Start saving seeds
Until 50 years ago, saving seeds from the vegetables and fruit you ate and grew was an integral part of the gardening year for most vegetable gardeners.
Unfortunately, knowledge of how to save seeds has largely been lost by many gardeners, and these days, we just assume that seeds are something you have to buy in packets from the grocery store. These seeds often come from multinational corporations that control the majority of our seed supply and since they select seed varieties according to their own financial interests, this has caused 90 percent of the crop varieties that were grown 100 years ago to disappear. It’s devastating. Seeds are literally the foundation of life. Without seeds, WE HAVE NO FOOD.
So, now that we know the importance of saving seeds, how do we do it?
Here are the general guidelines:
– Select healthy, organic plants to save seeds from
– Rinse to remove fruit membrane
– Dry on a paper towel for three weeks
– Select the plumpest, most solid seeds for saving
– Store seeds in a cool, dry place, such as a sealed envelope or a glass jar
– Label the seeds of what variety they are and when they were saved
– When properly stored, most seeds remain viable for three to five years
The easiest plants to save seeds for are tomatoes, French and runner beans, lettuce, peas, chills and peppers because these are self-pollinating crops but you can save any seeds with a little bit of research.
For seed saving resources, seedsave.org is an online seed school with a free downloadable book about the basics of seed saving.
Also check out the Seed Savers Exchange.
If you want more info on what Big Ag is doing to our seeds, you can watch the doc Open Sesame, The Story of Seeds.