Saving your seeds: A great tradition to pass on to children.

A visit to the Petaluma Seed Bank (from Modern Farmer)

The Kind and the Eldest have been discussing saving the seeds from our heirloom plants this year. I found myself thinking it was a lovely family tradition to hand along- one of those that lasts longer than a scrapbook or a photo album.

If you'd like to start planning to do the same, note that there are always extras that makes better gifts than objects left stashed in a drawer. Unless you own loads of acres, you probably don't need 100 seeds.

On my dream-list of things-to-do would be starting a community seed lending library open to all members of a community, including those who can't afford the leisure time to start full-time gardens. It would act as a resource to encourage good gardening practices and pass on local heirlooms and traditions to those who lack time or land or access.

Any and every question about seed saving can be answered in the free booklet and seed saving instructions provided by SeedSave. Fine Gardening also features a post on collecting and storing seeds. Here's more to help you on your way....

Seed paper gift pots and tags (Happy Hour Project)
Brown paper seed packet business cards tutorial (Crafting A Green World)
Glassine seed packets with free labels (Martha Stewart)

FREE PRINTABLE SEED PACKETS

Seeds From My Garden packet (Country Living)
Simple seed envelopes (joy ever after)
Old-fashioned seed packets with illustrations (Victoria Magazine)
Origami seed packets (Caustic Musings)
Scrapbook paper seed packet project (Vale Design)
Nostalgia-infused seed packets (Content in a Cottage)
Quoteable seed packet (Vale Design)
Large seed envelopes with blank label (Maggie Wang)
Large seed envelopes with planting instructions (Maggie Wang)
Printable herb seed packet labels (Just Dawnelle)