The Seed Savers’ Handbook
                         By Michel & Jude Fanton (1993)
                                    (14 August 2014)
 
If you are contemplating collecting and saving seed in your veggie patch, then this is the book for you. The Seed Savers’ Handbook covers everything you could possibly want to know about collecting, preserving and sharing vegetable and herb seeds from start to finish, not least maintaining genetic diversity, which is a significant issue in modern agriculture.

 
Authors Michel & Jude Fanton explain in detail their invaluable seed saving experiences and subsequent learnings, which are relevant to Australian conditions in particular. They highlight the fact that collecting seed saves you time, money and resource. They also stress the ability to preserve particular plant traits over time such as vigour, pest and disease resistance, tolerance to local climate, and flavour. Not to mention being able to share your newfound obsession with others in the gardening community and have fun in the process.

 
The book is well set out and has something to offer beginners and experienced gardeners alike. It includes seed collection and saving methods for a wide range of popular vegetable and herb plants, along with a handy difficulty rating. There are lots of useful diagrams throughout and the language used is conversational and easy to read.