Really great reference book for seed starters. Enjoyed the pictures and author’s tone. This book has gotten me excited to more officially save my seeds and plan to start them in the early spring. This book can be used for all types of gardeners with the reference material being a quick way to look up when to plant seeds for all types of plants.

This book is shorter than what I expected. It dedicates the beginning of the book to starting seeds.
This is followed up by the larger section of the book which describes dozens of plants. The plant descriptions are roughly a page each and contain detail on how to grow the plant. I was mostly planning on using this book to find information regarding how to harvest each plant's seeds but this wasn't available. While the plant growing information was useful, I think there are better seed books out there.

This book was a good starters guide for cultivating seeds, even for complete and total amateurs. The author provides an exhaustive list of flowers and vegetables you can plant, and their ideal parameters. An excellent way to start!

Starting & Saving Seeds is a new gardening tutorial with herbal by Julie Thompson-Adolf. Due out 2nd Oct, 2018 from Quarto - Cool Springs Press, it's 160 pages and will be available in ebook and hardcover formats.

I was struck straightaway by the author's enthusiastic and upbeat writing style. She has a very positive, encouraging voice. Her passion for gardening comes through very clearly and reading about her reactions to the winter seed catalogs' arrival made me smile. We're all like little kids with huge dreams when the seed catalogs hit.

This book is accessible for beginners as well as having value for more experienced gardeners who want to expand their gardening repertoire to include heirloom varieties or types of plants which are ignored or neglected by the big box stores. Additionally, trading seeds with gardening friends and family builds up connections which add another layer of connection to our network. I have varieties in my garden which are literally descendants of plants my family grew afnd saved seeds from for hundreds of years. Even though my grandmother sadly passed on, decades ago, I still think of her every time I see the perennials I grew from seeds she gave me.

The book is arranged in two basic sections. The first section, ~25% of the content, covers introductory concepts, what seeds are, how they're created, what their differences and similarities are and how to start them and nurture them into strong seedlings. The success or failure of a garden can well be decided on the strength and vitality of the seeds and seedlings at the very beginning of the season.

The second section of the book is a general herbal covering the basics. I was interested to see a lot of vegetables and flowers were included which I would almost never consider growing from seed (asparagus and lavender for example). She does mention the virtue of patience waiting for long-term projects such as asparagus and certainly when considered against the prospect of a 30 year productivity span, waiting 3 years for asparagus from seed seems to be reasonable.

The book does provide a very basic introduction to identifying, saving, and processing seeds from different plants successfully. I remember some years ago, I was involved with a seed trading round robin and there were always some well meaning gardening friends who struggled with identifying exactly -where- the seeds were and -how- to clean them so they could be saved and used. This book would've been handy for avoiding the commonest mistakes.

The photography is lovely and supports and expands the text well. I would have liked to have seen more specific examples of mature seed pods for different plants to show where they can be separated and stored. Things such as Buddleia, Lobelia, and Alcea can be tricky for some gardeners to collect seeds from.

All in all a useful and appealing book.

Four stars.

I love making my own seeds so I was really interested in this book. I must say I expected more insight about saving seeds but this would have made this book much bigger.

I don't think I would have been the only first time home buyer to head to their local garden center to buy flower and vegetable plants. I rather doubt I would have also been the only one to quickly realize I needed a lot more information on growing than what came on each little plant tag. I am also sure that I would have had plenty of company as I searched for information on plant care at bookstores, the library, and online. After somehow managing to grow a few things that first year(and spending a lot of money)I realized I could grow so many varieties I couldn't buy if I learned how to start my plants from seed. I now have a dedicated area in the basement along with pots, seed starter soil, seed packs, grow lights, a heat mat, and all kinds of tools to be successful(hopefully).
Quite a bit has changed since 'Year One', and I wish I had a copy of Starting and Saving Seeds then. However, gardeners know you learn new things every season and every year and I learned quite a bit from this book. The author covers so many useful topics in detail and I would recommend this book to a newbie or seasoned gardener. From deciding what to grow to buying seeds to starting them indoors or out, to planting depth requirements and germination tips and tricks, this book covers it all, along with some gorgeous pictures. Harvesting and saving your own seeds is something I haven't tried yet, but there is enough information available to make me want to try next year. A very good resource for anyone who loves to garden or wants to try to grow their own flowers and/or vegetables.
I received an e ARC from Quarto Publishing Group-Cool Springs Press through NetGalley. I plan to purchase a hard copy when the book is published(in the U.S.) in October and a few of my gardening friends will be getting a copy for the holidays. This is one of those books that I will add to my collection of garden books and I know it will be a great resource for many years.

Wonderful front cover and and easy to understand table of contents.

Perfect length for the non committal or uneasy beginner seed saver. I like the quick biology lesson in the beginning of the book and the explanation of GMO and hybrid plants.

This book is useful for my needs of sowing seeds directly into my home garden. I enjoyed her knowledge of how long germination takes and what temperature soil should be for foraged seeds to succeed.

Thanks to #NetGalley, I had an advanced PDF to read and review.

*All opinions are my own and I was not require to post a positive review. *

#StartingSavingSeeds #NetGalley

A useful high-level guide to not only saving seeds, but starting them as well. I liked the individual entries for specific vegetables and flowers, but would've liked more specifics on the location of seeds for some of them. Also, info on fruit seeds would be great as well. Nice resource!

