Sow A Little Save A Lot
Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, said, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” In the garden community we change the quote a bit, Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to garden and the whole neighborhood gets zucchini. What if we add to the quote just a little bit more, teach him to seed save and you might just save the world. Fall is an interesting time of year, everything is dying or entering dormancy and yet we’re also treated to a beautiful colorful array and the beginnings of new life in the creation of seeds. Let’s make sure we save those seeds.
Why would we want to save those seeds? Can’t you just buy them at the store? Yes, technically you can however there are some limitations to that. Also, keep in mind, the seeds available at the store are limited and designed to make money for the company not necessarily to provide variety. There are many reasons why you will want to save seeds. Some of my favorites are to preserve genetic diversity, to grow a plant that is more likely to be able to handle your unique growing conditions, to learn about and help the food web, and to save money.
Did you know that there are endangered plants just like there are endangered animals? In 2016 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUNC) evaluated 21,782 species of plants. Of those 6,147 were listed as endangered or critically endangered. There was another 1,674 that were listed as data deficient meaning there was so little data they couldn’t finish the study, which implies that these are also endangered species. That means that in 2016, that approximately 36% of the plants studied were endangered or critically endangered. We know definitively that there was 28% that were endangered or critically endangered at that time. It has been 4 years since those plants were evaluated, I think we can probably all agree those numbers have gotten worse, not better. This is a prime example of why it is so important to maintain genetic diversity in plants. Maintaining this diversity also means that you will be saving seeds that specifically survived in your growing conditions. You will have plants that are more likely to withstand your temperatures, your water amounts, your pests and your diseases. If you are saving seeds from edible plants you can also save seeds from plants that taste better to you and produce better as well. You’re doing all of this and you’re saving money at the same time. When you purchase seeds from the store you usually end up buying them every year. With seed saving you don’t have to pay for them year after year and you will get a more specialized to your area plant. There’s nothing wrong with starting your seed collection with store bought seeds but keep in mind you can often save seeds from your yard, ask a neighbor or friend if you can collect their seeds or participate in a community seed swap. Some communities also have seed lending libraries where you can take a couple seeds and at the end of the season they request that you bring some back to help replenish their stores or add to their varieties. If your local library doesn’t offer a seed library you can always recommend or ask how to start one.
When you start collecting seeds from the surrounding area you will naturally start to look into the plants to see what kind of seeds you are saving. As you research the different plants you saved seeds from you will start to notice additional information about them. During this process you will likely learn quite a bit about the plants and how they affect the world around them. Are they native or imported plants? Are they perennial, biennial, or annual? Are they host plants for caterpillars? Do they attract pests away from other plants or do they detract pests from the area? As you learn this information you will start to get excited about finding more plants, about finding repeat plants that are hard to find and you will learn how everything is interconnected. This is called the food web. (There will be another post on this later.) As you become more familiar with the links between things you will feel more confident in your identifying plants and just as importantly you will help maintain the diversity of the plants around you and possibly even directly help with the preservation of endangered plants. How cool would that be? You could have a direct impact and regain some of your sense of control over the world around you.
So you want to save seeds (I’m glad to have converted you) but how do you actually save seeds and help them be more successful with germination in the spring? Now some seeds will have unique saving techniques but you will learn more about those the further you get into the process. In general, this will be the process you want to follow. If the plant provides fruit (i.e. peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, squash…) you will leave the fruit on the plant as long as possible to ensure the seeds completely develop. Once the fruit starts to dry up or the stem attaching it to the plant dries up you can remove the fruit to save the seeds. Next, you will remove the seeds from the fruit and allow them to dry completely. If the seeds have a membrane (i.e. tomatoes) you will need to ferment the seeds to remove the protective barrier so that the seeds can dry completely. If the plant creates a flower where the seeds develop you will want to let the flower head wilt and start drying out just like the fruit. Once the flower head is mostly dry you can cut off the flower head to save the seeds. Keep in mind that most flower seeds are incredibly tiny, they may be hard to see. Also make sure to leave some of the flower heads so that the seeds can self-sow and birds will have something to eat during the winter. Let the flower head completely dry and then separate the extra flower parts from the seeds. If the plant has seed pods you will follow the same process as fruit and flower heads except let the pod dry on the plant. Once the seeds have dried completely you will want to store them in an air tight container. Make sure to keep an eye on the seeds for the first several weeks to make sure that they are actually dry and that condensation isn’t building in the container. This will allow the seeds rot. You can also add a silica pack to absorb extra moisture in the container. Once seeds are in their container they will need to be stored in a cool dry place, ideally between 32 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Some seeds need to go through a cold spell in order to germinate, this means storing seeds in the refrigerator or freezer can be an ideal place. Again, make sure to keep moisture out. If the seeds get wet they can either prematurely germinate or rot.
Now that you know the reasons why you should save seeds and how to save seeds I hope that you will join me in saving seeds. Remember this does not have to be a perfect process, there is obviously a learning curve and learning in one of the most important reasons to start seed saving. Many garden communities are reviving rare edible plants by seed saving and seed sharing. Join the movement and feel like you are making a measurable difference.
Remember friends, stay positive and share your positivity. Much love
Extra Resources:
Reasons to save: https://www.southernexposure.com/blog/2020/05/10-reasons-to-save-seed/
Saving vegetable seeds: https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/saving-vegetable-seeds#:~:text=Keeping%20your%20saved%20seeds,good%20place%20to%20store%20seeds