Did you know that you can save your own seeds using plants growing in your backyard? Aside from planting, one of the things that I enjoy the most is saving seeds. It’s an essential task for every gardener! Seeds embody the qualities that communities value most, they carry more than just biodiversity, they carry culture! If it weren’t for farmers and gardeners cultivating, selecting, and saving seeds, most varieties would be lost forever.
People love oranges, grapes, and other fruits without seeds and it’s more like a trend that people opt-in for “seedless” food so they won’t take extra time to get rid of it, but for us gardeners, it’s important to keep the seeds in plants, otherwise, we will start losing these very important gems. For a more sustainable future, it makes sense to save seeds and produce your own food. Using, storing, and passing on seeds is a good way to ensure their long-term viability and your own independence.
Why Save Seeds?
1. Sustainability and Self-Sufficiency- You’re essentially creating your own seed bank, ensuring that you have a ready supply of seeds tailored to your garden’s specific conditions.
2. Preservation of Heirlooms- Heirloom varieties, passed down through generations, can be preserved by saving seeds. This helps maintain unique plant characteristics and flavors that might otherwise be lost
3. Personal Connection- Saving seeds fosters a deeper connection with your plants and the natural cycles of growth and renewal. It’s a gratifying process that allows you to witness the full life cycle of your plants, from seed to harvest and back to seed. I personally have a whole box filled with different kinds and varieties of seeds!
What Are The Seeds That I Can Save?
Start with open-pollinated or heirloom varieties, as these will produce true-to-type seeds. Avoid hybrids, as their seeds may not reliably reproduce the parent plant’s traits. Some easy plants to begin with include tomatoes, beans, peas, and peppers.
Heirloom tomatoes, Calendula flower, Trinity beans, Dry peas plants, Tiger stripe tomatoes, Azoychka tomatoes, Green zebra tomatoes, Chocolate stripe tomatoes, Pink mizuna, and Shishito pepper are all seeds that we generally save from our garden.
How To Save The Seeds of Peppers and Tomatoes?
Peppers
- Cut the pepper vertically and remove seeds from the placenta
- Spread the seeds on a plate
- Leave for a few days and let it dry
- Come back 3-5 days later and store in paper bags
Tomatoes
- Scoop out gelatine and seeds
- Place the gelatine and seeds into a cup and add water
- Mix daily so that the seeds will be separated from the gelatine
- Strain the seeds 3 days later
- Dry and store
Saving seeds is more than just producing plants; it’s about developing a long-term relationship with your garden. Each seed represents the promise for a new plant, a new season, and a lasting legacy of your gardening efforts. Saving seeds connects you to a bigger network of gardeners who care about plant diversity and the environment.
Never underestimate the impact of growing your own food and preserving seeds for the next generation!
Happy gardening!
