Saving seed from last years crops.

[Wren]

I have saved seed from my glut of sprouting broccoli last year. I am pretty sure it was not an F1 hybrid It was the Dutchy of Cornwall green sprouting. I had a wonderful crop an I am going to start some of these seeds off tomorrow in my propagator to plant out in a month or so.
My question is does keeping an saving seed from crops year after year weaken the yield or strengthen it to the local land conditions.

I will be growing it in an area not used for brassica last year so that it will be rotated properly and I have got the land ready last Autumn so that it is firm an hard . If I save from this years crop will I see the yield go down if I save seed for next year?

Wren

[zazen999]

Brassicas are an inbreeder so you need at least 16 plants to cross fertilise in order to keep seeds vigorous...

You might well get a good crop this year from those, but if you really want to save seeds from brassicas you need lots of plants. They also cross fertilise with others [such as rocket or mustard which are both known to bolt in the summer].

Here's a good guide to saving seeds [I post this as I wrote some of it and took quite a few of the photos].

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/pdfs...in-Schools.pdf