Quick Start Guides

All across our suburbs and cities people are growing food in backyards and community gardens. Urban agriculture is an increasingly popular phenomenon and aside from helping with food security and environmental protection by reducing food miles and helping us feed ourselves, growing food where we live means we can have…

Beginning in the tropics when it comes to growing food and saving seeds, can bevery different for some people, especially when they have moved here from downsouth when colder climates dictate what is best to grow and what isn’t. The first thing I notice with new arrivals, is they want…

Botanical name (Genus species): Pisum sativumAlso known as: Snow peas, snap peas, podding peas, shelling peas, dwarf or bush peas, climbing peas. Planting: What do we need to know before planting for seed production? Pollination method: Peas are self-pollinating. Their flowers never open. This means you don’t have to do anything to…

Botanical name (Genus species): Lactuca sativa Planting: What do we need to know before planting for seed production? Pollination method: Lettuce is self-pollinating so we don’t need to do anything to ensure that the seed produced will be true-to-type. Isolation distance: Try to keep flowering lettuces at least 2m or far enough that…

Botanical name: Phaseolus species; Vicia species; Vigna species; Glycine species. Also known as: French beans, climbing beans, bush or dwarf beans; Runner beans; Tepary beans; Lima beans; Snake or yardlong beans; Cowpeas or Black-eyed beans/peas; Adzuki beans; Mung beans; Soybeans and Broadbeans. Planting: What do we need to know before planting for seed production? Before we start we need…

Botanical name (Genus species): Solanum lycopersicum Planting: What do we need to know before planting for seed production? Generally you don’t need to think too much before planting tomatoes for seed production. Just choose a variety that you like and that suits your region. Just remember, for seed saving, seeds must…