Do you grow sunchokes? Pros and Cons?

I have been spending the evening researching what soil temp is best to direct seed the seeds I have semi-chaotic seed storage. How do you store your seeds? Do you save seeds? Do you buy new seeds each year?

Shes a major green thumb and I still gotta get her in this group. But she’s crushing egg shells to make it in a powder, for calcium in her soil. She wants to know if anyone does this or knows more details. She said “hey take a picture of this and share it in your smart Gardner friends community” so I think I’m in the right place lmao. 🤣

Artificial selection means we watch a crop, then save seed from the plants that grew the best, ripened earliest, or tasted the best. This happens every season in my garden which continues to acclimatize my seed to my local growing conditions. This seed is called a blend. Controlled plant crossing can happen too, by moving pollen mechanically between favorite plants. This controlled crossing practice produces F1 Hybrid seeds. F1 Hybrid means first generation heirloom seeds are crossed from two parent lines under tight pollination control. F1 seed tends to grow uniform, have a heavy yield, and can carry stacked resistance traits to weather, pests, etc. Natural selection can join the process as well. Letting fruit drop, then watching for volunteers, lets site conditions decide who survives. After that, human selection steps back in when seed is saved from the strongest survivors. Over time, saved seed acclimatizes to local soil, weather, and taste. This creates a local strain or blend. It may no longer be a pure heirloom, unless the original seeds are kept isolated, yet it can become better for that growing space. Organic market gardeners often lean on F1 hybrids. These are not GMO. These seeds come from selection plus a controlled pollination, similar in concept, just more repeatable than my method. The cross is designed to perform with consistency to produce repeatable traits in the plant. Soil still matters most. Strong soil biology supports strong plant immunity. When soil life is weak, pest pressure often rises. The long game for a resilient family is building soil health. Still, early wins matter too. Poor soil in year one plus year two can crush momentum. F1 hybrids can be more forgiving during the soil regeneration phase and keep the garden going while soil catches up. Drop a comment with a crop example that you use artificial or natural selection. When does F1 hybrid seed make the most sense?

Let’s discuss our plant growing challenges.