Stephanie Blumhagen

January is a good month for hibernating while browsing newly-arrived seed catalogs. As you flip through the pages, warm thoughts of sunny summer days and fresh, ripe tomatoes come to mind.

In Minot, the Ward County Master Gardeners will be celebrating National Seed Swap Day by hosting a community seed swap on Saturday, Jan. 31, from 1-3 p.m. at the Ward County Extension Office, 900 13th St. SE, Minot. Light refreshments will be offered, and Master Gardeners will be available to answer questions about seed saving, gardening and best practices for labeling and storing seeds. Attendees are encouraged, but not required, to bring seeds to share. Please use clearly labeled packets with the crop name, variety and year collected to make swapping easier for everyone.

You can also participate in a virtual seed swap hosted by FARRMS, a North Dakota sustainable agriculture nonprofit. Join its Facebook group “FARRMS Virtual Seed Swap.” Here you can exchange seeds through the mail and enter to win giveaways. Whether you’re looking for or sharing varieties that are adapted to our northern climate or just wanting to clear out your surplus, this seed swap is a great place to do so.

Knowing some plant seed basics will help with summer garden planning, making those warm thoughts become reality.

Seed catalogs and seed packets provide a wealth of information about the plant’s life cycle and preferred growing conditions, including plant hardiness zone, days to maturity, and optimal soil temperatures. Understanding the terminology will help you make the best choices for your summer gardening goals.

The plant hardiness zone is a phrase you may already be familiar with. It is the standard that gardeners and growers use to determine which plants – especially perennials – are most likely to thrive in a given location. The USDA publishes the Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which is based on the 30-year average of extreme minimum winter temperatures. In North Dakota, zones range from 3b (-35 to -30°F) in the north to 4b (-25 to -20°F) in the south.

Other important factors when planting seeds in North Dakota are “days to germination” and “days to maturity.” These refer to the number of days it takes for a seed to sprout after it is planted and the average number of days until the plant is ready for harvest, respectively. North Dakota gardeners often prefer varieties with shorter times to maturity, as soil temperatures are typically not warm enough until late May and frosts in both spring and fall can be unpredictable. The North Dakota Agricultural Weather Network (NDAWN) provides detailed historical information on the number of days each year between the last spring and first fall 32°F freeze.

Other information you’re likely to find on a seed packet or in a catalog includes whether a plant is an annual (one growing season), a biennial (requires two years to mature), or a perennial (grows year after year). You’ll also find guidance on whether the plant should be sown directly into the ground or started indoors, along with recommended planting depth and spacing.

Many seed packets include the packaged date and the germination rate. Germination rates are typically highest within the first year or two after harvest, with rates declining after two or three years. Seeds will germinate best if stored in cool, dry, dark conditions and protected from insects and rodent pests. For longer-term storage, seeds can be kept in the freezer, but they must be completely dry and protected from moisture and condensation. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault houses over 1.3 million seed varieties which are stored at 0°F, preserving 13,000 years of agricultural history and plant diversity.

Seed catalogs and seed packets usually use the words hybrid, open-pollinated, or heirloom. These words indicate whether a plant is a hybrid or an heirloom variety. Hybrid seeds are commercially bred for specific traits. Parent plants with desirable characteristics are cross-bred through controlled pollination. These seeds are often labeled “F1” or “F1 hybrids.” The terms hybrid and F1 are strictly defined in the seed industry and do not apply to plants that cross-pollinate naturally in the wild. Hybrid plants are often bred for traits such as disease resistance or earlier harvests. They also tend to be more uniform, vigorous and high-yielding. The primary disadvantage of hybrids is that the saved seeds will not produce consistent results and often revert to traits of earlier generations.

Open-pollinated seeds are produced through natural pollination by way of insects or wind. The resulting plants show greater variation. Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated varieties which have been saved and passed down through generations. Heirloom seeds are often well adapted to local growing conditions and are valued for their diversity, uniqueness and flavor. Saving heirloom seeds promotes biodiversity by preserving genetic variations in plants. However, heirloom varieties may have lower disease resistance, smaller yields and less uniform ripening compared to commercially bred hybrid varieties.

Many home gardeners save seeds from year to year, especially those from varieties that perform well in their specific growing conditions or ones that they value for flavor or storage quality. By swapping and sharing seeds with others, gardeners have the opportunity to explore new varieties, support biodiversity and build community.

As winter lingers on, a little time spent learning about seeds and sharing them with others can help set the stage for a productive and joyful garden in the months ahead.