How to Get Free Seeds

You can get free seeds while also learning how to preserve varieties in your garden. Many groups offer free seeds in order to help conserve biodiversity, help beneficial insects that are struggling, and sustain those most in need. Through growing, trading and sharing you can save money and become more self-sufficient while also helping others to do the same.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Book on wild edible plants

1. Look up various seed or heirloom companies online that give out free samples. Most seed companies offer samples of the seeds they offer. Two examples are wintersown.org and benleyseeds.com.

2. Participate in online seed-exchange groups. Select seeds you have an over-abundance of and offer to exchange them for seeds other people want to give. One exchange group can be found at forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/exseed/.

3. Participate in the Kokopelli Seed Foundation's program. They will send you heirloom tomato, lettuce and squash seeds so that you can grow and harvest seeds to be sent to third world countries that need them. You benefit from free food and future seeds from your harvest, and you're helping others get desperately needed seeds, as well.

4. Occasionally, bee and butterfly groups will offer free seeds to populate the earth with plenty of food for these insects.

5. Remove the seeds from all the vegetables you have bought from grocery stores, farmers markets, or your own personal garden.

6. Get a book that teaches you about local edible wild plants. Many edible and medicinal plants grow wild. Burdock, dandelions, milk thistle, mullein and stinging nettles are all beneficial plants that grow wild in most places. Instead of harvesting the seeds and potentially affecting local landscapes, collect from the abundance of seeds these plants have and help disperse them by growing them in your own vegetable or medicinal garden.

Tips & Warnings

• Clean your collected seeds well to avoid food-borne illnesses.

• Never dry seeds in an oven. The high temperatures could damage your seeds.

References

• Save your seeds

Resources

• Garden Web Seed Exchange
• Kokopelli Seed Foundation
• Bentley Seeds
• Winter Sown