How early can I bring in seeds and seed potatoes?

I am and wondering how early is too early to take something inside to finish drying down? Do plants need to put more energy into the seeds once they have formed or is it fine to bring seeds in early and finish drying them indoors?

Are there any clues to look for to determine when seeds are good to come in?

Do brassica pods need to be completely dry and brown-seeded? What about beans and peas? And the carrot family? Will these seeds keep ripening if I cut them off and bring them indoors?

What about potatoes? If I dig them up in mid autumn before the tops have died down will they be good as seed potatoes? Or do they need more time to store energy?

Hi Kate,
I have only done a little seed saving, and can only speak to beans and potatoes... thoough it might cross over. Take this with a grain of salt, as I am fairly new to this myself. I believe, the reason to leave potatoes for longer is to allow the skin to thicken, which helps lengthen the amount of time they can store for. I don't think the skin will thicken in storage, but I could be wrong. A new potato is delicious, but the skin is soft and thin.

For beans, I don't think there would be any benefit to bringing them in. They should dry on the vine just fine. If the bean is fully developed I think you could bring them in to dry, but I don't think there is a need for it. I just wait until the pods are dry and brown. Then shell them, and they are usually ready... though I don't store them in an air tight container just in case there is more moisture to get out.

Would frost or wet weather cause any troubles if I'm waiting for the bean seeds to dry down?

I have not had frost effect the beans, though they are generally ready before that point. If it is too wet, and the vines are so thick they cannot dry out, you can get mold on them, which can cause some problems. But just having them rained on, won't automatically cause problems.

I've had to bring my fava beans in early - if I hadn't the voles would have eaten them all, like they did last year! I have shelled them and spread the out at room temperature to dry. Some of them have a little surface mould....I want to try and grow them next year as part of a new landrace will let you know whether they store and germinate OK.