Save Your Own Garden-Grown Vegetable Seed

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Any plastic or glass container that'll hold a damp blotter, damp newspaper, or moistened cotton (along with the seeds) will work as well as a petri plate. Just remember to label your containers with the date of the test and the variety of seed being tested. Then-after a week or so-check them. If eight out of ten seeds in any given test sprout, you can assume the germination rate to be 80% (which is, of course, plenty good).

PUT YOUR SEEDS TO WORK!

Homegrown seeds have many uses, in addition to serving as the source of next year's garden vegetables. Pumpkin and squash seeds, for instance, are extremely tasty and nutritious when roasted. (My wifewho's spent three years in Turkey-tells me the people in that country eat squash seeds the way we gobble peanuts.) Dried peas make good pigeon food, if you're into raising squabs (although it does take rather a lot of peas to do the job). In addition, many seeds have attractive shapes and colors that make them fun to use in craft projects. Last year, I was only a little saddened to see my future zucchini patch end up as a wall plaque!

Why not give seed-saving a try? You'll not only gain a new source of highquality protein (and/or craft materials), but you'll reduce-perhaps drastically-your yearly gardening outlay of cash. And-more important-you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you're a little bit less dependent on someone else for the food on your table.

Note: For more information on the collection and storage of garden seed, be sure to read Clarice L. Moon's "How to Save Your Own Garden Seed" and Floyd and Linda Moore's "Home-Grown Garden Seeds", on pages 14-17 of MOTHER NO. 34, and Royce A. Carl's "Seed Storage", pages 70-73 of MOTHER NO. 31.-THE EDITORS.

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