Saving seeds an easy way to save money

How would you like to capture the essence of the garden season and save money at the same time? It’s possible to do both by saving seeds from your garden.

Longtime Master Gardener Steven Nokes recently taught a class on seed-saving at the Spokane Valley library. I gained a good understanding of the process as a result.

“The art of saving seeds began a long time ago, when folks would save them and pass them along,” Nokes explained. “That changed when seed companies came into existence and started selling them cheaply.”

Now that the price of seed packets has gone up, there has been increased interest in saving seeds. In addition, heirloom varieties – those ideally suited to a growing region or those brought by a relative from another country – are important to keep and pass down to future generations.

“When it comes to saving seeds, the most important thing to know is the type of seeds they are,” Nokes said. “If they’re from a hybrid variety, the resulting plants will display traits of one of the parent plants rather than the plants you saved the seeds from.”

For example, Wave petunias are hybrids. You can save the seeds but the plants are highly unlikely to have the vigor and deep coloration that is so appealing.

Hybrids are produced by cross-pollinating two plants of different species or varieties to create a new variety in a single generation; they’re often referred to as “F1” (first generation).

Gardeners should look for open-pollinated or heirloom seeds when purchasing seeds. Open pollination occurs through the actions of insects, birds, humans or wind. Seeds from these plants stay true to type so you can expect plants identical to the parent.

When gathering seeds, plants need to be mature and dry. For example, if you’re interested in saving pea or bean seeds, the pods containing them should be papery-dry and brittle.

“Save seeds from your best plants because those are the seeds you’ll end up with,” Nokes advised. “You don’t want to harvest from weak, small plants.”

He gave some examples of the process for harvesting and drying seeds:

Peppers – Make sure the peppers are mature. Slice off the top, pull out the cluster of seeds, gently scrape them off the pepper skin and let them dry. Nokes recommends placing them on waxed paper or paper towels to completely dry.

Tomatoes – Place seeds and juice in a container and add a little water. Set aside until a white mold appears on the surface; carefully remove the mold. Add water to the container; the seeds that drop to the bottom will be viable. Through repeated rinsing, slowly clean the seeds with water. Strain the viable seeds, spread them in a single layer and allow to dry thoroughly.

Annual or perennial flowers – Gently tap the seed heads onto a piece of paper or rub them until the seeds fall out.

After seeds have dried, store them in a paper envelope and place them in a dry, dark location. Seeds can also be frozen, which slows the rate at which germination declines. Nokes recommends using saved seeds the following garden season, if possible.

Now that I know the basics, I’m looking forward to trying my hand at saving seeds from my favorite plants. I just have to remember which ones are hybrids.