Seed saving 2024

Anyone saving seeds this year or from last year?
Here are a couple of plants I am letting go to seed right now.

Cudos to all who seedsave!  I helped my MIL do it last autumn and I hated it, I mean I should like it, but it was so tedious.  So I really appreciate the people who do it and enjoy it!

Saving small seeds can be hard so I usually stick with the bigger seeds like with tomatoes, peas and beans.

Peas and beans can be saved right on the plant.

Some of the best cherry tomatoes I have ever eaten were ones that fell on the ground and came up the next year.  Too bad I didn't save some of those seeds because we moved.

I save seeds every year now. My garden is (was) quite small and I never really went through a whole seed packet in a year, so it became a way to have fresh seeds every year to plant. What a lot of folks don't realize is that most seed companies get their seeds from a relatively small area of the country. So seed packet seeds are not typically acclimated to all climates and weather. If you start practicing seed saving from your most hardy and prolific plants, you will grow a variety that is best suited for the area you live and grow in. If you grow two varieties and cross pollinate them, you might end up with a new hybrid that is also adapted to your specific area. This is going to be a rough couple of years coming up as we are moving from 9a to 6a this fall. I basically have to start all over again. Luckily enough, there is a vibrant farmer's market where we are moving so acquiring climate-acclimated seeds shouldn't be a problem.

Last year I bought a packet of Mizuna from Baker Creek and grew so much, we couldn't eat it all and some of it went to seed. There were so many seed pods I ended up emailing Baker Creek and asking them if they wanted the seeds. They said as long as I could identify the specific variety and there was no way it could have crossed with another variety, they would take them. So after culling a few for myself, the rest of the pods went into a USPS flat rate envelope with the original seed packet and right back to Baker Creek.

It's still a case of 'don't count your seeds before they're picked' for me.
This year I'm hoping to save parsnip and Swede (rutabaga) as a first generation cross (grex) from roots I grew last year. The carrots didn't grow well last year so the survivors I don't think will be big enough to flower. They did very well the previous year however, so I have plenty of seed to save for next year, from the ones that flowered last year. Despite the birds having a good share of them!
Peas and beans I can eat fresh, but getting them ripe enough to save is a bit of a challenge. Hopefully a combination of more experience, and selecting for early flowers will make a more suitable landrace in time.
I'm looking forwards to saving money - I always spend more on seed than I can possibly sow. At least this way my seed habit isn't going to cost me in future.
As long as you haven't too many insects in with your seed, I don't think a bit of extra 'plant packaging' is going to hurt. I try and clean the worst away, but mainly to reduce the bulk and make sure the seeds are pretty dry when they go away.

Nancy Reading wrote:
Peas and beans I can eat fresh, but getting them ripe enough to save is a bit of a challenge. Hopefully a combination of more experience, and selecting for early flowers will make a more suitable landrace in time.
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I just leave the last half-dozen or so on the vine until they turn brown and remove the beans/peas and save them for next year. Generally, I will isolate the largest pods and let them ripen.

Joshua States wrote:I just leave the last half-dozen or so on the vine until they turn brown and remove the beans/peas and save them for next year. Generally, I will isolate the largest pods and let them ripen.

Unfortunately my climate is too damp and cool for peas to ripen well - often they just go mouldy on the vine. I need to take them in to dry most years. A certain level of ripeness is needed for viability as well.

This year I let two green onions (and some other stuff) go to seed. This was my first try at onions and I am surprised at the current development.
I had two onions and both went to flower. The largest one broke off a couple of weeks ago in a high wind and I was out of town. When I came home, it was lying in the pot. I stuck the end in a bucket of water hoping that would save the flower and so far it seems to be working! Not only that, the onion just put out a new flower this week!

I really wish someone would tell me how to insert one of these photos into the text, type more text, insert another photo, etc.

Great thread, Joshua!

The photo thing is sort of a “pollinator privilege,” when you see a post where someone interspersed text and photos, they are able to do because they have been granted additional privileges to be able to store and link to photos.

It looks like you are a pollinator, so you can start your own photo thread. To link to those photos in another post, it is easiest to have two tabs or windows open— one for the photo thread and one for your new post. In the new post, use the “img” button and you will get a dialog box asking for URL of image.  Right-click on a photo and copy the URL.  Back in the new post, paste the URL into the dialog box.

