Grow Your Own Seeds

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After threshing, "winnow" the seed with the help of a good stiff breeze or fan. Winnowing is the act of cleaning the seed of debris, called chaff, which is mainly pieces of pods and stems.

To winnow, slowly "spill" uncleaned seed from one container to another while the breeze or a fan blows the broken pods and stems away. Two 5-gallon buckets, or for smaller quantities, two rectangular dishpans, work well for this task. The debris will blow over the top edge of the bottom bucket or pan while most of the good seed will fall into it. Repeat the process several times until the seed is cleaned.

After harvesting a dry-seeded crop, spread the seed to be saved out on a clean, dry surface that is out of the sun and protected from the wind, but in a warm, dry place. Make sure cross ventilation is good (fans come in handy for this) but not strong enough to blow the seed off the drying surface.

WET-SEED HARVESTING

Determining the maturity of wet-seeded crops such as tomatoes and peppers, which bear their seed inside the fruit (yes, botanically, these are the fruit), is much easier than with dry-seeded crops. With wet-seeded crops, when the fruit is ripe, the seed is, too. Viable tomato seed can be extracted from fruit picked at the perfect eating stage, but the quality of the seed will be superior if you allow selected fruit to overripen on the plants for just a few days. Don't allow the fruit to start rotting, though, because fungal or bacterial growths could damage the seed.

A wet-seeded crop should be spread out thinly on a screen (best) or a clean, nonstick cookie sheet or tray. Place the screen or tray in a warm, dry place, out of the sun, with plenty of airflow, which can be facilitated by a fan. Both wet- and dryseeded crops should be stirred once or twice a day during this stage to assure even drying.

Master seed saver Suzanne Ashworth, author of the seed-saving manual Seed to Seed (see MOTHER's Bookshelf, Page 120), says flat seed should break instead of fold if it is dry enough to store, and hard-shelled seed like corn or beans should shatter, not mash, when struck with a hammer.

Always store seeds in cool, dry conditions. In most locations, breathable paper envelopes work well with smaller quantities of seed. In dry climates, muslin sacks are good for larger quantities, and in humid locations, airtight containers such as glass canning jars work best, but you should be sure the seed is perfectly dry before placing it in the container. For several years of successful storage, seed should he stored where temperature and humidity fluctuate as little as possible; never put seed in an attic or an outdoor shed. Many seeds will retrain viable for six to eight years if kept cool and dry.

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