways to get your produce to customers, and the process of closing a sale. The intention of the book is to give you the confidence and the skills that you need to successfully sell what you grow. The techniques, drawn from over 25 marketing and selling references (bibliography included), are adapted to the heritage produce or seed grower, but can be applied to similar niche markets such as the organic, or home-made preserve markets.