You can use the “preview” to fix up your spacing and formatting before submitting new post.

Can you access the "secret minion" forum? If yes, start a thread to hold your photos. Each photo will have an address for linking. When you post something in a different forum, click Img tab to embed the pictures in text rather than attaching them all in the end.
If you store photos online, you could insert the url in the text too.

I was looking at the broccoli pods today. Having never saved (or grew) broccoli before, I have a question for the hive. Are these brown ones ready to pick or should I wait until the whole plant turns?

From thousands of miles away, it looks like there is very little green on any of the pods.  At this stage, I would harvest all the stalks from this plant and let them dry, even with the green stalk. Once dry, then shatter the pods to extract the seeds. If you don't have room to store the stalks until dry, I have also  allowed them to dry on the stalks, harvesting them all at the same time.

Joshua States wrote:
I just leave the last half-dozen or so on the vine until they turn brown and remove the beans/peas and save them for next year. Generally, I will isolate the largest pods and let them ripen.

My rule is the first and best are saved for seed. Some say letting early pods or fruit mature slows down or reduces overall harvest. Saving the first and best for years, has greatly improved the overall production and quality for me. If it has reduced overall production, I haven't really noticed.

I figured I would update this with my onion seed saving method. After doing soe online searching, I found suggestions to cover the pollinated flower with a fine mesh or screen material as the seeds ripened.  I had some mosquito netting and some twist-ties. Once the flowers have gone from white to green and most to brownish, it's time to cover with the wesh.



After a few days or weeks, I really cannot remember how long it's been.....you will see the black seeds start falling out of the flower into the mesh.



I cut the flower off and dumped out whatever fell freely into a small plate or dish.



Then I recover the flower and let it continue to dry out on a table top. Whatever moisture is left in the stem feeds the final seeding process.



Repeat the dumping/recovering process until the seeds are all collected and store in your container of choice.

I save seeds for beans and peas primarily, because the shipping is expensive if I need to order them.  I would order about 5 pounds per variety at a time. Shipping got pricy. And then the price of the seeds themselves went sky high. So I save a bundle by growing my own.

I also save dill and cilantro seed because we use a lot of them.

I’m on the verge of saving some other seeds simply because they aren’t always available when I need them.

The reasons why I don’t save seeds a lot more is that I am limited on storage space when the seeds can be kept viable for long periods. Just sitting them on the cabinet shelf doesn’t work too well in my climate. Because I need to have seed that sprouts on time, I tend to purchase them. Maybe some day some good soul will donate a big refrigerator for seed saving. Maybe.  So for now, I produce seeds on an "as I need them" basis, so that I can plant them within a couple of weeks once I harvested them.

Su Ba wrote: so that I can plant them within a couple of weeks once I harvested them.

I guess this is what nature intended originally.

I'm hoping to save neeps (rutabaga) and parsnip for the first time this year. The neep seed pods are forming and the parsnip are just coming into bloom.

Nancy, here in Hawaii, many veggies won’t produce flowers without taking extra special steps. Parsley will grow for 5 to 7 years in a garden and never go to seed. It will keep growing until some disease comes along and gets it. Carrots, parsnips, beets and chard also never flower. I once had a collard type that never flowered. It just went on and on and on.  So if seed selling , or shipping to Hawaii stopped, we would lose those veggies.

If i can't save viable seeds of a variety i grow or propagate it in any other way easily, it's going out!!
My whole garden is getting Lofthoused, landrace style, varieties are made to mix up.
I save seeds like a maniac, because i need lots to sow thick and let snails eat the weakies. Let them cover the ground and use them as mulch if the happiest biggest/greenest ones show who they are.
This is all from now. Mainly brassicaceae and Coriander's and corn salad.

Happy happy!
I've got ripe swede and parsnip seed collected and safe now. I just took a bit from each plant, and left the rest for the birds, but I may cut some of the seed heads off and drop them in an area to see if they will self seed a bit there.
Peas are starting to a) show signs of ripeness and b) be eaten by mice so I'm not confident of getting a good crop there. It is pretty wet at the moment too, which won't help ripening.

