Seed Saving Methods

Let a small portion of your plants in your garden fully mature and go to seed. If you try and save seeds from non-fully mature plants you will get disappointing results.

Jars with tight-fitting lids make good storage devices for dried seeds.

Various crops have different methods of saving their seeds. Following are just some of the thousands of edible plants that you could grow and save seeds from…

Tomatoes (these seeds are encapsulated in a jelly-like pulp that inhibit their germination):

• Cut and squeeze the pulp into a bowl.
• Fill the bowl with an equal amount of clean water
• Leave for three days, stirring several times a day.
• When the surface is covered with scum of mold, add water equal to the volume already in the bowl.
• Stir vigorously to separate the seeds.
• Pour off the water and scum (don’t worry, viable seeds don’t float, only dud seeds do.
• Strain out the seeds.
• Leave on a plate to dry in a warm place, stirring the seeds several times a day to prevent sticking together or use a food dehydrator at less than 90 degrees F.

Basil:

• When the mature seed pods are brittle when squeezed, cut them on a dry day.
• Dry on a plate in a warm, dark place.

Beans:

• Let the bean stand on the mature plant until they are fully dry.
• Store in a dry, dark place.

Broccoli:

• When the pods are fully mature and are just starting to open, harvest seeds from the pods and store in a dry, dark place.

Cabbage:

• Leave the cabbages to overwinter in the field.
• In spring, harvest the seeds from the pods when they become brittle.

Carrots:

• Carrots are biennial (flowering occurs the next spring). Seeds are ready for harvesting after flowering is done, the seed pods (umbels) are dry, and the barbed seeds are brown.
• Harvest over several weeks, or to save time and lose some seeds you can harvest the entire plant head once most of the seeds are ready.
• Remove the seeds from the stalks by rubbing them gently.

Cucumbers:

• Cut open the fully ripe soft cucumber lengthways.
• Scoop out the seeds and wash heavily under a faucet with a strainer.
• Use your fingers to work the seeds against the wire mesh to scrape off the goo that sticks to the seeds.
• When fully clean, dry as per tomatoes.

Lettuce:

• Within 12 to 24 days of flowering, the seed head starts to sprout parachute fluff like a dandelion seed head.
• Shake these seed heads into a paper bag daily until seeding is finished to collect the most seeds. For a quicker but lower yield method, harvest all seed heads three weeks after flowering.
• Leave seeds in a paper bag to dry for a week, then shake the bag heavily.
• Roll the seed heads between your hands to release the seeds.
• Store in a cool, dark place.

Leeks and onions:

• These are biennial plants; you plant them this year and they flower next year. Onions and leeks are in the same family and won’t crossbreed with each other, but each will cross with varieties of itself easily.
• For onions, select the best onions from your crop and store them overwinter.
• For leeks leave them standing in the garden.
• The next spring plant out the onions.
• Leeks and onions will regrow and produce a flower stalk (up to 5 feet, stake if necessary).
• When you see the black seeds in the brittle mature flower heads, harvest before they break open and scatter.
• Place in a paper bag to finish drying.
• Store in a dark, dry place.

Peppers:

• Cut the pepper and scrape out the seeds.
• Leave in a dry dark place.
• Seeds are saved when they snap rather than bend when both ends are pressed between a thumb and finger.

Potatoes:

• Potatoes are easier grown from seed potatoes not from seeds themselves.
• Take a potato stored from last year and cut into several pieces of at least 4 inches. Ensure one side has “eyes” (dimples on the potato or the sprouts that grow out of them).
• Most nonorganic store-bought potatoes are chemically treated to prevent them from germinating, so buy your seed potatoes from an agricultural supply store or an organic market.

Squash and melons:

• Cut the squash and scoop out the seeds.
• Place them in a strainer under a running faucet to remove the pulp and juice.
• Dry as with tomatoes.

Perennial Field Crops

Perennial plants will live for several or more years and do not need replanting as often. If you can grow perennial crops (or you can find self-seeding varieties), labor in your garden will be much reduced. Depending on your desired vegetable and climate, there are perennial varieties of many popular crops that you might choose.