Save our seeds!

[Holly]

Hi grapevine,

It's time to buff up on seed-saving techniques.

Can anyone share their seed-saving tips - such as how to collect them from various plants, keeping them somewhere safe and knowing what is what next year, and finding good places to swap them?

Are there any veg you wouldn't advise collecting seed from, and any where you never buy seeds for it anymore?

Thanks very much,
Holly


Your comments may be edited and printed in the August issue of GYO magazine

[VirginVegGrower]

I only save seed from my beans and my peas as I am not very patient or competent in letting veg run to seed. Although I may try with alliums after reading forum threads where some of our more experienced GYO members share their tips! Their comments are most informative!

[salilah]

Beans and peas are pretty easy! I collected lots from my climbing french beans last year, including Cherokee Trail of Tears which (I believe) are supposed to be quite rare? I've shared these with friends and family, as well as dwarf french beans (Rocquencourt are yellow and Purple Teepee are, yes, purple!).

I also saved a few tomato seeds but not many, as I'd got mixed up with the varieties. Better plans this year - I have 18 varieties and 15 or so are either heirloom, rare or from overseas, so I really hope I can save seeds for future years (none are F1)

I'm growing a few chilli plants so plan to save seeds from these - especially what I hope is a variety called Facing Heaven (which is Sichuan, I got the seeds from a packet of dried chillis that looked like Facing Heaven, so fingers crossed). As I've a number of varieties in the greenhouse, I would like to try the suggestion of sealing the flower with PVA glue so it stays true - need to ask the OH for some of his glue!

cheers
Sali

[JamesM]

I do sunflowers and pumpkin seeds as by comparison to other they can be fairly expensive to buy and their seeds are so plentiful (of course it's also a good idea to lop the heads of sunflowers for a cheap bird feed).

Scrape seeds- wash in cool water- drain and clear away any pulp- lay out on kitchen roll for 24-48 hours in a warm dry spot and then store in a brown envelope. Easy to do and nice to keep the cycle of growing going without having to buy seeds. Germination rates are as good as i'd expect from shop bought and it's rewarding

[Maccabee]

I'm sure there's quite an extensive topic full of good info on this, i'll have a look for it. This is pretty good guide too

How To Save Seed

[1066]

Hi, well as a relative newcomer to seed saving I try and save seeds from tomatoes, beans, peas, and lettuce, plus I'm trying Chillies, Peppers, Radish, Kale and Fennel this year.

Patience is my main tip, that and trying to select the best of the best to save seeds from, no use in saving seeds from a lettuce that has bolted too early.
Good sources of info for me have been the real seed company (as per the link from Maccabee), theSeedy Sunday guys and the HSL.
I'm putting together a leaflet for our allotment society on seed saving for beginners, so will follow this thread with interest.

[chris]

This year, I'm saving some parsnip seed from the new plot I took over - there's a row of 'nips that have ran to seed (as it was left unattended) - so I'll be leaving them in situ, and harvesting the seed for the seed saving circle that I'm part of here. It's good as parsnips (and most other root veg) will flower in their second year, so it's saved me a years worth of growth + space!

Despite the general consensus that parsnip seed should be bought fresh every year, there's a few members here who chit their seeds first, and have success with seed that is a few years old.

Besides, from 1 seed you get multiple seeds - it's a great way to save some money year on year.

I'll also be saving peas and beans this year (specially growing all my beans for the dried beans - we'll be using them in the kitchen but keeping a handful back to re-grow next year).

[bronwen]

Well I am new to growing veg this year but would like to try and save seeds from my peas, snap peas, dwarf beans, tomatoes and courgette (1) and cucumber (1).

I have several different varieties of tomatoes and from reading briefly about seed saving it seems they mostly self-pollinate so I would be able to save seeds from each variety even though they will all be grown within my small backyard. Is this correct?

Also, would the snap peas (sugar bon) and the peas (early onward) cross pollinate? Or do people think it will be okay to save seed for sowing next year?

Hope I am not showing too much ignorance... I mean inexperience!!

By the way I did some seed swapping of unwanted freebie packets and excess carrot seed to get small quantities of the different peas and bean to try (in lots of 50) as I didn't want to buy packets with hundreds of seeds. All it involves is the cost of postage.
This is the site: here

[zazen999]

Garden Organic resources for schools

Peas are self-fertile; by the time the flowers have opened they are already fertilised so don't worry about them crossing.

I've put a link up to the Seed Saving in Schools booklet that I have recently helped write.

[womble]

Tomatoes, beans and peas are all easy to save and well worth it. Cucurbits and sweetcorn aren't, unless stringent isolation policy's are in place.

It's worth remembering that you save the best of the best, you want your next years crops and subsequent seed line, to be strong and tasty. Also it's worth looking out for any sports/crosses and just slightly different plants. Ones that taste better, survive better, or shug off pests better, than the other plants around them.

The tomatoes, peas and beans are easy to save as they don't cross by themselves very often and don't suffer from self inbreeding, so you can keep the same line for years and years.

[Newton]

(of course it's also a good idea to lop the heads of sunflowers for a cheap bird seed

Don't you mean "cheep" bird seed.........

[ginger ninger]

With regards to swapping seeds, I've had very good seed swaps with people on here. I with help from Jeanied recently took over the seed swap parcels. These are specialist parcels filled with seeds that maybe hard to source from normal seed books. Most are donated by kind people of this site, some are self saved by Jeanied and myself, others are what we have spare from our own sowings or swaps. To date there are around 12 parcels in all and more being thought up as we go along. Members of the G.Y.O site can add there names to a post on here, the parcels are sent to them to look through, they take out what they want and put more seeds back in. It's a lovely way to share seeds with lot's of people with the same interests.

[endymion]

If you grow several varieties of French and Runner beans will they cross pollinate, and so make the seed not worth keeping?

Mind you, I have a feeling the squirrels will probably run off with any we try to ripen outside.

[zazen999]

French beans, no. Runners, yes. Or grow lots of French beans like we do, with only one Runner variety and as long as nobody nearby has a different variety, you can save those. Or just bag a few flowers and leave those on the plant for seed.

[endymion]

There are two varieties of Runner Bean and one climbing French Bean alongside each other, same with three dwarf French Beans which are nearby. They're all within a bee's reach of each other. There are possibly others in the area, but I can't see, and don't like to knock on doors and ask what people are growing in their back gardens. It might not go down too well.

What would we end up with as a result of cross-pollination? Would they be a viable, growable, seed?