By Valerie F. Reinhardt, Horticulture Education Specialist

All summer long and into the fall, you’ve enjoyed the fruits of your gardening labor, hopefully, with a bountiful harvest or beautiful garden. You may already have visions in your head of next year’s garden thinking on what grew well, and you want to repeat next year. One thing you can get a jump on is saving your own seeds. Many garden annuals (both vegetable and flower) lend themselves to seed saving.

Seed saving saves money, offers the ability to share, allows you to keep a treasured heirloom or garden favorite for the next year, and completes the circle of life making a great hands-on learning experience for children.

There are a few things to consider. Some seeds won’t breed true; hybrids are the result of cross pollinating, meaning two different varieties were used to create a new variety. Look for plants that are open pollinated or self pollinated such as heirloom seeds. The other thing to think about is how far apart some crops were planted–even open-pollinated plants can get cross pollinated if there are different varieties planted close by. This is very true of cucurbits like squash and pumpkin as they have separate male and female flowers that depend on pollinating insects for seed production. Many vegetable plants we think of as different from each other are actually the same species―zucchini can easily hybridize with acorn squash as both are Cucurbita pepo. On the other hand, many popular vegetables such as tomatoes have complete flowers that self pollinate and are unlikely to hybridize on their own no matter how many varieties you grow.

Cosmos flower gone to seed

Some of the easiest plants to save seeds from are annuals– plants that live and reproduce for just one season then die. Some examples are tomatoes, peppers, peas, beans, dill, cilantro, cosmos and marigolds. Seed saving methods differ between ‘wet’ seeds and ‘dry’ seeds. Beans are an example of a dry seed; harvest pods after they have filled out fully and are leathery and bring them in to dry completely, then shell the pods. Dill is also a dry seed but likely to fall off and self seed if left till they are fully dry on the plant. Harvest the whole plant when seeds are full but before the plant starts to dry. Hang the plants upside down with a paper bag over the seed head and ripe seeds will drop into the bag as they dry. 

Dry seeds

Tomatoes and melons are examples of wet seeds. The seeds and pulp are scooped out from fully-ripened fruits. With melons, just wash and rinse seeds and spread out on a tray to dry—with tomatoes you have an extra step: the pulp must ferment first to break down the gel-like coating on the seed. Place seeds and pulp in a jar with a little water, cover with a paper towel or cheesecloth and let sit for a few days. After several days, place them in a sieve to rinse the pulp away and lay them out to dry.

Wet seeds

Once seeds have been cleaned and thoroughly dried it’s time to put them aside for next spring. Seeds store best if kept in a dry area that is cool and dark (basements and refrigerators are ideal). Glass jars make good storage containers because they are airtight and rodent proof. Make sure you label the seeds with type and date harvested.   

Seed saving is not only thrifty but easy and rewarding. For more information on seed saving, visit seedsavers.org or stop by the Plant Science Center at Lake Metroparks Farmpark.