What did gardeners do before tomato plants came in 5-gallon plastic pots? Before six-packs of zucchini plants bloomed in profusion at local nurseries? Before seeds conveniently appeared in colorful packets on store racks and in catalogs?
Gardeners saved seeds from their plants and swapped with others in the community -- a tradition that is slowly being revived in Southern California and beyond.
"When you save seeds, you preserve the best of what you grow and improve upon it generation after generation," said Bill McDorman, president of Seeds Trust, an Arizona-based heirloom seed company and founder of the International Seed Saving Institute, www.seedsave.org, a nonprofit educational organization.
Heirloom seeds got their name for a reason, as families once passed them down like little treasures from one generation to the next, said Scott Kleinrock, coordinator of an urban agricultural center in development at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino. Whereas these seeds resulted in a variety of hearty, flavorful produce, today the agricultural industry more often values looks and longevity, the ability of produce to hold up during the 1,300-mile average commute to market.
"Flavor and diversity are not the aim of seeds produced today," McDorman said.
Better flavor, a wider variety of fruits and vegetables, a strong connection to the food they have grown -- these are just some of the reasons why gardeners are saving and swapping seeds.
"A huge part of the experience is flavors and colors and stories," said Kleinrock, a member of the Claremont chapter of Food Not Lawns, which is taking part in an annual seed swapping event Jan. 31. "It's about more than seeds. It's about connections and stories. Last year someone from the Hopi Indian tribe brought seeds."
Kleinrock said novice gardeners who are intimidated by the concept can start with something easy.
"Lettuce and beans and peas are simple," he said. "With lettuce, I just let it go to seed and then scatter."
Kleinrock advised against trying to harvest seeds from commercially produced hybrids because the seeds won't consistently yield the same plant.
For those who have fallen into seed saving, the process spurs them to try unusual varieties of produce -- purple and yellow-podded peas, for example -- that can't be found easily in a store or a catalog.
