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Considering that you planted all non-hybrid seeds, planted plants that do reseed themselves naturally (aka no corn), and controlled the weeds -- could you have a garden that naturally reseeds itself if you left about a fourth of your crop for seed?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Seems a waste to sacrifice 1/4 of the crop for seed, when you can buy them for 89 cents a pack. Tomatoes will reseed if left but most other seeds need to be properly harvested, dried and stored.
A vegetable garden? I don't see why not, but for veggie gardens, I like try to rotate to prevent diseases. You can definitely have a flower garden that reseeds. Some people have things like wildflower meadows. I haven't tried that yet.
Relying on volunteer plants to sprout up can be very unpredictable. Water from storms washes away seed, sometimes other things happen like plants growing over each other and they drop seeds. Those seeds then compete for space. When they compete, you get smaller plants with smaller yields. You can get more if you plan your garden and rotate crops. My flower beds I let reseed themselves, then I dig up plants and give them away or move them to other parts of the yard. If I tried that with my veggie garden, my work would never end. I save seed every year from heirlooms and have done so for about 10 years.
There are a lot of perennial vegetables depending on where you live.
For colder climates, asparagus, radicchio, lambsquarters, horseradish, kale, collard greens, rhubarb, bunching onions, lovage (stalks used as vegetables), sorrel, perennial varieties of artichokes (I think needs to be zone 7 or higher), Jerusalem artichoke, etc. Some varieties of perennial broccoli too (e.g. Nine Star) though I don't know how good they are after the first year. Broccoli tends to get very bitter after the first year but these varieties may be better.
Tomatoes, tomatillos, and some others will reseed though not reliably. Tomatillos for me often reseed the next year, but not tomatoes.
For warmer climates, okra, tomatoes (won't produce well year around and I think don't produce as well the next year), peppers, eggplant, ginger, galangal, turmeric, sweet potatoes, basil, rosemary, some beans and legumes, some squashes and melons, etc.
And then obviously there are a ton of fruit trees and shrubs that are perennials.
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