How to Save Seeds

How to Save Seeds

1. Select open-pollinated (not hybrid/ F1) varieties of plants.

2. Start with the easiest seeds to save: Peas, Beans, Tomatoes, Lettuce and Native Plants.

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.

5. Dry seeds thoroughly. Store in paper envelopes or small clean jars in a dry, cold location. A plastic or glass container in your refrigerator is a great place to store seeds.

6. Label, label, label!  Include the date, location and other notes about the plant, such as days to maturity or sun preference. You will forget come springtime.

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.

Native Plants

Most native plants produce a flower, which if pollinated, will make a seed head or pod. Late in the fall or after a frost, collect the seed pods and allow to thoroughly dry. Remove the seeds before storing. Many native plants, especially milkweeds, attach a fluff bit to each seed to allow the seeds to disperse in the wind. To remove this fluff put the opened seed pods in a bucket or container with a lid. Add a couple of coins and close the lid and shake. The shaking with the coins will remove the fluff from the seeds. After shaking, the seeds will be at the bottom of the container.

Most native seeds require a moist cold period of time called stratification before they will germinate. The easiest way to grow these seeds is to plant them in the fall and let them go through the winter where they will sprout in the spring. Otherwise you will need to simulate winter by placing the seeds in moist sand and storing in the refrigerator for a set number of days before starting inside.  

RESOURCES

University of Minnesota Extension information - http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/saving-vegetable-seeds/

Seed Savers Exchange – http://www.seedsavers.org/

Native plant growing from Prairie Moon Nursery - https://www.prairiemoon.com/

Seed Sowing and Saving by Carole B. Turner

                                                                                                                       

News About Seeds

I have two new bits of info to share with you:

Farmers who produce crops for seeds
High Mowing Seeds, one of our suppliers who donates seeds, has information about farmers who grow crops for seeds. Growing crops just for seeds involves a different strategy than growing crops for food. Check out the article at: 
High Mowing Seed farmers 

Svalbard Seed Vault Leaks

If you came to one of the two talks about seed starting I gave this month, you may remember I talked about the seed vault located in one of the coldest places on earth inside a mountain. You would think it would be mostly immune to global warming, but it was not!  Some of the permafrost melted which resulted in a small leak. Check out the article about this and see some amazing photos of the 'Doomsday Vault'.

Doomsday Vault Leak 

Thank you to all seed donors and Volunteers!
I just want to thank everyone who has donated seeds and money or volunteered their time packaging seeds. Without your help there would not be a seed library.

Many local community members
Sow True Seed
High Mowing Seed
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Burpee Seeds
Southern Exposure Seeds
Park Seeds
John Scheepers Seeds
Gurneys
Big River Big Woods Chapter of Wild Ones  
 



 

SEED STARTING CLASS, BASIC and ADVANCED TECHNIQUES and TRICKS

A seed starting class will be held this Tuesday, May 2nd at 6:30pm at the White Bear Lake library. (Also, repeated on Wednesday, May 17th at 7 pm at the Roseville library).
White Bear Lake library is located at 2150 2nd St, White Bear Lake, MN 55110

I'll go over basic and advanced seed starting techniques and tricks as well as give an intro to the seed library. I have 2 donated seed starting trays to be given away, one at each class. Also, if you have some extra seedlings and want to bring them in to trade with others please do so.

Now is the time to plant seeds of cool loving crops of: beets, broccoli, cauliflower, collards, kale, lettuce, onions, parsley, peas, radish, spinach, and turnips. Note that I stress seeds, not plants. It is still too cold for almost all plants to be outside. BUT, looking at the weather, you might want to wait until after Monday as they are predicting over an inch of rain in the next 2 days. Depending on where your garden is located, it may wash away your seeds if the rain comes all at once.  After Monday, then the soil will probably be too wet to plant for a few days. So maybe if you have a chance of planting early today it is better. Such is the life of a gardener--always trying to guess the ideal time to plant!

