Seed Saving - A Lost Art

I say it is a lost art because all the seed cleaning machines have dissapeared with the dependence on "store-bought" seed.

Here's a couple of tips if you want to save your own seed:

Never plant closer than 30 feet near to the most like plant. I use a general rule of - don't plant yellow flowering plants next to yellow flowering plants or your watermelons will taste like zucchini next year. Or worse - your zucchine will taste like watermelon!

You can "self-fertile the flowers and contain them by touching the center pollen part of the flower with the seed making part of the flower but you MUST use a different paint brush or wash your hands between flowers.

Cover the seed head as soon as you know the flower has been pollinated. We use paper bags as much as possible because we can write on the bag - what it is.

Store the seeds as cool (not cold) dry & dark as possible with as many instructions as you can think of - how long it took for the plant to fruit, when to plant, spacing and such. Don't forget to write down the name of the plant!

IF you are going to share your plants, test them over winter for how many germinate. We also use this "down-time" to clean out any other materials that made it in with the seeds.

Pass on the info you have if you are going to share plant seeds.

The next season - do not plant in the same place you planted this particular plant. Rotating beds every 3 - 5 years pays off in the long run in keep diseases at bay (but not always).