Seed Saving #1: Saving Seeds

There are many reasons to save seeds from your garden. Aside from biotechnology arguments that are making the news and the fact it can save money; the bottom line for saving seeds is because you have a plant you love and want to grow it again or share it with others.

Seed catalogs offer limited seeds. Saving and sharing seeds from around the world gives you a better opportunity to find unusual varieties.

Seed saving is not only simple and rewarding; it gives you something to do during those cold winter months while the garden is resting.

The basic seed saving steps are:
-identifying worthwhile plants to save the seed from,
-allowing the seed to mature before harvesting it,
-and then storing the seed in a cool and dry place to preserve its viability.

As for step 1, I feel all plants are worthwhile, even the lowly dandelion has a place in my seed kit.

Selecting your plants:
When selecting plants to collect the seed, be sure they are an open pollinated variety. Hybrid plants often produce seeds that will not germinate, or the offspring will be quite different from the parent plant (although this can be interesting). With open pollinated varieties, the seeds you collect should produce consistent seedlings.

Select the plants based on overall health and vigor and any other aspect that makes it “the best” plant in the bunch. For example, you might want to select for a certain color or size bloom, or for a certain plant height or habit, or for demonstrated disease resistance. The more carefully you select the parent plants from year to year, the better your seedlings will be…Healthy parents make better offspring.

Timing:
It’s always best to wait for the seeds to mature and dry on the plant before you harvest or collect them. Collect them on a calm day after a dry period. Soggy seeds will be prone to mold.

So where are those seeds?
The seeds form in the flower’s ovary which is a bulge located at the base of the flower or the fruit. On a rose the seeds are located inside the hip. Seed pods vary from pulpy fruits to paper cups and fluffy seed balls. Try to collect the seeds before they drop to the ground.

Ok, so you gathered seed… now what?

First of all place each variety in a small paper candy bag and mark the bag with the variety. Put the bags in a container and store them in a cool dark place.

This is all you really need to do.

However, If you want to be an organized saver/trader you may wish to put together a simple kit.

My kit includes:

-A medium Rubbermaid container
-A large package of paper candy bags
-A quantity of 2”x 2” ziplock baggies with the label strip
-Lee Valley watchmakers cases (I love these for storing the seeds I will keep for my garden)
-A good pen
-Several small bubble mailers (it is important to share seeds in a bubble mailer so that the seeds don’t get crushed. I recycle mine over and over by taping post-it notes over the existing address)
-Stamps
-Address labels

I store all the items in the Rubbermaid container. I sort the seeds that I am keeping (I put these in the watchmakers cases) from the ones I am willing to trade. I label the 2×2 baggies with the botanical name and common name and fill each with a spoonful of seeds; these I add to my trade list then they are ready to be popped in a bubble mailer and off to their new location.

To find links to specific seed saving instructions for 27 common vegetables. This online information comes from Basic Seed Saving, a 48 page paperback book written by Bill McDorman. It was created to provide enough practical information to allow gardeners to embark on the rewarding adventure of saving their own seeds.
Click Here

-- Xploreorganics, 5b Canada, LFD 06-20