The Seed Savers' Handbook
The Seed Savers' Handbook is a complete reference for growing, preparing and conserving 117 traditional varieties of food plants. Written especially for Australian and New Zealand conditions in 1993 by Michel and Jude Fanton, founders of The Seed Savers' Network. 30,000 of the original edition sold with another 30,000 copies of translations and adaptations sold around the world.
Browse the Seed Savers Handbook online
TRANSLATION ON THIS SITE: There is also a Macedonian/Bulgarian version online. With the Japanese and Italian coming soon.
You can own a copy of the full version. Credit card payments are securely processed by Paypal.
The Seed Savers' Handbook has 180 pages with stunning original illustrations. Translations into Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Khmer and Bulgarian. 45,000 sold worldwide.
View the Handbook Contents List
Order the Handbook on-line now.
Reviews
Megg Miller, editor of Grass Roots:
"Many people care passionately about the environment and conserving it for future generations. An integral part of this is concern for the demise of old-fashioned varieties of useful plants and vegetables. But philosophical thought and rhetoric alone cannot turn the tide - the timely publication of this informative and practical book will do much to guide ordinary people to becoming caretakers of our diverse seed heritage."
Michael Boddy, editor of Kitchen Talk Newsletter:
"Our best recommendation for this book is that it will help you strengthen the wholesome connection between soil, plant and self, by showing you how to select and reproduce the seeds that best respond to the region in which you live. Scale is not important here. At whatever level you wish to work - from the single pot on the window-sill to a paddock full of earthly delights - you will find The Seed Savers' Handbook waiting for you, to tell you things you need to know."
Bill Mollison, founder of Permaculture and recipient of the Australian Achiever Award 1993, says in the book's preface:
"I believe this book to be essential for all caring farmer, gardeners, cooks and parents, and I trust that it will speed our return to good nutrition and a healthy society."
Derek Cooper, Presenter of Radio 4 in London UK.
"if you cherish your greens devour this splendid book designed to save our shrinking vegetable heritage."
Alan Gear-chief exectutive, Henry Doubleday Research Association UK (HDRA) "the definite work on vegetable seed saving, combines passion and practicality - every gardener should read this".
Contents
PART ONE - The Issue
The Seed Savers'Network
- Why Collect
- Beginnings
- Seed Savers at Work
Background to Biodiversity
- Seed Homelands
- Life in a Freezer
- Green Non-revolution
- Anyone for Hybrids?
- Designer Genes
PART TWO - The Practicalities
What Seeds to Save
- A Variety of Sources
- Plants Move
- Seeds Adapt
- Regional Cooking
Purity and Production
- Pollination
- Keeping them Pure
- Annual, Biennial, Perennial
Selecting and Collecting
- Criteria for Selection
- How Many to Select
- When to Collect
After the Seed Harvest
- Cleaning
- Drying
- Diseases
- Storing
- Germination
Tests Planting and Planning
- Seed Starting
- Rules of Thumb for Planting
- Planning a Seed Garden
- Principles of Practical Permaculture
A Special Family - Cucurbits
- Characteristics
- Hand Pollination
- Planting the Seeds
PART THREE - The Plants
How to save seeds or propagate by cuttings, tubers or roots, on the following 117 vegetables, culinary herbs and flowers. Also notes on cultivation, usage, origins and the meaning of the botanical name of each plant. Traditional varieties are described so that you can look out for them.
Amaranth Artichoke Asparagus Basella Basil Bean Beetroot Bitter Gourd Borage Broad Bean Brussel Sprouts Cabbage Calendula Cape Gooseberry Capsicum & Chilli Cardoon Carrot Cassava Cauliflower Celeriac Celery Celtuce Chervil Chicory Chilacayote Chinese Cabbage Chives Choko |
Collard Coriander Corn Corn Salad Cowpea Cucumber Dandelion Dill Eggplant Endive Eschallot Fennel Garland Chrysanthemum Garlic Garlic Chives Gourd Gramma Guada Bean Hibiscus Spinach Hyacinth Bean Jerusalem Artichoke Kale Kohlrabi Korilla Leek Lettuce Lima Bean Luffa Marigold |
Marjoram Mint Mitsuba Mizuna Mustard Mustard Greens Nasturtium New Zealand Spinach Oca Okra Onion Oregano Oriental Cooking Melon Pansy & Violet Parsley Parsnip Pea Peanut Peruvian Parsnip Poppy Potato Pumpkin Queensland Arrowroot Radish Rhubarb Rocket Rockmelon |
Rosella Rosemary Runner Bean Sage Salad Burnet Salsify Silver Beet Snake Bean Sorrel Soya Bean Spinach Spring Onion Squash Sunflower Sweet Potato Taro Tarragon Thyme Tomato Tree Onion Tumeric Turnip Water Chestnut Water Spinach Watercress Watermelon Wax Gourd Winged Bean Yam Yam Bean |
Order the Handbook on-line now.





