Save our seeds
how i Save Seeds to Reduce Gardening Costs
1 Cor 15:36: “You fool! Every time you plant seed you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up and growing] unless it first dies.” AMP
If you want to garden sustainably and affordably, you might find it helpful to reduce the cost of purchasing seeds. I don’t mean buying cheap or low-quality seeds. On the contrary, you want to have the best quality seeds to grow healthy plants that give you good yields. But quality seeds don’t come cheap, and on average, they can significantly increase the production cost of your crops. Saving seeds from your garden goes a long way in reducing your gardening expenses. I’m no botanist or plant scientist, but in the garden, experience is a great teacher.
Below I share a few things I have learned from saving seeds in my own garden that may be useful to you. I’ll try keep it simple and apolitical – you’ll be surprised how politicised seeds have become in our modern world.
Types of Seeds to Save:
Open-Pollinated Varieties: These are the easiest seeds to save, as they'll produce true-to-type offspring.
Heirloom Varieties: Often open-pollinated, these are treasured for their unique flavours and cultural significance.
I don’t save hybrid varieties (these are the seeds that are usually labelled “F1”). The problem with saving F1 hybrids is that the results can be unpredictable – you plant the seeds next season and the fruit you get might not resemble the parent plant. It’s a bit like when a child doesn’t look like their parents, but instead they might look like a random great-grandparent. For this reason, I would avoid saving F1 hybrids altogether. That’s not to say you can’t try to save hybrid seeds – experimenting in the garden is fun – but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Please note that F1 hybrids should not be confused with GMO seeds (I don’t do GMO - stories for other days!).
Practical tips for saving seeds
Make sure that you harvest seeds only from mature, healthy plants. If the plant was sickly, unproductive or otherwise undesirable, don’t save its seeds. You don’t want to repeat those problems next season. You should ensure that seeds are thoroughly dry before you save them to prevent mould and rot. I let the plant run to seed while it is in the ground and leave it there until it is dry. This looks untidy sometimes as the plants tend to look old and floppy when they reach this stage of life but, who cares? Once I am certain that the plant has dried out and the seeds will be viable, I pull it out and it dry some more on a table or hanging upside down under my patio cover for a few days or even weeks to make sure the seeds are thoroughly dry. Once I am comfortable that the seeds will store well and are viable, I bring them in for storage in containers. My seed storage protocol is relatively simple. Seeds should be kept in a cool, dark, dry place inside of an airtight container. I re-use plastic tubs or envelopes to keep my seeds. Just remember to label them (especially the variety) because I guarantee you will forget what they are next season.
Check out my video showing how I save beetroot seeds from plants at the end of winter.
Recommended Seeds to Save
Vegetables:
Beans, peas, radishes and turnips: When the seed pods are mature, let them dry and then shuck the seeds out of them.
Lettuce: Leaf lettuce and romaine varieties are easy to save.
Tomatoes: Personally, I don’t ferment the seeds before saving. I know fermenting the seeds is best practice so, apply your own judgement on that one.
Peppers: Seeds from sweet peppers and hot peppers can be saved. I have never found a variety of pepper whose seeds I couldn’t save and germinate successfully next season.
Onions: Save seeds from mature onion plants. Onion flowers are also good for feeding bees during the hungry gap (before spring) so I let a few onions flower and then run to seed (the ones I don’t harvest to eat). Just one flower gives you a good amount of seeds for next season.
Beetroot: this is one of the easiest crops for seed-saving. One plant gives you plenty of seeds so it is worth a try. Watch my video.
Flowers:
Zinnias: These vibrant flowers are easy to grow and save.
Calendula: These seeds basically re-seed themselves. You might as well collect the seeds and save themf or the next season.
Cosmos: An excellent choice for beginner seed-savers.
Marigolds: Save seeds from the dried flower heads.
Sunflowers: Harvest seeds from mature sunflower heads - literally when the flower is bent over and the head is dry!
Aside from the cost-savings you can achieve, seed saving is also great for sustainability. Seeds saved from your garden can adapt to your microclimate through a process called natural selection. These seeds are more likely to germinate, grow, and reproduce. Over time, this leads to an increase in the frequency of genes that confer favourable traits in your local environment. As generations pass, the seeds you save from these plants will become increasingly well-suited to your specific growing conditions (micro-climate). This can result in plants that are more resilient to local stresses, such as drought, pests, or diseases – this is the miracle of nature!
By embracing seed saving, you can enjoy a more sustainable and cost-effective gardening experience while preserving valuable plant heritage.