Seed Saving Quick Reference

A printable field guide for Zone 6a gardeners

This is everything I've learned about saving seeds over twenty seasons of growing heirloom varieties at Freighter View Farms on the shores of Saginaw Bay. It covers fifteen crops organized by difficulty — from tomatoes and beans (which practically save themselves) to biennials like carrots and beets (which take two years and some patience).

Print it. Laminate it. Hang it in your garden shed.

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6 pages · Printable · No email required

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PDF · ~200KB · Formatted for US Letter

What's Inside

Pollination Basics
Self-pollinating vs. cross-pollinating — which plants need isolation and which save themselves.
15+ Crop Profiles
Detailed instructions for each plant: when to harvest seed, how to clean it, and how long it lasts in storage.
Isolation Distances
Exact distances to prevent cross-pollination. Critical for squash species, corn, and brassicas.
Storage Guide
Step-by-step seed drying, cleaning, packaging, and long-term storage. Plus a viability testing method.

Crops covered

Want the interactive planting calculator?

Zone 6a Planting Calculator — enter your frost date, get personalized planting dates for 50+ plants.

Deep dive on seed saving:

The Complete Seed Saving Guide at Freighter View Farms

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