Seedsaving: what seeds are you saving?

[Emerald]

OH boy what a list... I probably won't be able to list them all.
Pole beans
yellow pencil (wax bean)
Rattlesnake
Una
McCasslin
Cherokee Trail of Tears
Speckled Cranberry
Purple podded pole
violetta trinfino(spelling may be off here)(very pretty bean but not one of my favorites Purple podded is much better tasting)
Anasazi
Greasy Grits
and one small "roma" type that looks like snow peas but is a green bean-it is unnamed as the person who sent it to me had no name for it.
I've grown more but didn't care for them so do not plant them any longer... the only one I can remember is blue lake pole-the beans tasted ok but were major Japanese beetle attractant.
Tomatoes-
Opalka
true black brandy wine
yellow submarine
black icicle
Purple Russian
Black cherry
black Pineapple
speckled roman
Jersey devil
green zebra
and about 40 more that I would have to get my list out to remember..
A new cucumber that is open pollinated and a killer cuke Muncher.. that one is going in the garden every year from now on.
an old unnamed sugar beet
all kinds of peppers hot and sweet.
and many types of herbs.. more than I can remember at the moment..
Just remember that lettuces and onions really like to be planted at least every other year to keep seed fresh as the germanation will go down by half every year after that.
While I don't grow out my collection every year I do rotate them on a 3 to 5 year basis depending on what type of plant/seed it is. Some go in the ground every year like parsnips. they don't do well in storage and should be planted every year.

 

[valmom]

Is there a thread on HOW to save seeds? I do save pinto beans and winter squash seeds just by drying them on wax paper. I have tried to save tomato seeds, but they don't germinate, and how would I save summer squash seeds? This year I have a nice small pumpkin coming that I will save seeds from since they seem to be doing well.

Any tips for keeping seeds appreciated!

 

[Emerald]

Is there a thread on HOW to save seeds? I do save pinto beans and winter squash seeds just by drying them on wax paper. I have tried to save tomato seeds, but they don't germinate, and how would I save summer squash seeds? This year I have a nice small pumpkin coming that I will save seeds from since they seem to be doing well.

Any tips for keeping seeds appreciated!

I can quickly put up how to save tomato seeds.

I squeeze the seeds and gel from my three or four biggest and nicest tomatoes of each type into a pint mason jar and add just a bit of water and stir really well and then cover with just a paper towel held on my a ring... I let the nasty fungus stuff ferment on top (and it will look nasty and moldy and it is supposed to) for about three days.. once you see that most of the seeds are falling to the bottom and at the end of probably the third or fourth day I carefully dump the scummy yuck off the top and then pour the seeds and remaining liquid into a nice strainer(tight mesh kind) and rinse all the seeds and extra gook off... I then dry mine on plain old cheap paper plates which I have written the name of the tomato and the date.. I do try to put it some where safe from critters tho... mice are very naughty and love tomato seeds.

Also to keep my many types as pure as possible I have been saving those little organdy candy bags from weddings (and baby showers) and I bag my blooms (the whole blooms stalk) before they open and then when the blooms start to open I just jiggle the blooms inside the bag..tomatoes tend to be self pollinating so if you jiggle them every day till you see fruit setting you will be sure that the seeds will be pure.
Once you get a couple tomatoes started in the bags take off the little bag and use some type of ribbon or twist tie so that you know that, that one (or two or three) are for seed saving. If you get more than two or three to set fruit from your little bag, I usually only allow the first three to grow big.. I pinch the others off so that the first three get bigger and have a better chance to ripen well.

Sounds like a lot of work but once you figure it out it really isn't that hard... I'm only growing 6 different tomatoes this year(instead of the normal 20 ) so it is a breeze to me! hahaha. I also try to bag one bunch of each plant of each type so that I have a better chance of getting really good selection... if a plant is not doing so well I usually don't use the seed of that plant.. so having a bunch if not two bunches on each plant for ease of selecting is a must with me. I try to select for tough plants that resist the blights and bigger fruits and good flavor.. I do just squeeze the guts out and eat the rest so try a bit of each tomato before you take the seeds... This is just what I do to try and select for myself.. if you need more about how to select a good tomato for what you want, there are tons and tons of forums that only deal with tomatoes.
Plus you will end up with more tomato seed from just three or four tomatoes than you will know what to do with.. so by bagging you know that they are pure and I do trades some years with my extras.
Hope that wasn't too complicated.

 

[Britesea]

thank you so much! That was very clear and easy to follow. I'm gonna try that next year.

 

[valmom]

Thank you, Emerald- that is great!