The Complete Idiot's Guide to Seed Saving And Starting

Mouthwatering heirlooms, exciting hybrids, sensational herbs, colorful flowers—you dream of a garden overflowing with vibrant, healthy plants. Turn your dream garden into reality with seeds you save and start yourself!

With easy ideas on harvesting, storing, sowing and nurturing your seeds into flourishing plants, this helpful guide gives you a sure path from start to success. In it, you get:

   • A look at seed and plant anatomy and how pollination works.
   • Simple suggestions for identifying seeds to save, and for gathering and prepping seeds for next year's garden.
   • Guidance on germinating seeds, indoors or out, using scarification or stratification.
   • Tips for transplanting, thinning, hardening off, and protecting seedlings from weather, pests and disease.
   • Easy ideas for cross-breeding plants and creating hybrids suited to your garden and climate.
   • A comprehensive directory of botanical names and harvesting, germination, and sowing data for hundreds of plants.

The Complete Idiot's Guide To Seed Saving And Starting is an essential resource to reap richer results with plants grown from your own seeds!

Sheri Richerson has been a prominent figure in the self-sufficiency movement for more than 19 years. Her writing has been published in Woman's World Magazine, the New York Times, Ladies' Home Journal, and on a number of websites, including idiotsguides.com and eHow.com. She is the host of the podcast Experimental Homesteader.