Starting & Saving Seeds by Julie Thompson-Adolf

October 2018

I received this digital ARC from NetGalley and Quarto Publishing in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book is well organized and beautifully illustrated. This book is for those who are passionate about gardening. After I successfully planted and harvested my small garden many years ago, I was hooked! I love this book as it speaks from the heart of a gardener! Everything is easily explained including pictures. It’s hard to express the sense of pride and accomplishment one feels after successfully getting your seed to seedling and finally in the ground. When it produces a harvest you can’t help but want to boast and share! Learning how to save seeds is an art itself! It always gives me great pleasure to share seeds! It’s spreading joy and kindness!

A good beginning book on how to save and start seeds. Lots of good advice and techniques. Nicely photographed.

This is definitely a must have!
The details and instructions are great for beginners that want to start a garden.

Seed saving has interested me for sometime now, but its not easy to find the information on all the different plants. Until now!
whether beginning out or an experienced gardener and seed saver you will find information of use in this book.
The photos are lovely and the information is thorough and well written in an easy to read format.
This book is a seed saving bible , with an A/Z meet and greet of fruits and veg, advise on not just saving seeds but planting, and sowing also.
A wonderful book, that would make a lovely gift.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I like the idea of combining seed starting with seed saving in a book. It's much more useful to a beginning gardener. The seed starting section could use a little more detail and better photos when discussing seed anatomy. While the section on on trouble-shooting seed starting is well written, it would be nice to include some photos of these situations, again for the beginner. I've found (in teaching gardening) that these are things that are frequent concerns with beginners, but are often hard for them to visualize until it happens to them (and then it's too late!)

Though "Saving Seeds" is part of the title, I was expecting it to comprise a bit larger section of the book. Someone who purchases this book in order to learn about saving seeds is going to be disappointed. More detail (and perhaps more specifics about certain plants) would be helpful.

The last chapters of the book contain specifics for individual types of plants: vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers. These sections have some very helpful suggestions. While some photos are included in these chapters, it would be more helpful to include smaller photos, but for each plant type discussed. If this book is geared toward beginners, then assume they won't know what these plants look like. The drawings (especially of the vegetables) are often not very helpful.

Overall, this is a nice reference. It's a great idea to combine starting and saving, but the latter should be done in more detail. I think that generic photos in the book could be replaced with photos in some of the suggested areas above.

I would like to thank Quarto Publishing Group-Cool Springs Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Starting and Saving Seeds’ by Julie Thompson-Adolf in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
This is a very helpful and informative reference book for beginners and intermediates alike. It explains how to grow perfect vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers in the garden, going through all the different types, how to sow, re-pot, harden-off and pick once it’s been cropped, the growing conditions required and what to do with the produce. There are attractive glossy photographs to help identify each plant. I have a fair understanding of gardening but after reading this book I really want to buy a copy for myself as I can see it being extremely helpful and will increase my knowledge considerably.

Every year I plant a vegetable and a flower garden and every year I buy seeds which adds up to money spent. This book provides valuable information on saving your seeds so you can save money year after year on your seeds. Learn tips on the appropriate time to harvest and how to store them to be used for the following year.

Thanks to Netgalley and Cool Springs Press for providing me a copy of this book to read and review.

As an amateur gardener I really appreciated Starting & Saving Seeds. Author and gardening expert Julie Thompson-Adolf takes the confusion out of the entire process for newbies and avid gardeners alike. I especially appreciated the hints to encourage stubborn seeds. The DIY tutorials are very helpful and the accompanying photography is stunning.

Starting & Saving Seeds Grow the Perfect Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, and Flowers for Your Garden by Julie Thompson-Adolf is a totally garden geek's book of awesome! Julie's directions are very detailed. She covers a multitude of different flowers and vegetables. There are techniques for how to choose seeds that are good for your growing area as well as the proper way to collect seeds from the plants you would love to propagate. Then the author takes you through the planting stage and how to be successful in your germination and growth of the seeds you have collected. I have been looking for years for this type of book so that I can multiply the black eyed suzies, geraniums and other assorted flowers. The book also delves deeply into how to save vegetable seeds. I have always wanted to save the seeds of vegetables that were awesome over the summer. The author encourages and instills the joy of growing and saving seeds that I am absolutely going to go out and start today. I highly recommend this book as it is chock-a-block full of ideas and information. If you have a green thumb or wish to improve one you already have this is the book for you! Well done Ms. Thompson-Adolf.

I would like to thank the publisher Quarto Publishing Group - Cool Springs Press, Julie Thompson-Adolf and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very good book ful of interesting and detailed instructions and beautiful pictures.
It’s very useful for people who love gardening.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this arc

As someone starting out in gardening from seeds (I’ve bought the poly-greenhouse, the seeds, the compost, etc), this book is everything I could wish for. As a non-fiction book I expected I’d dip into it at points where I needed to, but I found myself reading it from start to finish and then going back to the parts I need at the point I’m at. The book is easy to read, without being condescending, and the photographs add to this and gives quick reminders. The part where it lists the plants/flowers is helpful giving useful information for beginners such as myself. I would recommend this to anyone who is starting out growing from seed and those who need a little more guidance.

A delightful book extolling the virtues of collecting your own seeds. It explains clearly the different and most effective ways to start, grow and save seeds. There are plenty of tips for collecting from a variety of fruit, vegetables, flowers and herbs. A detailed and useful book for anyone keen to sow and grow seeds, with plenty of photos to complement it. Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC.