Seed SavingTimely techniques for common crops By Brook Elliott One benefit of the heirloom vegetable craze is that gardeners have rediscovered seed saving. In the absence of cross-pollination or mutation, heirlooms, like all open-pollinated crops, grow true to type. So gardeners can save seed each year for use in following seasons. This is the way it was done for thousands of years before hybrids appeared. Although many seeds merely need to be dried and stored safely, there are numerous vegetables whose seed requires special harvesting and handling techniques. Failure to do so results in non-viable seed and crop failures. Here’s a rundown on how t save seed from the most common home-garden crops. BEANS The ideal is to allow beans to dry on the vine then thresh them to remove the seed from the dried pods and store in a cool, dry location. Because of humidity and fall rains, this is not always feasible. Instead, wait until the pods change color and turn leathery. Then either pull the plants and hang them upside down indoors until the pods fully dry or harvest the pods, shuck the seed, and put them in an open-weave basket to dry, stirring them at least once daily. To check if seed is fully dried, hit one with a hammer. If it shatters, it’s dry enough. If it merely mushes, it needs more time. This test, by the way, applies to all saved seed. Dried beans should be frozen for at least 48 hours to destroy any bean weevil eggs and larvae. English peas, cowpeas, limas, and butterbeans are saved the same way as common beans. TOMATOES Tomato seed is found in a gel coat that contains anti-germination compounds to prevent the seed from sprouting in the warm, moist environment of the fruit. The gel coat, along with most seed borne pathogens, is removed by fermenting the seed. Once fermentation is complete, wash the seed, spread it on a screen or paper plate, and stir it as it dries to prevent sticking, Seed is saved from ripe tomatoes, and you can use, the flesh after removing the seed. PEPPERS Pepper seed needs only to be gently scraped from the fruit and spread to dry. However, do not make the mistake of saving seed from unripe peppers. It won’t be viable. While we eat green peppers, they are not ripe at that point. Wait until the pod has completely changed color (most often to red, yellow, or orange) before saving seed. CUCUMBERS Like tomatoes, cucumber seed must be fermented. Unlike tomatoes, however, cuke seed is most viable long after the edible stage. Let the fruit remain on the on the vine until it has changed color and starts to turn soft. Harvest it and store in a safe place for an additional 21 days. Then harvest the seed and ferment it. WATERMELON Watermelon seed is held loosely in the flesh. To save it, merely remove the seed, wash it well, and lay it out to dry. Discard any seed that is uncolored or which hasn’t plumped up. MUSKMELON Muskmelon seed is held in a fibrous network that needs to be removed. Separate the seed as much as possible then wash it in a strainer, rubbing the seed against the screening to scrape off as much membrane as possible. Fermenting the seed will assure all the membrane is removed but usually isn’t necessary. Spread the washed seed on screens or plates to dry. SUMMER SQUASH Zucchini, yellow crookneck, pattypan, and similar summer squashes are at the best eating stage when unripe. For seed saving, leave the fruit on the vines. It will eventually develop a hard skin, similar to winter squashes, Harvest squashes as late in the fall as possible and let them sit in storage even longer. Then harvest the seed, wash off any membranes or other debris, and let air dry. WINTER SQUASH Pumpkin and winter squash seed is saved the same way as summer squash. OKRA Allow the pods to dry fully on the vine. If weather doesn’t allow this, bring the partially dried pods indoors and let them air dry. Okra pods are decorative and can be used in floral displays until ready to harvest the seed. To collect the seed, split the pods open and scrap the seeds (they’ll often just roll out on their own) from the rows. EGGPLANT Eggplant seed develops long after the edible stage. Overly ripe eggplant will change color and have a dull, spoiled look. The fruits will be soft. Gently cut the eggplant apart and put in a blender filled with water, Pulse the blender to separate the seed from the flesh. Pour the whole mass into a large container filled with water. The viable seed will sink to the bottom. Bad seed flesh, and other debris will float. Remove the floating crud, wash the seed, and lay it out on screens or paper plates to dry. FERMENTING SEED Tomato, cucumber, and some melon seed need to be fermented to remove anti-germination compounds and kill seed-borne pathogens. Here’s how it’s done: Remove the seed from the fruit and put it in a waterproof container. I like to use clear styrene drinking cups because I can watch the process. But any non-reactive waterproof container will work. Be sure to label the container it you are saving seed from more than one variety. Add an equal volume of water to the seed mass and put the container in a warm spot out of direct sunlight. Stir the contents once a day. Depending on temperature, the fermentation process will begin in about three days. You can actually see the gas bubbles forming. As fermentation continues, the gel coat, bad seeds, and other debris will float to the surface. Viable seed will sink to the bottom. Usually, but not always, a white mold will form on the surface as well. The process will take five to seven days to complete. At that point, all the good seed will have stunk, Pour off the surface crud and wash the seed in several changes of water, rubbing it between your fingers to assure all the coating is removed. Gently rubbing the seed against the screening of a strainer under running water is the best way of assuring clean seed. Drain the seed well and lay it out on screening or paper plates as much in a single layer as possible. As the seed dries, rub it between your fingers to assure that it doesn’t stick together. Seed will take about two weeks to fully dry, depending on humidity and temperature. If you ferment the seed too long, don’t worry. All that happens is that the seed changes color. Tomato seed, for instance, will turn black, and the fuzzy edges will dissolve. But the seed is still viable. Seed fermentation, particularly cucumber seed, produces objectionable odors. So it’s best to not do this in living quarters. Thanks to the Virginia Gardener magazine. Brook Elliott is a full-time freelance writer who specializes in vegetables and sustainable agricultural suspects. He has written for Mother Earth News, The Heirloom Gardener, and other publications. He is also the founder and managing director of the Appalachian Heirloom Seed Conservancy. |
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