Member Reviews

Imagine “growing” your meals and your table bouquets from produce in your garden. This beautifully photographed and info-rich guide helps you do just that through showing you how to start plants through seeds you’ve saved. And once your garden is grown, you can save seeds for next year’s garden, becoming self-sufficient many times over. Includes tips on getting hard-to-grow seeds to flourish, ideas for what to add to your garden, easy DIY projects, plus quick growing reference charts. If you don’t yet have a green thumb, you soon will after reading Starting & Saving Seeds! 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine. Pub Date 02 Oct 2018. #StartingSavingSeeds #NetGalley

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I've always been curious about saving seeds and this book has tons of practical advice on each step of cataloguing and properly storing seeds. It also has very informative with tips for starting seeds and caring for fragile sprouts. Overall, I thought this was a fabulous book for beginners on seed saving and planting.

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I have always loved gardening. Plants of all types like flowers, fruits and veggies. I love watching something grow from a tiny little seed. Seeds can get quite expensive when purchased at a garden center. This book will guide you through collecting the seeds from the plants you have grown or even ones bought from the store, how to prepare them, store them and replant them next season so you will have an endless supply of seeds in the future. Most are supper easy, simply take them out of the fruit, veggie, or flower, allow them to dry then store them in an airtight container. Some seeds need to placed into a refrigerator for germination purposes. The book will give you step by step directions for all things seeds. The book is very informative and easy to follow.



I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com and chose to leave this review.

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I became interested in seed saving years ago and began on my own with little success on any fruit or vegetable seeds. I have been able to with an azalea to my surprise and one other plant I don’t know the name of. Now with this book and with guide and suggestions for some of my failures I am ready to begin again with fruit. I also think that this book will be helpful for many people because once you get the right plant growing or fruit tree, it is nice to have it come back the next year or year around without going out and having to repurchase seeds or some people buy starter plants. The book has simple DIY and even nice photos, everything for you to get started in your garden.

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Das Thema des Buches liegt voll im Trend: was kann es besseres geben, als mehr Kontrolle über sein Essen zu haben und alles "bio" selbst zu ziehen? Von Samen zur Pflanze bis hin zur Samengewinnung - rundum gelungen. Mit vielen appetitlichen Fotos und Hintergrundinformationen sowie vielen ungewöhnlichen Tipps.

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Julie Thompson-Adolf's "Starting & Saving Seeds" is an excellent guide to storing seeds for planting in future seasons. There are lots of great tips and tricks to help keep your seeds over winter, how and when to get them started, and how to get those pesky ones that just don't want to cooperate to finally germinate for you. Full of beautiful photography that alone makes this book a treasure to enjoy.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Seed saving has always been a huge mystery to me. As an avid gardener, I have been interested in the idea of propagation, but I could never figure out how to do it well. Until I found this book. It is going to take some practice, but I plan on utilizing some of these methods in hope of ramping up next years crop. Love it. Definitely recommend!

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Most of the gardening books I have thumbed through always seem to start with the assumption that you already have seeds or seedlings ready to go. This is probably the most complete book I have come across as far as saving & starting seeds. The first three-quarters or so of the book are filled with beautiful, full-color photographs, tutorials & how-tos. The last quarter has individual information for harvesting and starting a variety of plants.

While I received a free digital version of this book, I will be adding the hardcover to my library not only for the information but it is just in general a gorgeous book.

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Starting and Saving Seeds is a bright colorful book with great step by step pictures that walks you through the entire process of seed starting and even how to save seeds for next year. The book is divided into two parts: Part I How to Start, Grow, and Save Seeds - which takes you through seed terminology, ways to start seeds indoors and out, how to care for them, and how to preserve seeds. Part II Meet the Plants is divided into Fruit & Vegetables and Herbs & Flowers - this is a great section with great pictures that tells you when and how to plant. As a gardener, I have bought seed and plants from stores for years to begin my garden each year, so this was an exciting book to read and learn from and now share with my children and grandchildren. It covers vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs seeds and is basically your new seed saving reference book with wonderful pictures. It’s a keeper!

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The best way to increase your garden is to save seed from your exisiting plants. It's easy when you know how but not obvious for the novice garden. This book is mainly aimed at beginners but it gave this old hand a lot of great ideas too.

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Are you intimidated by growing your own plants from seeds? (I know I am.) This book makes it seem not only easy but practical to start your own seedlings for a variety of plants.

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This book is exactly what it sounds like. A gardening book on how to plant, grow, harvest, and save seeds year round, for people who want more out of their plants. What I didn't expect, however, was for it to tell me scientific terms, how to mix your soil properly, what tools are best, and what set up is the cheapest for what you need.

This book is honestly really great for someone who wants to learn more about gardening, like me. The pictures are beautiful and crystal clear, and the instructions are really easy to follow. I also really like that the author added real stories about their own life into it, I felt like I was talking to someone who really knows what they're doing. I also loved that there was a part of the book dedicated to not only starting your seeds, but also what kind of plants you can grow, how to grow them, and what to expect from them.

Overall I don't have much to say about this book, other than it definitely doesn't read like a textbook, it's super short and straight to the point, just how I like these kind of books, and I really enjoyed reading it. The only problem I had with it, is that the ebook copy I had kept glitching and half of the page would disappear as I was really getting into it. For that reason, I would say I definitely need to get a paper copy.

