Seed Saving Hacked Webinar Part 2- Simple Easy Ways to Save

Thanks for joining me again. If you did not have a chance to look at the webinar; Seed Saving Hacked, mentioned in last week's blog, it is still available online at http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=63542964 The webinar is presented by Bill McDorman and Belle Starr, co-founders and co-directors of Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance,  http://seedsave.org/  and  http://www.seedsave.org/index.php/learn/seed-school-online . Bill and Belle share with us two simple ways to save seeds, the three easiest vegetables to save seeds from and how to save them.

First of all the three easiest vegetables to save seeds from are tomatoes, beans and lettuce. Tomatoes are considered the "gateway drug to all gardening"; 80% of all gardeners grow tomatoes. Tomatoes are self pollinating which adds to their simplicity.

       Cut the tomato at equator                                                     Squeeze all the juice out

                                                           Add water. Let sit for 2-5 days to ferment, Mold on top is a good thing. The good seeds will float to the bottom stirring occasionally. 

Water winnow until only clean seeds remain and water is fresh and clean. Strain through a sieve or strainer.

 Place seeds on a plate or paper towel. Be sure to label them date and year. Allow them to dry then separate.

One tomato has hundreds of seeds. One seed can produce hundreds of more seeds. You would never need to buy, seed packets, seedlings or plants again.

The second easiest vegetables to save seeds from are beans. Beans are also self pollinating so they too are easy to grow. 

Wait until about 70 to 80% of the pods on the crop are the desired color buckskin. Pull the whole plant and hang upside down to dry.

 Use the ancient term threshing to remove the beans from the pod. Threshing beans during the heat of the day when the pods are brittle and easily cracked.This can be a fun ritual for the family.




The third easiest vegetable to save his lettuce. You get tons of seeds from the lettuce according to Bill, "maybe even enough for the rest of your life".

First you need to let the lettuce bolts, here are some images below of what that looks like. You'll want to save seeds from the last lettuce to bolt.

The seeds are in little tent packs under the parachutes.

Now that you've learned how to save seeds and you see how easy it is, what even a do with all those seeds? You will have more seeds than you need in a lifetime. Two great ways to share your seeds are seed swaps and seed libraries. There are over 400 seed libraries globally. These are freely exchange libraries. You checkout seeds and then return seeds back at the end of the season. Further information on seed libraries can be found at http://seedsave.org/ . You can also learn how to start a seed library, possibly at your local library.

Finally if you haven't had a chance to watch the webinar, I really encourage you to do so there was so much more information covered that I presented here. As Bill and Belle said in the webinar, "you don't have to be an expert, go play; have fun with it."                     ~Blessings & Love~