Seize some seeds from the garden for planting next year

As the gardening season winds down and you pick the season’s last vegetables, let some plants go to seed and harvest them for planting next year.

Saving seeds can be fun and is a great way to learn about plants. If you choose the right types of vegetables, you can keep them going year after year without buying them again.

The key to saving seed is selecting open-pollinated or heirloom plants, which produce offspring with the same traits. Hybrids are bred from two different varieties for characteristics like disease resistance or higher yield and won’t come “true to type” in the next generation. Check seed packets or catalog information to know which you are buying.

The easiest crops for saving seed are annual plants that self-pollinate, like lettuce, beans, peas, peppers, eggplants, and tomatoes.

Collect seeds from the healthiest plants and allow them to dry. Harvest lettuce seed when the seed coat turns hard and dark in color. Peas and beans are ready for harvest when the pod dries on the plant. Pepper seeds are ready when the fruit fully matures and starts to wrinkle.

Seeds from annual herbs like cilantro (coriander), arugula, and calendula are also easy to save. These yearly plants will often self-seed, so if you let the seeds mature on the plants and fall to the ground, new plants will start next year.

Tomatoes are a smidgen more complicated. Allow the fruit to fully ripen, scoop the seeds along with the gel that surrounds them, and place them in a jar of water. Allow this mixture to ferment for up to five days until the seeds sink to the bottom. Then, dry the seeds on a paper towel.

Many broccoli family crops (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, collards, kale, mustard greens) are all of the same species and are pollinated by insects. Though it is relatively easy to save seeds from these biennial crops, they tend to cross-pollinate easily, and you might end up with new (and sometimes tasty) traits.

It is more difficult to save seeds from other crops, particularly in a garden setting. For example, beets and Swiss chard are wind-pollinated and cross. These plants require at least 3,200 feet of isolation to prevent cross-pollination. Similarly, corn is pollinated by wind, making it difficult to isolate without special screening.

Carrots are insect-pollinated and cross with Queen Anne's lace, a common weed. Summer and winter squash flowers are also insect-pollinated and require isolation to maintain true varieties. The fruit grown from cross-pollinated squash seeds is often bitter-tasting.

Store seeds in tightly sealed glass containers in a cool and dark location. Label seeds with the type and date. A small packet of silica desiccant or powdered milk in the jar can help remove moisture and keep the seeds dry. The refrigerator or freezer is also a good place for storing seeds that you collect and seeds that you buy. Put small seeds in envelopes and label them. Place the envelopes in sealable freezer bags.

For starting seeds, refer to the Extension publication Propagating Plants from Seed.

Author Bio

Kym Pokorny, Communications Specialist for Oregon State University

Public Service Communications Specialist