Saving seed is a fun way to preserve heirloom garden plants while also
cutting expenses on yearly seed bills. It's simple to collect, store and trade
seeds. For both annual and perennial flowers, start looking for seed pods formed
after flowers bloom, or else take apart spent blossoms to determine where seeds
are.
For instance, at the base of dried marigold blooms is a pod of hundreds of
lightweight seeds. At the base of zinnia petals are numerous little pointed
seeds. Morning glories, some canna lilies, and hummingbird vines have brown pods
with large black seeds that are very easy to save. Pods from portulaca, poppy,
and petunia contain seeds so tiny that a sneeze will blow them away.
Among the vegetable seeds most easily saved are non-hybrid tomato, pepper,
bean, cucumbers, and summer squash. Collect seeds from fully mature ripe fruit
of these plants.
Tomato: The gelatinous coating encasing the seed must be removed. Squeeze the
seeds into a bowl, add water, and let stand at room temperature for about three
days. Once fermentation occurs, mold will form on the surface of the water. Add
more water, stir, and then gently scrape mold and debris off the top. Repeat
until only clean seed remains, and then strain, rinse, and leave the seeds at
room temperature until dry.
Peppers: Select a mature, completely red pepper. Cut open, scrape the seeds
onto a plate, and let the seeds dry in a non humid, shaded place, testing them
occasionally until they break rather than bend. Leave at room temperature until
completely dry.
Beans, peas, and other legumes: Leave pods on the plant until they
rattle.
Summer squash: Summer squash is at the seed-saving stage when the outside
skin is hardened so that you cannot dent the squash with a fingernail. Cut it
open, scrape the seeds into a bowl, and then wash, drain, and dry them.
Storing seeds: Store most seed in airtight jars. The exception is legumes,
which store best in paper sacks. To keep the seeds dry, fill a small cloth bag
with about one-half cup dry powdered milk. Place the packet in the jar beneath
the seed packets. Label your container with the variety, date, and other
information. Store your seeds in a cool, dark, dry place like a refrigerator.
Avoid opening the container until you are ready to plant. Stored seeds will
retain their viability for different lengths of time. Melon seed can be stored
for as long as five years, while sweet corn is only good for one year. Other
types of seed remain viable for two to three years.
All images from Britannica Image Quest
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Title : Separating seeds from seedheads
Credit : Dorling Kindersley / Universal Images Group
Title : Using knife to remove seeds from ripe tomato
Credit : Dorling Kindersley / Universal Images Group
Title : Seed packs
Credit : JOHNNY GREIG / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Universal Images Group
I'm reading Makers: The New Industrial Revolution, by Chris Anderson. Here is a good quote in the book from Cory Doctorow: "The days of companies with names like 'General Electric' and 'General Motors' are over. The money on the table is like krill: a billion little entrepreneurial opportunities that can be discovered and exploited by smart, creative people."
Saving seed is a fun way to preserve heirloom garden plants while also
cutting expenses on yearly seed bills. It's simple to collect, store and trade
seeds. For both annual and perennial flowers, start looking for seed pods formed
after flowers bloom, or else take apart spent blossoms to determine where seeds
are.
Tomato: The gelatinous coating encasing the seed must be removed. Squeeze the
seeds into a bowl, add water, and let stand at room temperature for about three
days. Once fermentation occurs, mold will form on the surface of the water. Add
more water, stir, and then gently scrape mold and debris off the top. Repeat
until only clean seed remains, and then strain, rinse, and leave the seeds at
room temperature until dry.
Storing seeds: Store most seed in airtight jars. The exception is legumes,
which store best in paper sacks. To keep the seeds dry, fill a small cloth bag
with about one-half cup dry powdered milk. Place the packet in the jar beneath
the seed packets. Label your container with the variety, date, and other
information. Store your seeds in a cool, dark, dry place like a refrigerator.
Avoid opening the container until you are ready to plant. Stored seeds will
retain their viability for different lengths of time. Melon seed can be stored
for as long as five years, while sweet corn is only good for one year. Other
types of seed remain viable for two to three years.
Third book in The End trilogy, Brink of Chaos is full of cliff-hanger scenes that make you keep reading. In the not-to-distant future where everyone has an invisible laser tattoo, things fall apart when the U.S. president is poisoned. Mix some very evil bad guys and a new bio-terror weapon with a few Israeli spies and you get a page-turner with quite a surprise at the end.