Red Clover. I head out with an empty quart container and fill it with flower heads that have lost their pink. Come spring I rub them between my hands and sow it all to the ground or seed pods

Sunflower. Not yet this year, but last year I saved a handful of seeds from the biggest flower heads and roasted the rest. This spring I planted them everywhere and am planning to do the same in a few weeks when it's time to harvest. This time I won't let the heads dry somewhere rodents can get to them

Yarrow. I let the flower heads turn brown and then shredded them by hand onto an unfolded cereal box . It was very easy to blow away the flower parts and funnel the seeds into a jar. Haven't done this before, Hope they grow this spring! Half the flower heads were laid directly where I want yarrow to grow too.

Peas. Ate them all, whoops.

Pole bean. Got a very aggressive climber this year and the beans taste delicious, so I definitely want to keep these. I'll let a couple pods go light brown on the stalk and then collect by hand.

Plantain. These went to seed all over the yard earlier this summer, I shucked them off the stem and straight into a jar. Another new attempt so maybe it won't work, but it feels like it will.

Mustard. This came in a wildflower / pollinator mix and it must have been the talk of the town among the pollinators, because it was incredibly popular while blooming. The pods went hard and I crushed them on the same cereal box, separating the husks from the tiny seeds.

Fennel. Hasn't finished blooming yet but I plan to treat it just like yarrow when it does

Bee Balm. Also not finished blooming, I've got a red and pink variety I planted last year, the red is just finishing blooming and the pink has just started. These have been very popular among bumblebees

Goldenrod. This grows like a weed here, I have a huge chunk right near my front door that attracts a lot of life, which isn't always welcome when going in and out of the house, so I'm going to divide it among the yard. When I cut down the stalks (soon judging by the blooms turning brownish this week) I'll collect seed, but I'm not sure if I'll plant it because it's easy to get established plants.

Staghorn Sumac. I collected a small bag from roadside plants two years ago and none sprouted. Last year I collected a large bag full of many different plants and still none sprouted! All I did was collect the red fuzzy heads and grind them into potting soil so maybe I'll be more mindful this year.

Vegetables:
Tomato. Besides actually cleaning, drying, labeling, and storing seeds, I have a lot of success just tossing the rotten ones where I want them next spring.

Peppers. Two sweet grilling type, and cayenne and poblano.

Beans. We eat and freeze a ridiculous amount of them as green beans, but I leave an equal amount on the vine for dry beans and next year’s seeds. Except for a yellow wax bush bean that I have been saving and growing for years, all of my others are meant to be harvested after the beans have fully grown inside the pods. That’s where the protein is. So pick as they swell out for green beans, or let dry for dry beans. And seeds for next year.

Carrot. One or two overwintered and allowed to flower makes a LOT of seed.

Amaranth.

Kale and rapini broccoli, turnips, etc. Again, leave a couple to overwinter and flower, and I get more seed out of those long green pods than I’ll ever use. Well, they do like to be seeded heavily and way more crowded than you’d think, so I guess I’ll use them.

Onion. I cut the heads off before they start dropping seeds, and just let them dry in a tub.

Squashes.

Bronze fennel and parsley, and dill. Dammit! I do not need dill and fennel seeds to plant! They volunteer like crazy. Shoot me if I intentionally plant more dill.
Fennel seed is a delicious spice, but hoo boy ~ cleaning and winnowing seems endless.

Cilantro. I keep at least one gallon of seeds on hand because I just keep planting it every couple of weeks so I can usually find some young and tender for eating. Once they bolt, they become breeding stock. Great plant to cram in between pepper and tomato plants.

Garlic. Well, yeah😉 But cloning using the biggest bulbs, not true seed.


Flowers:
Coneflower
Bee Balm
Prairie aster
Hollyhock
Columbine
Phlox
Yarrow
Black eyed susan

Native prairie grasses:

Big Indian Grass
Switchgrass
Side Oats Grama
Canadian Wild Rye
Big and Little Bluestem
And some I have not IDed yet.

Trees:

Black Walnut
Red Oak
Shagbark Hickory
Sugar Maple
Redbud

Saving seeds is addicting. And rewarding. I have been greatly helped by the book about it that my wife got me for Christmas a few years ago. If for nothing more than knowing which need stratification.

And nasturtium, zinnias, and others I’m forgetting.