Buying vegetables you buy in the grocery store is often not a good option when it comes to their seed. More often than not these are hybrids or cross-bred and are not worth a gardener’s time.

Saving Heirloom Seeds

So you’ve gotten some good heirloom seeds, planted them and had a bountiful harvest. Now it’s time to start saving the seeds. Growing seasons usually follow a bell curve. The first few fruits are good, as are the last few. In between the first few and last few, you’ll get your best fruits – the ones from which you’ll want to save your seeds. Some are harder to get to than others.

It’s easy to save seeds from peppers. Simply scrape them out and let them dry naturally until they break rather than bend. Dry them on a glass or ceramic surface – like a mirror or a dinner plate. Seeds will stick on paper towels or paper plates when dried (which can be a good thing if you’re making seed tape, but that’s not what we’re doing here). Stirring the seeds a couple of times a day will help them dry faster and ensure they don’t stick together in a clump.

Melons and winter squash seeds are easy, too. All you have to do is rinse the them well in a mesh strainer. Before you dump the seeds out you’ll want to pat the bottom of the strainer to remove as much moisture as possible so you don’t dump a bunch of water onto the plate. Then just pour them out onto your mirror or dinner plate to dry, stirring a couple of times a day.

Tomato seeds are encased in a gelatinous membrane and need to be fermented to break the “goo” away from the seeds. Slice the tomato in half and squeeze the seeds and juice into a mason jar. Add half as much water to the jar, and cover with a coffee filter or paper towel and secure it with the band from the lid (without the lid itself). The filter (or paper towel) will allow air to get in without letting much of the funky smell get out. You can also do this in a plastic cup and secure the cover with a rubber band if you’d like.

 Once your seeds are dry you have a few options for storage including:

1) Saving seeds in small envelopes then placing them into sealed glass jars. 2) Place seeds in aluminum foil then seal them in a Ziploc© bags. 3) Use aluminum coated plastic bags (mylar) and implement an electric bag sealer.

The whole idea is to keep your seeds dry and free of contaminants.

For more information please go to Survival At Home.  Just a reminder, if you are careful, selecting the best seeds and storing them carefully, your seeds will last longer and you will have an awesome garden!