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Adult daughter kisses her smiling mother on the cheek as they harvest tomatoes and cucumbers in their greenhouse garden.

A Mother’s Day Gift for Moms Who Love to Garden (and Mother Earth will love it, too!)

There’s something truly special about growing a garden and reaping the benefits of homegrown food and beautiful flowers. There’s nothing quite like the taste of sweet, tender peas fresh out of the pod, savoring a juicy cherry tomato or brushing your hand along the tops of flowers that you grew yourself. The only thing that could […]

The moment a researcher holds a bottle not touched for 142 years.

One of the World’s Oldest Scientific Experiments Rises from the Earth

Under cover of darkness in a secret location,  a group of scientists from Michigan State University  embarks on a treasure hunt following a hand-drawn map. The object of their search: a bottle filled with sand and a bunch of really old seeds.  The researchers are participating in a multi-century attempt to figure out how long […]

Happy Earth Day!

Seed the Change for Earth Day!

The Great American Seed Up and Urban Farm U present Seed Up Saturday, on May 22, 2021, from 9 am – 12 noon Pacific time. Seed Up Saturday will feature a series of short seed saving classes jam packed with seed saving education that will empower you to increase your food security by learning to […]

Other Seed Education from our Founders

Urban Farm Podcast – Seed Chats & Classes –

Bill McDorman joins Greg Peterson for a educational chat and answer a few questions
(Podcast episode number)

— 2021 —

  • Where, When, and How to Start Saving Seeds (584)

— 2020 —

  • Current Status of World Seeds, Utility Patents, and Community-Based Seed Systems (552)
  • Difficult Seeds to Save, How to Avoid Cross-Pollination, and Creating a Self-Reinforcing Breeding System (549)
  • Gardening Hacks, Hybrid Seeds, Natural Seed Saving Methods, and Having Fun Making a Mess in the Garden (566)
  • Highlights of Seed Saving Topics from The Year, From Proper Seed Storage to Seed Viability, and Why Plants Thrive Better from Saved Seeds (580)
  • Seed Catalogs, Sourcing Local Seeds, and Building Community (521)
  • Seed Diversity, The Value of Farm Direct Seeds, Building Regional Relationships, and Seed Adaptation (563)
  • Seed Health and Your Health, Resurrecting Ancient Grains, and How Saving Seeds Creates a Healthy Community (571)
  • Seed Hoarding, Providing Seeds to a Community in Times of Need, and More About Seed Resilience  (544)
  • Starting Seeds, Things to Consider, and The Number One Reason Seeds Don’t Sprout (529)
  • Various Seed Exchange Resources, Finding Heirloom Seeds, Supporting Organizations, and How to Connect People to Local Seed Sources (559)

— 2019 —

  • Extreme Seed Saving, How Normal Temperatures Affect Plant Pollination, and Adapting for Temperature  (BE29)
  • Genetic Modification, The Current Advances, and What it Means for our Food, The Truth Behind Scientific Studies, and Hand Pollination (BE31)
  • Growing from Seed, Growing for Seed, and Why Seeds are so Important in Changing Times (BE27)
  • Highlights from The 2019 Seed Summit (BE25)
  • Seed Catalog Season, Favorite Seed Catalogs and How to Recognize the Best Ones, and What the Terminology in the Catalogs Mean (512)
  • Seed School, How to Become a Teacher, and Allowing Plants to go to Seed (BE28)
  • The Art of Saving Your Own Seeds, The Challenges, How to Harvest, Thresh and Clean Seeds on a Small Scale (BE30)
  • The Global Seed Situation, Plant Patents, Advanced Methods for Creating New Plants, Why Seed Saving is More Important Than Ever, and More (BE32)
  • The Importance of Wild Crop Relatives and The Importance of Biodiversity (BE24)
  • Why We Save Seeds, How to Start, How to Store Seeds, Cross-Pollination, and Plant Diversity (BE26)

— 2018 —

  • A Market Explosion of Heritage Grains That Are Changing The Way We Eat and Bake (BE18)
  • Glass Gem Corn and More (BE22)
  • Grain School, Original Peanuts of South Carolina, Inspiring Gardeners, and Broccoli in Alaska (BE14)
  • Patents, Descriptions, Regional Adaptation, and Open Sourced Seeds (BE15)
  • Seed Names, Medicinal Plants, Plant Knowledge, and Landrace Seeds (BE21)
  • Seed Sourcing, Hybrids, Sharing Seeds, and Testing Root Crops (BE16)
  • Sourcing Seeds and Selecting Seeds That Can Help You Feel Confident in Your Selections (BE20)
  • The Seed Paradigm and Seed History (BE23)
  • Why Don’t We Always Know Where Our Seeds Come From (BE19)
  • Wild Seeds, Native Seeds, Noxious Weeds, and More (BE17)

— 2017 —

  • An In Depth Discourse on Grains and Corns, An Ancient Potato, Grain Trials, and Becoming a Seed Steward (BE13)
  • Motivational Quotes, Adjusting for New Weather Norms, and Coming Back from Gardening Disasters (BE11)
  • Running a Seed Business: Growing Seeds, Germination, Testing & Maintaining Seeds  (BE5)
  • Seed Saving Principles, Intellectual Property Rights, Seed Saving Policy, and History (BE9)
  • Seed School Online, de-hybridization, seed patents, and more (BE2)
  • Seed School Teacher Training, Seed Saving Principles List, Disaster Planning, and Breeding Program Preparation (BE7)