In any case, it is too early for tender plants of peppers and tomatoes to go in the ground. If you have a cold frame, you might be able to transfer them to that after Monday to harden them off. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll explain at Tuesday's class.)

Even if you are an experienced seed starter or not interested in seed starting, feel free to stop in Tuesday as I'd love to talk to you about your garden and/or seed starting experience. Also, please let me know how well the seeds from the seed library germinated for you. I had very good results with the tomato seeds and I'd like to compare notes with others.

When to Start Seeds

Great question and the answer is ‘It depends!’ Not the answer you were hoping for is it? I can narrow it down a little, but first a little background.

We start seeds inside of plants that need a longer growing season than our zone 4 area provides. If you live outside of zone 4, adjust appropriately. Many plants we grow such as tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, onions, herbs, and annual flowers are more suited for warmer climates, so to grow them here we have to give them a head start. Also, starting seeds indoors gives them some tender loving care they may not receive outside and usually results in higher germination rate.

So now you know why you start some seeds indoors early, but when should you start them? The best place to find the answer is on the seed packet and the seed packet for most of the seeds in the seed library is in the seed catalog. Either snap a photo of the packet from the catalog or jot down the information. You’ll also need the date of last frost, which in the Twin Cities is around May 13^th. You can also find information on the internet, but below is a handy chart you can reference.

Broccoli	Early Apr or 6-8 weeks before last frost
Tomato, spinach, pepper, onion, kale, Brussels sprouts, beets	Mid-Apr or 4-6 weeks before last frost
Cabbage, cauliflower	Early May or 3-4 weeks before last frost
Peas, lettuce	Direct seed as soon as soil can be worked
Carrots, parsnips, beans, corn, cucumber, melons, pumpkins, squash	Direct sow when soil has warmed around mid-late May
Oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, chives, parsley, basil	Early Apr or 6-8 weeks before last frost
Cilantro, dill	Direct seed after last frost
Marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, morning glory, nasturtiums	Mid-Apr or 4-6 weeks before last frost
Sunflowers	Direct seed after last frost

Also, many vegetables you can get two crops in a season, such as peas, lettuce, spinach and kale by planting a second crop mid-late July.

"But wait”, you say, “I start my tomatoes at the end of March and I don’t start my morning glories inside ever and they do just fine.”

You’re right. The above chart is just a guideline. Most plants are quite flexible and whether you start those 4 weeks early or 6 weeks early or direct seed them, they will probably do ok. Also, if you search online or in gardening books, you’ll find many conflicting answers. Some key points to keep in mind is that many seedlings are not at all happy if the temperature gets below freezing or close to freezing, so if you put out your seedlings early or they start growing outside early you may need to cover them if we get a cold night in the spring. Also, some seedlings wilt if the days get exceptionally hot or dry, so keep an eye on your plants, especially at the start. In general, planting a garden is not a ‘do it once and be done’ activity. It’s a labor of love that needs some care at least weekly.

Here are some online references:

Urban Farmer: http://www.ufseeds.com/Minnesota-Vegetable-Planting-Calendar.html

University of MN Extension: http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard%2Dgarden/flowers/starting-seeds-indoors/

And

http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/planting-the-vegetable-garden/

Note: This article is not intended to be about how to start seeds. That is a different topic for a different day.

What comes in red, yellow, orange, green and black and has 47 varieties?

Hint:

Answer: The number of tomato seed varieties in the White Bear Lake seed library!

Wow! Add to that 26 varieties of beans and 27 varieties of peppers and 17 species of native plants.

Not to mentions many, many other vegetables, herbs and flowers.

This is the perfect time to plan your garden. Don’t be afraid to mix it up a bit by planting vegetables and flowers next to each other. But hold off on starting your tomato seeds, it’s still too early! General recommendations are starting 5-6 weeks before last date of frost, which in Minnesota is mid-April. If you start them earlier they will get too leggy and you won’t have a strong plant. On the other hand, peppers can be started mid-March.

See the University of MN extension recommendations: http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard%2Dgarden/flowers/starting-seeds-indoors/