Thanks for reading!
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)

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Saving and Starting Seeds
By Julie Thompson-Adolf
A gardener’s delight, no matter the gardener’s level; new to the fun of playing in the dirt or even the well-seasoned gardener. Saving and Starting seeds is filled full of information: how to plant various types of plants; when to plant the seeds, and where; how much or little: sun and water needed to make sure they grow to their fullest ability; there is even information on how to treat: for insects; prevent diseases; and proper drainage. Full of useful information for the end of the growing season, how best to preserve and care for the seeds gathered for the next seasons growing.
Wonderfully writing and put together, a delightful read and a quick reference book for gardener on the run or those in a hurry to find necessary information. With words that are easy to understand for those new to gardening, with explanations to terms that am not be understand for the new gardener. I was saddened when I got to the end of this book, it was so informative; even for me, a mid-grade gardener. It has been a few years since, I have had the place to have any plants; so, in a way I am new to growing. I think in some ways we all are new to growing; with the new hybrid types of plants and seed that are on the market these days and the care that they require.
Mrs. Thompson-Adolf shared some wonderful alternative methods of recycling and reusing some of the household by-products to incorporate in the starting of the seeds; all in the efforts of saving not only money; but, also to help save our environment. I applaud this author for sharing new ways of using the out-of-the-ordinary household items as vessels that can be used to start seeds. I am all about saving the planet in which we live on; we all need to do our part to keep our home alive and healthy. I must give her two-thumbs up and a rating of 5 out of 5-stars.

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A more elaborate review has been posted on my blog: https://patch405.com/2018/10/07/lifelong-learner/

Actually, I didn’t read the title very closely and thought the book was going to exclusively address the act of saving seeds. I was pleasantly surprised to read the sections on planting seeds.

Throughout the book, the author does a fabulous job of providing basic explanations – such as seed terminology (i.e. open-pollinated, heirloom, hybrids). There’s also valuable advice, such where to find certain kinds of seeds and what supplies to purchase as you get started planting seeds (indoors). The author also provides how-to’s for some projects – including how to make your own seed starting mix, how to make your own seed tape, and creating fun things such as seed bombs. Despite already having basic gardening knowledge, I did gather some handy tips from her writings.

The section about how to save seeds was completely new to me. After one reading of this book, I understand the basic concept. However, saving seeds is not as simple as it might seem, and the author addresses this by covering topics such as inbreeding depression, vernalization, wet and dry processing.

The last half of the book is devoted to the different varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers, and the tips and traits for starting, growing and harvesting the seeds. The information is concise and covers a variety of details. All in all, the book is well written and provides helpful details and directions.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

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Starting and Saving Seeds is a wonderful and unique guide to gardening with great advice. The first part of the book contains all the new gardener needs to know about sowing at the beginning of the season and then saving the seeds once the plants have gone to seed. It’s not just for beginners though. This section is very in depth and has some fun projects, such as “seed bombs” which would make a great gift. The rest of the book has detailed profiles of tons on veggies, herbs and flowers including specific directions for saving seeds from each. I highly recommend this book. I received an arc copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Most home gardeners will tell you they have a hit and miss approach to what will grow each year. What grew well last year will not exactly repeat this year. Learning can be very expensive and time consuming. I found this book very informative and easy to understand. It will make it much easier to produce consistent results by saving my own seeds.

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A great addition to any gardeners collection, whether amateur or professional, young or old. I have a found a few things I can do with my two year old in addition to her gardening club

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This is one of the best books about starting and saving seeds I have seen for awhile. Why? because it explains thinks in simple terms, it has photos and it make it look like fun. The part on collecting seeds is very practical and informative, especially the information on extraction, processing and protection from cross-pollination.
There are also information on making seed bombs, seed tapes and winter sowing with homemade mini glasshouses.
There also is an informative section relating to different flowers, herbs, vegetables and fruit, giving full details including photos of the plant and seed information. Most of the plants are easy to grow, so there isn't likely to be disappointment with the germination results.
A good book o start with

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Awesome reference from starting seeds to saving seeds book, I for one will be buying this book for my future gardening journey.

When I put in a request for this book I didn’t expect to get approval being a romance book blog but when I see the book in my Netgalley shelf I jumped for joy and I was not disappointed.

I started raised beds for my vegetables a few years back and had figured out how to save several seeds myself and have been pleased with my progress, but as I bring in new vegetables there are some I have no clue how to save the seeds so, I need some kind of reference or help to figure out how I save sees for them plus, this year I expanded my gardening and bought over 300.00 dollars worth of flowers this summer so I know I have to do something to save the seeds because I refuse to spend that kind of money each year. So, when I saw this book on Netgalley you know how happy I was to see it on my approved shelf.

Now, for the book review, I really loved how the author starts with simple sowing technique and brings you to save the seeds. No, she does not go into each plant on how to save the seed of that plant but she gives you both methods and she lists the way to save the seeds in each plant reference in the back of the book.

I’ve been direct sowing my seeds because my indoor seeds were a flop the first year, so I am hoping the simple tips will help me try indoor sowing again and succeeded next spring.

This is a great book for any gardener to have on their shelf.

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A wonderful book for a beginner at saving seeds, or anyone else who is looking to expand their seed saving knowledge. Lots of pictures and information without dumbing it down. I expected to skip and read parts that reflected where I was at in my seed saving knowledge, but I found myself reading it through, cover to cover. It's a highly readable, informative book that I'm glad I was granted an ARC to review. Thanks to the publisher and author!

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