Over the last few years, I have become increasingly interested in seed saving. With growing uncertainty in global trade, that interest has only deepened. I ordered The Seed Farmer by Dan Brisebois after hearing him on the Market Gardener podcast. I appreciated his down-to-earth, practical approach on the podcast, and I was pleased to find the same tone reflected in his book.

I really like how The Seed Farmer is organized. It’s highly readable and will be easy to refer back to. The first section covers the basics of seed saving, explaining key concepts such as open pollination, cross-pollination, and self-pollination. It then provides guidance on selecting which seeds to save first, considering factors like likelihood of success, difficulty level, and economic reasoning. Brisebois emphasizes starting small, which I found to be a thoughtful and manageable approach. He introduces these foundational concepts as the “first seed mindset.” Later in the book, he delves into more advanced seed-saving techniques and finally addresses the needs of commercial seed savers. Each section builds onto the previous, and it’s easy to go only as deep as you want to for now.
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The book also includes two “encyclopedia-like” sections that detail how to grow and save seeds for a variety of common crops—both vegetables and flowers. The vegetable section is well-suited to my climate, as Brisebois’s farm is located less than 50 kilometers from where I live. This makes the information highly relevant to my own gardening experience. For those in very different climates, it may be worth checking how well the crops covered in the book align with their own gardens. However, the selection represents the “greatest hits” of many North American gardens.

Some of the most interesting insights I gained from the book connect to the following concepts:

• There is a lot of contradictory information online about which crops cross-pollinate and at what distances. Since this book is based on firsthand experience and trial and error, I trust its information more than generalized advice I’ve read online. For example, I now feel more confident about saving tomato seeds.
• The book challenged my previous assumption that all squash varieties cross with each other. I learned that cultivated squash falls into several species, and species do not cross-pollinate. For example, butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata) is the only squash I grow from that species, so I can safely save its seeds. However, I commonly grow five different varieties of Cucurbita pepo (delicata squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, zucchini, and pie pumpkin), which will cross-pollinate, making seed saving more difficult.
• I was fascinated to learn that certain seeds, like tomatoes and cucumbers, benefit from fermentation during the saving process.

Several immediate takeaways from the book that I plan to implement this season include:

• Saving butternut squash seeds, now that I know they won’t cross-pollinate with my other squash varieties.
• Saving my tomato seeds, as they are less susceptible to cross-pollination than I previously thought, and fermenting them for better results.
• Paying closer attention to whether the seeds I purchase next fall are open-pollinated or F1 hybrids, since only open-pollinated seeds can be reliably saved.
• Reconsidering my planting plans. For example, I will need to think about whether I want to switch back to growing only one type of cucumber to ensure reliable seed saving, given its tendency to cross-pollinate.
• Gradually transitioning to saved seeds rather than making an abrupt switch. I appreciated the book’s advice to start with a mix of 10% saved seeds and 90% purchased seeds to test viability.
• Acquiring a box fan or two for winnowing seeds—using airflow to separate chaff from seeds.

In addition, in the longer term, I might create a small seed-saving plot somewhere on my property for crops that require isolation. However, I recognize that if something is out of sight, it’s unlikely to become part of my routine, and weeds may take over. For now, I’ll stick to integrating seed saving into my existing gardening practices.

One limitation of the book is that it does not discuss techniques for managing cross-pollination beyond isolating crops through distance. Methods such as hand-pollination or taping flowers shut are not covered. I understand why—these techniques may be too labor-intensive for market gardeners—but they are viable options for homesteaders and home gardeners. It also doesn’t go too deeply into breeding your own varieties. To learn more about these concepts, I plan to revisit Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carole Deppe, which I found promising but initially a bit dense.

Which brings me to say - I also enjoyed the book’s engaging tone. It’s filled with anecdotes and practical advice, making it a light and enjoyable read. I finished it in just two afternoons. I highly recommend The Seed Farmer to anyone with some basic seed-saving experience, as prior knowledge provides useful context.

In conclusion, this book has given me the confidence to increase my seed self-sufficiency in the short and medium term. It also provided a reality check about the complexities of achieving total seed independence. While full self-sufficiency presents challenges, I now feel I can build the skills necessary to maintain a well-rounded garden based on saved seeds if needed. I will enjoy practicing my seed saving skills and saving some money in the process. However, if I don’t need to rely solely on saved seeds, I’ll continue to enjoy the convenience of supplementing with purchased seeds.

​Le jardinier-maraîcher: Manuel d’agriculture biologique sur petite surface, Jean-Martin Fortier

The market gardener : A  successful grower’s handbook for small-scale organic farming, Jean-Marc Fortier
 
This very practical handbook is based on the experience of Jean-Martin Fortier and Maude-Hélène Desroches in establishing a successful small scale organic farm serving customers mostly through a CSA basket program, in the Eastern Townships of Québec. Their approach is centered on organic methods, intense planting,  and efficiency of work, enabling them to minimize how much they invest in equipment and people power. Given these goals, a lot (but not all) of their conclusions are very applicable to a homesteading garden, where minimizing work and investment are typically very important. Where the applicability breaks down is where they make decisions based on building their customer base, and also, because minimal attention is paid to planning a garden with the goal of preserving food over winter, as their business revolves around selling fresh produce.

