Collecting Seeds & Storage Ideas
Frost is near, and you can feel a little nip in the air here in Iowa. October generally brings our first autumn frost, and it typically arrives around the second week. Somehow, we have arrived at the end of the growing season, and I honest-to-goodness feel like I just planted our spring seeds out in the vegetable garden. How did it go by so quickly? I suppose that it was happens when you give birth in early June. All of that goes out the window. If you have had a child, do you ever start a conversation with someone who brings up a song or a movie that came out around the time of the birth of your child, and you have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. It feels as if you got stuck in a time loop. That is how this entire gardening season feels to me, yet I was there!!
Mom and I have been going out to the flower garden in the evenings and collecting the seeds from the blooms that have died back and dried. It is a really simple way to be frugal about growing our collection of plants, and we love selecting specific flowers that we really enjoyed from previous seasons to continue on. While we still purchase seeds in the spring, saving them is a good practice to begin familiarizing yourself with as a gardener. It is another step to becoming a better grower and creating a truly unique and personal garden to your preferences.
how to collect seeds:
Tag Plants You Like. When it comes to saving seeds, it is best to tag or mark the best looking plants to save seeds from. This can be a little bit difficult, if you also want to enjoy eating them or arranging the flowers! But for the continuation of certain traits and qualities, this must be done. Simply tag the plant with a piece of string or ribbon and leave it go through its natural cycle. This can really be for any quality that you prefer, whether the flower has a gorgeous double bloom or its a perfectly colored and sized cucumber, it’s really up to what you like. The seeds you save from a specific fruit or flower will pass those genetic traits down to its successor.
Understand Open-Pollination and Annuals, Biennials, and Perennials. Not all plants produce seeds in a single growing season. Annuals are plants that flower, fruit, die, and produce seeds at the end of their growing season. This would be plants like zinnias, sunflowers, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and lettuce. Other plants can be biennials like onions or carrots that produce seeds in their second year, or after they have gone through a cold period. Perennials are plants that come back every single year and do not necessarily need to set seeds to grow again, though some like fruiting trees do. Open-pollinated plants are perfect for collecting seeds; they mate with other plants of the same species and produce seeds that are ready to go! Cross-pollinating with other varieties of the same species can make this tricky, but that is how you produce new varieties of certain flowers and vegetables. Kind of fun!
Wait for the Seeds to Mature. Some seeds mature when the plant begins to die back on its own. Other plants, such as those that produce wet fruits like cucumbers and squash, need to be left to fully mature for the seeds to be useable. Because the fruits of these plants are eaten when the fruit is immature, this means that the seeds are not going to able to grow a new plant. You will have to leave these fruits on the vine until they are beginning to die back. Vegetables like lettuce and beans are easier to harvest seeds from. Simply let the seed pods dry on their own and gather any hard, dry seeds and store them. Beans are super easy to do this with, once you get too tired of picking them all!
Tomatoes are different. Tomatoes are hardest to collect seeds from because their natural process is a bit more scientific. If a tomato were left to grow on its own and reproduce, you might notice that the fruit itself begins to ferment on the vine, fall off into the soil, and continue the fermentation process on the ground until it eventually dies away and leaves the seeds behind. The seeds themselves are located in this little gel sack inside of the fruit, almost like an egg. To save seeds from a tomato inside of your home, you must pick a completely ripened fruit, remove this gel sack, and let it ferment for a few days in a bowl or drinking glass. It will stink! Once the gel sack has begun to dry, the seeds can be cleaned and dried out fully.
Dry the Seeds Out Fully. Once the seeds have been harvested, make sure that they are fully dried. This can simply be done by spreading them on a plate or baking sheet and leaving them sit inside of your home until they no longer feel damp. If the seeds are wet, they may begin to mold inside whatever container you use to store them.
storing seeds:
Use Airtight Containers. When seeds are properly dried, they can be stored in airtight containers. This could simply be a plastic box with a lid, a glass jar with a screw top, or even those little paper seed packets. We decided to get a bit fancy this year and use a wooden box with little glass vials. I think it turned out really cute!
Store in a Cool, Dry Place. Seeds like it a bit cooler, so your basement is generally a good place to store seeds if it is not damp. We just keep them on the main level of our home on a pantry shelf. Some people like to store their seeds in their refrigerator, though this is not always necessary. It is best to look into each plant you are wanting to save seeds for and their specific needs.
Seeds Can be Stored for YEARS. Seeds from ancient civilizations have been discovered and germinated. The year that store bought seeds are packaged and labeled for is not always accurate, as seed companies obviously want to continue to produce seeds and make an income for their business. But the leftover seeds from your packets of years past are generally still good to use! Their germination rate may just be a bit lower. For the most part, seeds that you may save from your own garden are at their best for the first 1-3 years. After that, the germination rate begins to fall. Some seeds last longer than others, and you will have to test them in the spring to see how they do.
Now that the harvest is officially coming a close, and we are busy bringing in the last of it, we are already looking forward to next year. I suppose that is the curse of being a gardener, isn’t it? We are always dreaming and scheming of what we can do in the upcoming growing season to make our gardens even better!
I am looking forward to seeing how the zinnia seeds we are working to save right now look next spring. Will they turn out to be some really fun cross-pollinated colors? I hope so!
xoxo Kayla
