Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
It can be a challenge for gardeners with a small space to save seed from a large-enough number of
plants to maintain a diverse genetic makeup. That's why Seed Savers Exchange (seedsavers.org) and
other organizations can come in handy! Every couple of years consider trading seeds with someone
from another area of the country to freshen the genetic pool you're working with. This is especially
important if you are saving seeds from just a couple plants each year. If you have more space, and
are able to save seeds from a dozen or more plants, that might not be necessary.
Over the Garden Fence
Seed Savers Exchange is a seed-saving organization dedicated to saving and sharing heirloom seed variet-
ies. Get their catalog to see the amazing variety of plants available. There are also seed swap clubs and
organizations that allow you to trade your seed varieties for new varieties from other gardeners.
How to Save Seeds
Some of the easiest vegetables to start as a seed saver are beans, cucumbers, peas, peppers, squash,
and tomatoes. There are two main ways to save seed. While the details of each type of plant you
might grow in the backyard farm is beyond the scope of this topic, I'll discuss the two primary
methods of seed cleaning.
Wet processing involves removing seeds from fruit while the fruit is still wet, and then there's usually
a fermentation process and a drying process. Dry processing involves allowing the fruits to dry up on
the vine and then winnowing the seeds from the plants. Some common fruits and vegetables that
are processed with wet processing include melons, squashes, and tomatoes. Common fruits and
vegetables where you'll use dry processing include beans, peas, and lettuce.
Processing or fermenting wet seeds sounds complicated, putting some gardeners off the attempt,
but it's actually easier than you might think if you'll give it a try. My husband's grandmother used
to toss her tomatoes onto the pile of muck outside the chicken coop in a sheltered location. And
each spring she'd have seedlings to transplant into the garden. I'm going to share a slightly surer
method than “toss your tomatoes in the compost heap over winter” but hopefully you realize it's
not too difficult.
Large fruits like melons and pumpkins can be cut open and the seeds and pulp scooped out.
Smaller fruits like cherry tomatoes can be smooshed up. Often these will need to go through a fer-
mentation process that mimics what the fruit would go through falling to the ground to rot. If you
take the seeds through a fermenting process, you won't want to add a lot of water to the mixture as
that can slow down the process.
 
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