Saving Seeds

One of my ultimate goals is to grow my own food and save seeds so that I don't need to buy seeds again. For one thing, I am cheap--er, thrifty, frugal, practical, greedy. Who knows? For another thing, I really like to be self-sufficient. You know, if the world falls down, I still want to have fresh food on the table.

One way to be sure you will get a plant that is the genetic offspring of your original plant is to buy non-hybrid open pollinated or heirloom seeds. In your seed catalogs you will recognize the plants that are able to be grown for their seeds. Then you plant your desired plants, and choose the very best one(s) to grow for seeds. When harvest time comes, you simply leave those choice plants in the ground (pot, planter, etc.) and let them go to the flowering stage. Each of those flowers progresses to a seed. In all honesty, I don't really choose the best one to save, I just end up saving the one that goes to seed first. Then I quick harvest all the other plants so that we can eat as much of what I planted and that grew for food. This may tell me why I don't always have success with seed-growing and -saving.

Food for Everyone is a site that sells some interesting things, including a #10 can full of non-hybrid seeds that they call a perpetual garden. Though I believe Utah (which has extremely different growing conditions than we do here in the Northwest) was the place this idea was developed, I look forward to planting some of these seeds and seeing how they do.

After your plant has completed its growth and has reached the seed stage, you pull it out or cut it off at the stem. Then you have some choices to make. I have hung my plant upside down in a darkish dry place with a paper towel below it to catch the seeds as they dry and fall down. I have also simply placed the plant on the kitchen counter wrapped in a paper towel, and let nature take its course. In a few days you will find some lovely seeds to store for another growing season.

Isn't nature cool?

I have tried to save seed in the past, and, as most things for me (including marriage, but fortunately not motherhood), the first time was a bust. Generally, however, when I assess what went wrong and try again (and again and again?) I end up doing a pretty good job. And I am here to tell you that I have done something I never did before: I saved onion seeds! I will let you know when they grow some new onions, though I totally know they will.

I have successfully grown and saved and regrown nasturtiums (nasturtia?), marigolds, radishes, and am now looking forward to growing onions from saved seeds. I am hoping to save all sorts of things in the future. Let's see what this year brings!