A practical and poetic guide to harvesting, drying and storing your own seeds, inspired by farmers from every continent.
How do farmers in the Andes, the Sahel, Asia or Northern Europe keep their seeds alive year after year, through heatwaves, monsoon rains or icy winters?
This book takes you on a journey from Quechua potato granaries and West African millet stores to Mediterranean clay jars and Sahelian gourds filled with ash, showing how seeds survive time, and how you can save your own at home.
Both handbook and cultural travel, Seed Saving Traditions Around the World presents seed saving as a technical skill, a biological science and a living heritage woven from stories, landscapes and peasant knowledge.
Inside, you will find:
Clear, practical methods for harvesting, drying and cleaning seeds from common vegetables, herbs, grains and legumes.
Simple charts on seed viability, storage conditions and isolation distances.
Traditional storage techniques using ash, clay, baskets, jars and granaries from around the world.
A step-by-step guide to creating your own home seed library (seed bank) and organising your seed packets.
Inspiring portraits of seed keepers and communities who protect biodiversity and food sovereignty in the face of climate change.
Perfect for home gardeners, seed library organisers, community gardens, homesteaders, permaculture growers and anyone interested in heirloom seeds, traditional farming and indigenous agricultural knowledge.
