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Seed Saving Has Many Benefits
by Diane Heeney
Description: Tips for saving seeds for next year's garden.
Saving seed will not only reduce gardening expenses, but it
can enable
you to have control over size, disease resistance, maturity
dates, flavor,
and overall quality of your produce.
Your seed should come from healthy fruit or plants with a
better-than-average
yield. If you're going for size, progressively choose
larger fruit
sources. It is not desirable to save seed from hybrid
parents, as
they come from inbred stock. Some of their saved seed will
be sterile.
Be sure to mark your seed plants as soon as you decide you will
be harvesting
from them.
Correct seed storage is necessary to ensure viability.
Seeds should
remain in their natural pod or husk until dry and hard or
brittle.
Small seeds that have a tendency to shatter or blow away can be
encased
in a fine mesh or paper bag. Don't use plastic, as it
encourages
mildew. Onions, carrots, and cabbage do well with bag
harvesting.
After collection, dry seeds for a week before storage.
Spread
them on newspapers or fine screen to increase ventilation.
Berry
seeds can be retrieved by pushing the fruit through a sieve,
washing off
the seeds, then air drying.
Heat and humidity can hurt germination, so store in a cool,
dry place.
Mold can form if jars are used, since seeds can re-absorb
atmospheric moisture.
Simple paper envelopes (sealed and labeled) are an easy
solution.
Picking seeds on a warm, dry day can go a long way in preventing
mold.
Lettuces are a self-pollinating annual. They don't need
to be
isolated. Harvest from the last plant to go to seed after
the yellow
flowers turn to whitish wisps. One plant can amply supply
your family.
Peppers are also self-pollinating, but some crossing can occur
from
insect activity if two or more varieties are planted less than 50
feet
apart. Don't harvest from green fruits, as the seeds are
immature.
Wait until the pepper is red.
Tomatoes are self-pollinating, so varieties don't cross.
Save
your very best fruit on the vine until quite ripe, but not
rotten.
Put the whole tomato in a glass jar and let it ferment for
several days.
The pulp and worthless seeds will rise to the top, where they can
be skimmed
off. The good seeds will sink to the bottom, where they can
be strained,
rinsed, and dried. This process eliminates seed-borne
diseases such
as bacterial canker.
Beans should be left on the vine until they rattle or can't be
dented
by your teeth. If you have a very special variety, a
100-foot isolation
barrier should be used. Average garden varieties don't need
that
much space, as they are considered self-pollinating.
Pumpkin/cucumber/cantaloupe cross-breeding tales can be
intimidating.
The species C. pepo has many cousins such as zucchini, baby jack
o' lanterns,
pattypan squash, and acorn squash. Most oddities occur
within the
family tree. Crosses occur only within a species, so
pumpkins can't
cross with cantaloupes. Isolate plantings by 100 feet when
in doubt.
Fruit rinds should be hard to the fingernail, and the seeds
washed and
dried.
Biennial vegetables don't set their seed until the second
season.
These include parsnips, kale, carrots, beets, and cabbage.
They must
be kept from freezing if left over winter in your garden.
This can
be accomplished with mulch, or you can dig and store in a cool
place over
the winter. Replant the best of the stored specimens in the
spring.
An added bonus to saving radish seeds are the zesty pods that
go so
well in salads and stir fries. Purchased packets seem to be
getting
more expensive and have fewer seeds.
To summarize, pick the healthiest fruit, let it stay on the
vine until
fully ripe, rinse pulp off if necessary, and dry
thoroughly. Keep
the seeds from molding in storage. Isolate your plantings
if cross-pollenization
might be a problem.
I took a Master Gardener's course through our Extension
Service last
year. I highly recommend it. Even accomplished
gardeners can
learn something, and the fee was nominal.
Reprinted with permission.
