Hello Gardeners
It’s time to start thinking of seeds!
Maybe you have some lettuce starting to bolt (sending up a stalk) or some tough beans still left on the vine or even an onslaught of cherry tomatoes.
You may think these vegetables are destined for the compost, but they may still have some usefulness left if they are open-pollinated plants (not hybrids).
No, I’m not talking about a great recipe to use up your extra and past prime produce. I’m talking about seeds.
Here’s some quick basic information on how to save vegetable seeds:
1. Select open-pollinated (not hybrid/ F1) varieties of plants.
2. Start with the easiest seeds to save: Peas, Beans, Tomatoes and Lettuce
3. Grow your plants making sure they are not cross-pollinated with other varieties. Select the healthiest plants to harvest seeds. If growing vegetables, also select good tasting fruit with high yields. Don’t choose wonky looking plants and select fruits from more than one plant if possible.
4. Gather fruits or seed pods at the correct time. See details below.
Peas and Beans
Allow pods to ripen on the plants until they are dry and start turning brown. Peas and beans must be completely ripe or they won’t germinate. This will take about a month after harvesting the other peas/beans for eating. You can either strip the pods from the plants or pull up the entire plants whole and spread them to dry inside or other sheltered well-ventilated area for a couple of weeks. Shell pods and store in paper envelopes or jars. Pea and bean seeds remain viable for 3 years.
Tomatoes
Allow fruit to ripen fully and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Put the seeds and pulp in a glass jar with some water. Let sit at room temperature for 2-4 days, stirring once a day. Each day pour off the pulp and seeds that float to the top. Viable seeds will sink to the bottom. After 4 days, remove the seeds at the bottom, rinse thoroughly, drain and spread on newspaper or paper towels to dry. Package in paper envelopes or jars. Tomato seeds remain viable for 4 years.
Lettuce
You must allow the lettuce plant to bolt or grow a stalk which will make a flower head with small yellow flowers. They eventually change to feathery white tufts which contain black or white seeds. Lettuce seeds don’t ripen all at once, so monitor the plants for a month or two. Each time you see some seeds turning dark, shake the plant over a paper bag to catch the seeds. Dry indoors for a week before storing. Lettuce seeds remain viable for 5 years.
Seed Savers Exchange has a good resource.
Which brings me to the topic of the next Seed Talk—Saving Seeds. The Seed Talk is on Tuesday September 12, 6:30 pm at the White Bear Lake library. This is an in-person event that is free and open to anyone. I’ll be talking about saving vegetable and native plant seeds. Bring your questions and experiences! This is a time to share. More information here.
Remember the WBL Seed Library depends on seed donations from gardeners like you!
Pam
Contact info for the Seed Library:
Email: wblseedlibrary@gmail.com
Blog site: WBL Seed Library
