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