Saving Seeds

Another year, another garden, another squash bug...or another zillion squash bugs, cucumber beetles, worms, and weeds, as the case may be. Arkansas gardening has been an adventure for me. (Adventure, I tell my kids, is the often miserable experience of going out on a limb and living to laugh about it later.) The trouble with me and gardening here in the South is that I'm committed to organic gardening, which means not using an ounce of chemicals, but I always seem to be too busy (or is it too lazy?) to keep on top of the pests that plague my plants.

Tiger Lily and Flopsy - 2 of our major garden "pests" (hence the chicken wire around the tomatoes)

This year, though, has been better by leaps and bounds than the last two. First of all, we scaled down our efforts and switched to “container gardening” in 16 big pots. The easy-access pots allowed us to do hard-target fertilizing and watering, and it helped keep the blasted Bermuda grass at bay. Plus, when we watered, the resulting pool in the pots floated squash bugs and caterpillars into view for easy picking. Encouraged by our success with squash bug patrol, we waged battle on the next wave of pests—tomato beetles and those fat green tomato worms. Pick and squish, pick and drown, pick and chuck to the chickens. So far, so good! We've actually harvested multiple armfuls of cucumbers, zucchini, and peppers. And, oh, the tomatoes...

Okay, I guess we really have enjoyed a smidgen of success this year, and I'm thankful. Hopefully, we can take the lessons we've learned and sow them into a more substantial garden next year. We admittedly don't have much in the way of winter food; we're eating it all fresh. But even though we aren't stocking the pantry, we are at least going to try and save some seeds. Seed saving is becoming more of a necessity than a hobby. From what I hear, we may be hurting for time-tested heirloom seeds in the future if more of us don't commit to saving them, what with companies like Monsanto lurking out there.

As usual, I'm floundering around trying to figure out the best ways to accomplish my latest undertaking, and I'm eager to share what I'm learning with you. So, here's the skinny on saving seeds.

Selecting Seeds
1.Beans, lettuce, pea, pepper, and tomato supposedly offer the beginning seed saver the best chance for success. Corn, cucumber, melon, radish, spinach, squash, and pumpkin require a little more attention because they're susceptible to cross-pollination which can create sterile seeds. Still, I think it's worth a shot.
2.When saving seed, always choose from the best plants (i.e. vigorous growers that are disease-free and hearty producers). A plant that has even a mild bacterial or fungal problem at the end of the growing season can pass the problem to its seeds, and the disease can wreak havoc on next year's crop.
3.Harvest seeds from mature fruit. For example, cucumbers at the eating stage aren't actually ripe, and so their seeds won't germinate if saved. If you're not sure when to harvest, check out the easy reference chart on this website: www.kidsgardening.com/growingideas/PROJECTS/aug04/pg1.html
4.Wait until near the end of the season to save fruit for seed because letting the fruit mature fully reduces the vigor of the plant and discourages further fruit production.

Preparing Seeds for Storage
The Dry Method
1.Beans, peas, onions, garlic, carrots, corn, most flowers and herb seeds are prepared by a dry method. Allow the seed to dry naturally on the plant. Once picked, spread them on a screen, paper plate, or piece of cardboard in a single layer.
2.As for corn, remove the husks when the corn is fully ripened and continue to dry on the cob in paper grocery sacks indoors. When thoroughly dried, you can twist them in your hands to remove kernels.
3.Garlic can be braided and hung from nails or stored in open-weave bags while drying.

The Wet Method
1.Seed from moist, fleshy fruits like tomatoes, melons, squash, and cucumber require a bit more care. Scoop the seed masses from the mature fruit and place them in a small jar of warm water (don't mix seed types).
2.Let the seeds soak for 4 or 5 days, stirring daily. This handy fermentation process may make some smelly mold, but it also kills viruses and separates out the good seeds.
3.After a few days, the good seeds will sink to the bottom of the container while the pulp, mold, and “dud” seeds float.
4.Pour off the water and muck, and then spread out the good seed to dry.

Storing Seeds
Keep your seeds in a well-ventilated, dry location. (I store mine in the fridge in brown paper lunch sacks that are folded, stapled, and labeled with the seed variety and year saved). Seeds shouldn't mold if they were sufficiently dry before storage. Seed viability decreases over time. Most seed should be used within three years, but I read that parsley, onion, and sweet corn must be used the next year.

International Seed Saving Institute
Find links to specific seed saving instructions for many common vegetables and lots more good info at www.seedsave.org/issi/issi_904.html