I really enjoyed the way the book is organized – it is a true handbook, with chapters on every phase of setting up and operating a large garden. The first few chapters would be useful for someone who is still dreaming about homesteading. They cover how to chose the ideal property and how to set up your site. If you already have a property, you will probably only skim them. The rest of the chapters are dedicated to one topic each, including fertilizing, indoor seedlings, direct sowing, weeding, pests, prolonging the growing season, harvesting and planning your production.

Personally, I also enjoyed how throughout the book, the author shares the philosophy behind their approach. The themes of sustainability, anti-consumerism and seeking a balanced life resonated strongly with me. These themes don’t take over the book, but they do incite reflection and give an intention to the work.

There are many reference charts and appendices covering things such as rotation charts, crop spacing, planting calendars, solutions to common problems, etc.

There is also considerable attention given to the business side of things, which I found interesting but not very applicable to my situation, where my goal is feeding myself and my family, as opposed to growing a business.
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After my first reading of the book, I have a few take-aways that I am immediately putting into practice:

1. Crop rotation: in the past, I have had a general sense and goal of avoiding planting the same thing in the same place two years in a row, but this book gave a much clearer and systematic understanding of crop rotation. I now have a stronger understanding of the need to rotate between vegetable families, instead of between specific vegetables. For example, I should wait 3-4 years before planting a nightshade where another nightshade has been grown (the nightshade family includes tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplants, tobacco, and ground cherries). There is a very useful summary of a few other key rules to respect when planning crop rotation. Over the weekend, I reworked my garden overhead plan to fully incorporate crop rotation by family. For me, this means dividing up garden into 4 sections of 3 rows each and rotating rows within these sections. It was a bit of a logic puzzle to plan out, as there are many other constraints in my garden (row size, some rows being irrigated and others not, spacing available around the row etc).
2. Pairing up spring or fall crops with summer crops: for example, to double the use of a row, you can plant an early crop of spinach and once it is harvested and the warmer weather arrives, plant turnip in its place. Some other pairs I intend to use are: fall garlic and greens, green beans and fall garlic, sugar peas and lettuce, spinach and carrots.
3. Dense planting (less space between plants): I had already stumbled on my own into the principle of dense planting. From the start, I have always wanted to plant as many things as possible within the space that I have available, so I often disregarded the row spacing suggested on seed packets. Most of the time I didn’t notice any ill effects. For example, I often planted two onion bulbs one next to the other and harvested one early as a green onion and left the other to grow. The other advantage of dense planting is that it leaves less space for weeds. In this book, dense planting is strongly encouraged. The rule of thumb that is given is that plants should touch each other when they are three-quarters of their full size. This will give good coverage of the soil, minimizing weeds, mulching and keeping the ground cool and moist. Specific spacing for specific crops is outlined. This makes me more confident in continuing down the path of dense planting. This year, my onions will be going down in groups of four!
4. Better early planting calendar: I have never made good use of the time before the last frost. Typically I didn’t plant anything before end of May or beginning of June. Some of that is a habit that I formed before I transitioned to no-till gardening – at the time, I always had to wait for the garden to be dry before I tilled it. However, as I’ve landed on the proper configuration for my garden, with permanent beds and walking paths, and, as I’ve transitioned to a no-till approach, the spring brings a lot of possibility. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a good idea of what to plant when. Luckily a planting calendar in the book answered all my questions.
5. Transitioning more crops from direct sowing to seedlings: My past rule of thumb has been that if something can be direct sown, I direct sow it. This helped me minimize the number of shelves, lighting, and other seed starting equipment I needed and transplanting time. However, with time, I have been able to acquire more seed starting space (which I use for Kratky in the winter). The book drove home that an early start means that you’ll not only get your crop earlier, but you’ll also and then have space for a crop of something else afterwards; this idea is appealing and gives me motivation for starting more seedlings this year.

 
Those are my immediately actionable items. The book also gave me some longer-term ideas. I would like to look into simple-ish ways to extend the growing season, such as floating covers, row tunnels, and maybe a small greenhouse. I am also curious to do some more scientific soil tests and to look into a more test-based approach to fertilizing my soil.
 
There were also some aspects to the book which were not really applicable to my situation, and I feel that they may not appeal to most homesteaders. The approach explained in the book is not a no-till approach – some light hand-operated machinery is used. It makes sense from a business perspective but on the kitchen garden scale, I prefer the simplicity, and lower investment, of a no till method. Some of the equipment, although much more affordable than typical farming machinery, is still a bit pricy if you aren’t planning to recoup your investment through sales. Similarly, the farm relies on manmade mulches, and some options are interesting, such as a cornstarch based biodegradable membrane that is incorporated in the soil in the fall. However, in my case I will stick to natural mulches such as leaves and grass cuttings, which I can get for free and which contribute to improving the quality of my clay-based soil.
 
In conclusion, I would highly recommend this book to anyone with a large garden, especially if they are based in zones 3-5. I would rank it as my second favorite book, after “Le Jardin Vivrier” by Marie Thévard – the reason I prefer the latter is because the scenario described in the latter is more similar to my own – a self-sufficiency goal, rather than a small business goal. Together, these two books make a powerful duo for people in a homesteading situation.