I have a passion for seeds, for the elegant and endlessly diverse designs of their natural packaging, their fascinating distribution and germination strategies, and for the astonishing emergence of exuberant life from even the most minute speck of a seed. I once grew a Eucalyptus gunnii tree from seed the size of a dust mote. It grew, outdoors (in Eugene, Oregon) for several years, reaching 16’ tall until an unusually heavy snowstorm broke all the branches off. And in its native Tasmania it could have reached 135 feet! In addition to collecting seeds from plants in the wild and in my pollinator garden at home, I collect seeds at this time of year from my vegetable garden to enable Harlequin’s Gardens to offer unique and commercially unavailable varieties of tomatoes (“Anasazi”) and peppers (Lanterna Piccante), wild perennial arugula, and perennial Caucasian Spinach vine.
When planning for garden seed-saving, remember these basic guidelines:
Dill Seed
1 – Save ripe seeds from the best, fully ripe specimens from healthy, vigorous plants.
2 – Save seeds from open-pollinated varieties (all heirloom varieties are open-pollinated), not from hybrids. Seed from hybrids will not reliably produce plants or fruits with the same characteristics as the parent plant. If you’re not sure whether a variety is open-pollinated or hybrid, look it up on a trusted website.
3 – The easiest seeds to save are those produced by self-pollinating flowers: lettuce, tomato, beans, peas.
4 – Be aware that vegetables that are pollinated by insects (bees, etc.) are extremely likely to be cross-pollinated with other varieties growing in your garden or in your neighborhood. In general, the following will require isolation and hand-pollination in order to come ‘true’ from seed: cucumber, melon, squash, zucchini, pepper (all pepper species are capable of self-pollination, though cross pollination occurs easily as well), onions, carrots, mustards and other Brassicas that have been allowed to flower and set seed.
Young Seed-Savers
5 – There are five species of cultivated peppers: Capsicum annuum, C. frutescens, C. chinense, C. baccatum and C. pubescens. All peppers in one species will successfully cross-pollinate. Peppers of one species will not cross with another pepper species. So, if you want to save pepper seeds, the best strategy is to grow only one variety of a given species at the same time; for example – Poblano (C. annuum), habanero (C. chinense), and Lanterna Piccante (C. baccatum).
C. annuum: Most of the peppers we eat are Capsicum annuum varieties, both sweet varieties and hot ones. Bell, jalapeño, poblano, Anaheim, Chimayo, Pueblo, serrano, cayenne, and Thai chili are some of the many favorites.
C. chinense varieties are habaneros, Scotch bonnets, Trinidad Scorpions, Bhut Jolokia, and Carolina Reaper.
C. frutescens varieties include Tabasco and many varieties grown in India. Many taxonomists do not consider C. frutescens to be separate from C. annuum.
C. baccatum species has its origins in the Andes, where the Spanish word for ‘chili pepper’ is aji. Many of the baccatum variety names begin with Aji. The ‘Sugar Rush‘ varieties, Brazilian Starfish, Bishop’s Hat and Lanterna Piccante are C. baccata varieties, which typically make very tall, graceful plants.
C. pubescens varieties originated in Bolivia and Peru, and include Rocoto, manzano, and locoto.
When collecting seeds from the wild, please follow these guidelines:
1 – Collecting seeds from public land (City, County, State and National parks or Open Space) is illegal and irresponsible unless you have been granted a permit from the appropriate governing body to collect in that specific area. Collecting on private land may be done with permission from the property owner.
2 – Verify that the plant you want to collect from is not designated as rare or endangered.
3 – Do not collect seeds from small, isolated colonies or single plants. Collect no more than 10% of seed of a species in your collecting area.
4 – Before collecting, make sure you know how to recognize ripe seed. Seeds collected before they are fully ripe may or may not ripen in storage, and if they are still moist, may rot in storage.
5 – We like to store seeds in paper envelopes because any residual moisture in the seed can evaporate. Plastic bags, glass jars and metal tins can promote rot.
6 – Label each seed envelope immediately with the name of the plant, the collection date and place
7 – Store seeds in a cool, dry, dark place to maintain the best viability.
8 – Please – Don’t collect seeds from wildlands unless you are going to sow them. If you are going to sow them, find out how and when the seed of each species needs to be sown and grown.
Happy Seed-Saving!
More Seed-Saving info from CSU and Fresh Food Connect HERE
Eve’s Tomato seed-saving instructions HERE