Self Sufficiency - Saving Vegetable Seeds

There are special seed producers that continue to offer heirloom seeds. These are vegetableseeds that have not been hybridized. A hybrid seed (plant) is one that has been joined with another plant to create an entirely new vegetable, flower or other plant. They've been great for our society as agricultural scientists have learned how to make plants that grow quicker for short growing season areas, make vegetables bigger, flowers that are colors never originally seen. However, seeds from hybrid plants most times are sterile and cannot be reproduced. Other times they do not reproduce properly. An heirloom vegetable seed comes from an original plant and will reproduce that same variety of plant year after year.

Choosing Which Vegetable Seeds To Save

* Healthy Seeds. Always choose the healthiest heirloom plants from which to save your seeds. Make sure there has been no disease attaching the plant throughout the growing season as this disease may transfer to your new vegetable plant next year.

* Mature Seeds. For success, you must keep mature seeds. For example, cucumber seeds are not ready for harvest when the vegetable is ready to be picked for the purpose of eating. If the seeds are saved from the cucumber that's been cut and put in last nights salad, it will most likely not germinate when planned next year. A warning, do not let vegetables mature to seed level until the end of the season. Letting plants "go to seed" will slow or even stop vegetable production.

* Turning Color. Most seeds are mature when they turn from white to cream or light brown to dark brown, depending on the plant. Beans and peas, plants with pods, will dry out and turn brown. If you are saving flower seeds, wait until the flower is faded and/or the tops have puffed out. Don't wait, however, until all of the seeds are mature before starting to harvest. You will run the risk of animals and birds beating you to it.

The Dry Method

Onions, garlic, corn (pull husks back while still on the plant), beans, peas, carrots, herbs and most flower seeds are left on the plants to mature and dry as long as possible. Then the dry method must be used to complete the seed saving method. Spread your seeds, single layered, onto a framed screen and let them dry completely in a ventilated, dry safe location. As they dry, you can remove any chaff or pods. For smaller seeds, put the plant seed heads in a paper bag in the same location. As the seed heads dry, the bag will collect the seeds for you.

Making a Seed Drying Frame

You will need a screened frame. You don't have to be a carpenter to make one of these. Cut pieces of 1X1 inch pieces of wood with all four pieces the same size or two one size and two a smaller size. You can nail or screw the four pieces together in order to form a frame. If you like, hardware can be purchased that are shaped like a flat "L" that can be placed on the corner of the frame wood and screwed in. Purchase screen door screen from the hardware store and staple it tightly over the frame.

The Wet Method

Seeds from fleshy fruits such as melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and roses are best prepared using the wet method. After collecting the seeds from these fruits put them in a jar or other container along with a small amount of warm water. Stir it once a day. After the seed(s) have fermented for three or four days, the best seeds will drop to the bottom of the container. This wet method will kill any virus attached to the seed as well as remove any fruit pulp. Any bad seeds will remain at the top of the water. Save only the good seeds and discard the water and contents. Spread the saved seeds onto a screened frame and allow to dry as with the "dry method."

Saving Vegetable Seeds

When the seeds are completely dried it's time to store them for next year. Smaller seeds can be placed in envelopes and sealed. Don't forget to write the name of the plant and the date on the outside of the envelope. Larger seeds can be kept in glass jars or larger envelopes. To kill any pests left on the seeds, put them in your freezer for two weeks. This will not hurt the seed or make it sterile. Then store them in a cool, dry location.

If you seeds mold it is because they were not dried completely. If your seed can be bent, it still has too much moisture and needs longer to dry out. If some of your vegetable seeds have ruptured after the freezing process it is another sign that there was still too much moisture.

Seed Usage

Most seeds can be saved for several years, but none more than five years.

* Vegetable seeds such as onions, corn, parsnip, peppers and parsley should be used the very next year (2 years at the most)

* Beans, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, celery, leeks, spinach or peas should be used with in 3 to 4 years, if not sooner.

* Cucumbers, lettuce, eggplant, radish, chard, cabbage, beets, watermelon, tomato and pumpkin (squash) should all be used within 4 to 5 years.

Beware of Cross Pollination

There are three different ways that plants pollinate: self pollination, wind and insect such as bees and butterflies. Especially in small gardens, plants of the same family can cross pollinate forming their own sort of hybrid seed. To keep your seeds pure you will want to plant only one family seed variety. For example, if you planted a yellow sweet corn and a blue corn, they could cross pollinate and the seeds you save for next year may not produce as the parent plant did, but of a combination. The farther away from each other, the less likely family seeds are to cross pollinate. In a Freedom Garden (community garden) this is a definite consideration, especially if the vegetable gardens are individually plotted.