How to Save Seeds- Part 1 -

Since I've been saving seeds for over ten years now, I'd like to pass on some of the knowledge I've gathered about the subject to help you along the way.

First of all, it's necessary to know how to keep varieties pure and this varies with each type of plant. Then, you need to know how to prepare, clean and store the resulting seeds.

This article and the one in the next issue will concern themselves with the annual garden plants. In future issues, I will discuss the biennials as well as give some hints on seed cleaning and storage.

Solanaceae

The nightshade family contains tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and potatoes as well as garden huckleberries, tomatillos and various ground cherries.

The tomato is grown by more home gardeners than any other vegetable. Since many tomatoes commonly grown are hybrids it must be remembered that while hybrid seed will grow, you can't be sure what the result will be. The new tomatoes may resemble their grandparents or great grandparents rather than the plants you started with. This is true of all hybrid seed.

But if you're starting with an open-pollinated (non hybrid) variety you can save tomato seed by cutting the fruits in half, scraping the seeds and the juices around them into a container and letting it ferment for three days at room temperature. This removes the gel coating from around the seeds and also prevents the transmission of some seed-borne diseases.

After fermenting, rinse the seeds under running water in a strainer and then put them on a small plate to dry. The seeds should be stirred occasionally the first few days to keep them from sticking together. Let them dry thoroughly before storing.

Regarding cross-pollination, the newer varieties are much less apt to cross as the pistil is covered in the flower and not exposed to passing bees. Older, heirloom varieties are more likely to be crossed because of the flower structure. Separate these varieties from other tomatoes as much as possible.

Peppers

Peppers are self pollinating but can be crossed by insects so different varieties must be either caged or separated by 500 feet to maintain purity.

Let the fruit mature before removing seeds. Remember that when working with hot peppers, rubber gloves should be worn. Also don't rub your eyes at this time as the hot pepper oil can be extremely irritating.

Eggplant

Eggplant usually self pollinates but insects can sometimes be a problem so to be sure, different varieties should be separated by 50 feet, or caged.

To obtain seeds, first let the fruit ripen, then grate or blend the bottom part of the fruit which contains most of the seeds. Put the pulp in a bowl, fill with water and squeeze the gratings with your fingers, separating the seeds from the pulp. The pulp will rise and good seeds will sink to the bottom.

Potato

While usually propagated vegetatively, the potato can be grown from seeds which occasionally form on the plants. Let the seed balls mature, then squeeze the seeds into a bowl. Add water and pour off the floating debris, saving the seeds which sink to the bottom. Grow the same as tomato seedlings.

Some of the smaller nightshades, such as cherry and currant tomatoes, tomatillos, ground cherries etc., can be processed in a blender and treated the same as potato seeds.

Legumes

The usual families of beans and peas are common bean, pea, lima bean, fava bean, soybean and runner bean.

While the families do not cross, different varieties within the same family will cross. The amount of crossing varies in different locations. Here in Eastern Ontario where I live, I have had some crossing between bean varieties but in an area with fewer wild bees perhaps there would be less. So I would recommend separating varieties as much as possible. To be absolutely sure, plants can be grown in cages or blossoms bagged with spun polyester until the pods begin to form.

The way I deal with legumes is to wait until the pods are quite dry and the plant is drying up and leaves falling off. Then I cut the whole plant and place in the carport or shed to dry further. Later, I either pick off the pods and shell them by hand or else put the whole plants in a feed sack or on a large sheet of plastic and beat them with a stick until the seeds fall out. They have to be quite dry for this though and sometimes in a damp fall they never get to the right stage and have to be shelled by hand.

Pods can also be picked while still in the garden, as long as they are beginning to dry up and becoming flexible rather than stiff. Make sure all seeds are placed in an airy, dry place once shelled to continue to dry. Mould is the enemy of seed savers.

Lettuce

Lettuce seeds are quite easy to produce although they are difficult to clean. Just let the plants go to seed. They grow two or three feet tall and are covered with small yellow flowers. Eventually, small seed pods form which are ready when dried up and brown. The pods can be individually picked by hand and opened up, which is time consuming but the best way to get clean seed. The heads can also be shaken over a paper bag, which is easier but results in a lot of chaff with the seeds. The seeds are so light that they're difficult to separate but if just for your own use the whole mixture can be planted and the seeds will still grow.

One bonus from producing your own lettuce seed is that early next spring you'll get lots of volunteer lettuce plants which you can transplant where you wish. You'll have early lettuce without much trouble.

Lettuce is self-pollinating generally but occasionally can cross with wild lettuce, a common weed. Any growing nearby should be removed.