Saving your garden seeds

I was watching the documentary Collapse, and one of the things he stressed was to save your seeds for next years planting. I have started growing a variety of sweet pea and I have been successful in saving to seeds and getting them to germinating the next year and actually be the same plant as the parent plant.

I was talking to a friend about saving seeds and she told me that her mother had green bean seeds that had been passed down from mother to daughter for countless generations. She was so distressed about it because at the time she was not gardening and did not get the bean seeds from her mother to plant before her mother died. She has contacted relatives, but no one has the bean seeds for her to start growing. That strain of green beans that her family ate for generations is now lost to the ages.

As I plan my garden this year I want to try and grow varieties I can save the seeds from. I was shopping for seeds at my local garden center, I felt lost. I know I can always refer to the OK State fact sheet. But can you save the seeds and get the same plant year after year?. The fact sheet does not say. The seed packs aren't labeled. Should I just buy some and hope for the best? It could be two seasons before I find out it was a bad decision. Then just because it is an "Heirloom" doesn't mean it will grown well in Oklahoma.

Then just like the Lone Ranger, I get an email discussing the topic of seed saving. It seems the Kerr Center has done the trials and here is the list. So for those of you who are concerned about securing seeds as part of your food security, you will find everything you need to get started.