Renewable Garden

[widefat]

I'm embarrassed that I don't know anything about this....but here goes. I have never grown vegetables from anything other than store bought seeds and plants. Every year, visit the whatever and buy the seeds and plants, rinse, lather, repeat.
I would like to be able to grow vegetables perennially, without having to depend on seed and plant availability. Are you doing this? How? How do we get started and continue the process?

 

[Mendonsy]

What you want is "heritage" seed varieties. These are not hybrids so they can be re-grown from their own seeds every year.
You have to be very careful not to grow two different heritage varieties close to each other so that you don't create your own hybrid plants. Of course you will need a way to start the plants in the spring like a greenhouse or window planter.

 

[MossRoad]

I've been planting the same beans for 10-15 years. I just let some of them stay on the vines to dry and harvest them, take the beans from the pods and store them in a cool, dry place until next year. That's about all. The rest I purchase seeds for or started plants each year.

 

[Clint S]

I save all the seeds I can. Squash, cucumber, beans, peas etc. Just dry and store. Alot cheaper than buying them. A few t 8 bulbs in a fixture and your good to go for growing

 

[CalG]

In the long run, sustainable gardening needs a "seed exchange". Enhanced vigor comes from variety.

 

[EddieWalker]

We have several gardens. Our main supply comes from raised beds that we are expanding with more of them every year. We save our seeds, plus buy new ones, and even trade with friends for that garden. Another garden is all natural under a large oak tree. It started by accident when we spread our compost bins there along with what we cleaned out of our chicken pen. More then a dozen different type of plants came up. Several dozen tomatoes alone almost overwhelmed us!!! Every year, it keeps coming up on it's own. This was a barren area that grass wouldn't grow, now it's a very special area of our garden that we look forward to seeing what sprouts there.