Secrets of Seed Saving

Learn the secrets of saving seeds from Los Angeles's foremost seed expert.
Saturday, October 13
Strub Avenue Farm
10a-12p
$40 ($30 early bird price ends October 6)
You'll learn how to create a reliable and low-cost supply of non-genetically altered food at this very affordable workshop.
Seed Library of Los Angeles Chair David King teaches an introduction to saving seeds from your garden on Saturday, October 13 at Strub Avenue Farm in Whittier. You will learn how to grow heirloom plants and save your… Show more own seeds for next year. A truly important step for self-sufficiency and independent living, saving seeds is also a powerful tool to gain control over your food supply. By saving seeds, gardeners ensure that they have a reliable and safe supply of non-genetically altered food, food not doused with chemicals, and food that is lovingly brought from seed to table.
You will learn:
- The reasons for saving seeds
- The botany needed to save seeds
- The mechanisms of seed saving
- Which plant seeds are easily saved
- Which seeds are more difficult, and how to deal with them
The workshop will feature a lab section, provided by Whittier Backyard Farms, which will give you the opportunity to identify the seed-producing parts of flowers. You can even use that knowledge to breed your own new vegetable varieties! You will learn the process of hand pollination and how to ensure the seeds you are saving are the seeds you want to be saving. You will also learn why we need to breed our own organic vegetable varieties to further the production of organic food in our own neighborhoods and communities.
Graduates of this class are invited to our first Whittier Seed Swap! We'll swap seeds at the potluck following the class. If you don't have homegrown seeds on hand, don't worry; you won't go home empty-handed. Join us!
Horticulturalist David King is the garden master of The Learning Garden in Venice, CA, author of the LA Garden Blog www.lagardenblog.com, and chair of the Seed Library of Los Angeles. He also teaches fruit tree grafting through UCLA Extension and the Whittier Time Bank.
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Secrets of Seed Saving is a part of the Build-Your-Skills workshop series curated by the Whittier Time Bank in support of community self-reliance.
This event is planned in collaboration with Whittier Backyard Farms.
To learn about more upcoming workshops for self-reliance, email whittiertimebank@gmail.com.

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