Seed Saving

Introduction to Seed Saving

 Summer is the perfect time to collect seeds, ready to stash away for next spring!

Why such an important topic? From seeds, come food. Seeds that you have collected from plants grown in your own garden, through epigenetics, will, even in one generation, be partially adapted to your local environment.

Plus seed collecting is therapeutic – it is all about hope and renewal, knowing there is that tiny  germ of life dormant in there, just waiting to grow again, connecting the past, the present and the future. As you collect more and more seed varieties, you will notice the extraordinary variety and beauty of seed pods and seeds. And you will also observe the similarities of seeds/pods within a family of plants. The simplest things in life can give the greatest pleasure. You just have to notice!!

Finally, saving your own seeds can save you significant pennies! They also make great gifts.

Seed Saving Guidelines:

Which seeds to collect

·         Only collect mature, ripe seed (pods usually golden brown) on a dry sunny day, after any dew has dried off

·         Only collect from healthy, robust plants;  many diseases transfer to the seed, and weak plants usually produce small seeds with less stored nutrients, so the seedlings that grow from them will likewise be less robust.

·         Strictly speaking, for top quality seed, you should save seed from best fruit/plants/seed clusters earlier in the season when parent plants are their peak, rather than wait til the end of summer when plants aren’t quite as vibrant

·         To be sure you get seeds that are true to type, collect from varieties that are open pollinated and that you know haven’t crossed with other varieties (see below). Do not collect from hybrid plants as seeds won’t come true (most supermarket produce will be hybrid).  

Drying the seeds

·         Finish drying seed in a paper bag indoors in a warm, dry spot but not in direct sun. Seed should be crunchily dry before storing (large seeds like zucchini or pumpkin should snap cleanly when you break them in half). Never use plastic bags to collect into– if the plant material is even slightly damp, it will sweat and your seeds will go mouldy.

·         If the seed is already in a closed pod, like beans, or peas, you can leave the seeds in the pods which shuld be thoroughly dry and brown

·         Store dried seeds/pods in an airtight glass jar or a metal tin. Rats have an uncanny way of sniffing seeds out in plastic containers.  (I once lost a full jar of beautiful lettuce seeds to rats that chewed their way through the plastic.)

Saving  seeds from fleshy fruit

The basic idea with the seeds from fleshy fruits (like tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant etc)  is

(a) that we want the seeds to get as much nutrients as possible from the fruity flesh they are in (which is like a  placenta for the seeds), and

(b) to give time for the seed coat to develop, so when dried, it will be tough enough to protect the embryo plant within.

•    Allow fleshy fruit to get very mature on the plant. Cucumbers should go yellow and horribly bitter,  zucchini should become large hard marrows. Eggplants should actually turn colour almost to green and the whole fruit should feel hard (it will be inedible), peppers almost go wrinkly overripe, the gloss gone from the skin. Let pumpkins and winter squash, once picked, continue to mature all the way through winter, the seeds will be fantastic.

•   Open the fruit and spread the wet seeds out on greaseproof paper to dry; mix the seeds with water first if necessary to remove fleshy bits.

•   Mix juicy seeds from tomatoes, tamarillos, passionfruit etc with water and allow to ferment over a few days (this will kill off any disease) before straining off the seeds and spreading to dry as detailed above

Labelling and Storing

•   ALWAYS label seed type and variety, date collected, and where from

•   Once dried and in a container, putting seeds in the deep freeze (if you have one) is a great way to kill off any tiny bugs that may eat the seeds.

•   The golden rule with seed is: Store in a cool, dark, dry place. Seeds are dormant but alive! Leaving them in a warm spot indefinitely will cause them to use up their stored energy faster and the seed will lose its ability to germinate (viability) quicker. If you have room, the fridge/freezer is a great place to store seeds.

• Add silica gel packs (often found in vitamin bottles) to your jars of seeds to absorb any last bits of moisture.

•   If your seeds start to lose viability, in other words they don't germinate well, throw them out. The remaining seeds that do germinate will have also lost a lot of vigour and will not grow into healthy plants.

Saving Pure Seed (that will grow true to type)

To save pure seed means preventing cross-pollination between different varieties in the same species. 

Planting just one variety in a species will help ensure you save pure seed.

That sounds simple, but there are several plant varieties look quite different, but  belong to the same species!

For instance, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, and kohlrabi are all varieties of Brassica oleracea and will all cross with each other.  So only grow one of these if you want to save seed.

In the family Cucurbitaceae, we have the Genus Cucurbita and four species: maxima, pepo, moschata and mixta. Within each species there are many varieties which will all cross with each other:

o   Cucurbita maxima includes buttercup, Musquee de Provence, Marina di Chioggia, Triamble, Whangaparaoa Crown  

o   Cucurbita moschata includes  butternut, cupola 

o   Cucurbita pepo includes zucchini and scallopini, acorn squash, kumikumi, African Gem, spaghetti squash, crookneck squash

o   Cucurbita  argyrosperma aka mixta (eg gourds). Note: C. moschata and C. argyrosperma will cross as they are very closely genetically related

So knowing your plants’ scientific names will help you find out if they will cross pollinate or not (see online resources below).

Easy Seeds to Save that will come true to type:

·         Most annual herbs, especially from the carrot family, like parsley (but flat leaf parsley will cross with curly parsley), dill and coriander. Celery. Basil (although red varieties will cross with green). Chives and Garlic chives (although easier to divide the plant).

·         Perennial herbs like thyme, sweet marjoram and oregano are quicker to strike from cutting, but the seeds are easy to collect after flowering. Make sure flowers have withered/gone brown.

·         Beans: generally varieties don’t cross with each other

·         Peas: generally varieties don’t cross with each other  

·         Lettuce:  although some crossing takes place between varieties closely planted

·         Tomatoes: varieties don’t cross with each other and will stay true to type

·         Most annual flowers like cosmos, calendula, phacelia, snap dragons, chamomile. Note that varieties of the same species such as different types of calendula, or zinnia, will cross

Here are some great online resources to help you on your seed saving journey:

https://seedsavers.org/learn/seed-saving/

https://seedalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/seed_saving_guide.pdf

https://www.theseedcollection.com.au/blog/seed-saving-part-1-why-saving-seeds-makes-sense

As well as books:

·         Koanga Garden’s booklet  “Save Your Own Seeds” is well worth the $16.

·         “Seed to Seed” by Suzanne Ashworth.