Ready to try out the HDL Seed Library but concerned your inexperience will mess us up? Never fear! You’ve come to the right place.
Firstly, let us reassure you that the HDL Seed Library is a place for us to try something new—we’re all about learning new things here. It may take you a few attempts to get something right, but we’d be much happier if you tried and failed than not try at all!
That being said, we’ve got a few things that should set you up for success:
Start with an easy seed.
Flowers, peppers, green beans, and peas are fantastic varieties for the first-time seed saver!
While we don’t currently label our seeds by difficulty, I like to refer people to this article about easy-to-save seeds for new growers. This other article ranks a few different types of seeds in order of difficulty and gives more detail on the saving process.
Check out the blog posts on our featured seeds (found on the Seed Library’s main page) to learn more specific information on how to grow those plants.
Don’t worry about donating bad seeds.
There’s a check box on the newest donation form to let us know if it’s your first time saving seeds. You can tell us if you have any concerns about what you’ve donated. Even if you give us seeds that we can’t add to the library, we’re still glad you gave it a try!
You don’t have to donate a lot of seeds.
Donations of any size, even if it’s only a few beans, are always welcome.
You might also enjoy reading some books we have on hand about seed saving:
