First, lest I forget: cilantro (corriander) and amaranth seeds. Both plants are open-pollinated and self-seed thus spread. Both are edible – the leaves and the seeds. The coriander spice bought online or in store is cilantro seeds, fired/slightly pan roasted, then ground. I’ve been working my way up to doing this. Each season more cilantro has been left to self-seed in order to see how easily it spreads. In Autumn, most plants are left with their seeds for the animals and to give me a sense of what weight of seeds will be needed to grind into a half pound of coriander. I have a sense now; and next season after eating and using all the fresh cilantro desired, the plan is to grind cilantro seeds into coriander spice.
Amaranth is in the spinach family. The leaves and seed are edible. The seeds are smaller than quinoa. So, you will need a lot if the plan is to make amaranth flour. Nonetheless, the plant is beautiful and the leaves are delicious.
Seed saving
Videos on YouTube and books abound on this subject. A few links will be offered at the end of this post. My desire over the years has been a) to save money by growing organic food and saving seed from the food I grow, b) to participate in the glory of Mother Nature and all the beings that nurture themselves and, doing so, ensuring food for me, family, retreat center, and neighbors, and c) the fun of sharing seeds.
Certain caveats were mentioned in previous posts, such as seed from the zucchini in your garden might not produce true the following year. Having said that, be undaunted like Mother Nature! She saves and shares seeds every season.
Self-pollinating and so-called “mostly” self-pollinating
A self-pollinating plant is one that pollinates from within its unopened blossom. That means that when they open and pollinators visit, they get yummies, but the plant has already self-pollinated and its fruit is assured as true to its type. All types of beans are self-pollinating. A Green string bean cannot cross-pollinate with a Purple string bean or Scarlet Runner drying bean. Well, that makes bean seed saving a no-brainer!
Tomato plants are considered self-pollinating, but there is contestation of that; thus, tomatoes are usually called “mostly” self-pollinating. Speaking from my gardens over the years, I go with “mostly”. I have definitely seen changes in varieties planted too close together or without enough other pollen-provider plants and distance between tomato types. Unlike squashes, the end result is always delicious and can be canned. This “mostly” thing is how family heirlooms often are generated and then passed down.
Pea plants also are considered “mostly” self-pollinating. As a rule, I do not plant shelling peas near snap peas, nor bush near climbing.
Beans and Peas
After eating your fill and putting up for the winter during the height of the season, reduce the amount being picked, begin to let the pods grow to full length and swollen girth, and let them be. Right there on the vine or the bush plant. Mother Nature will take care of the rest until you pick the dried pods. The sun and wind will dry them naturally right where they hang.
Don’t stop watering. The soil and its beings need the water. But, if a patch of beans or peas is stand alone, reducing watering slightly can- but not always- invite the plants to set seed. Each type of plant is long-aware of the changes of season and how to foster its progeny. So, human intervention is only minimally recommended, in general.
The primary challenge to Nature’s way of drying these and other veggies on the vine is climate disruption and how it is changing the seasons overall. If Autumn rains come one after another, the pods do not dry enough due to non-available sunshine and wind. If your season has only about two weeks left before a frost, you’ll have to dry them inside to save your seed. They will rot in the pod if too wet for too long. Frost will not damage seed that is already dry in the pod, but will stunt anything in partial process. If too much rain or early frost is threatening, harvest the seed pods that are fully mature (only those), bring them the house, and lay them on newspaper or brown bags in a tray to dry. An open brown bag can work IF you do not have too many in the bag. Pods molding is to be avoided. If using the tray method, move them (shake the tray) a little them each day so that the pods turn over, mimicking wind and sun.
Typically, for thousands of years, bean and pea pods have dried on the vine. So, again, don’t be daunted.
If you wait long enough, the pods will open by themselves! and release the magical bean or pea seed. But, most of us home-growers, sit outside on a beautiful day and shuck the seeds to the sound of birds or conversation.
Tomato seeds
On this subject you will find various methods for seed saving. I have used the same method for more than two decades because it is easy, seemed self-evident from the first, and has over 90% germination year after year.
When cutting a tomato to eat, I put the seeds on a labeled piece of paper towel which is on a small plate. Put it on a counter or spot out of the sun and out of the way for at least a week, until completely dry. Then, the seeded paper towel is folded, put in a small envelope, and into a ziplock baggie, then into the fridge until next Spring for indoor germination and plant starting. (I wonder if the quality of the paper toweling matters. I use bamboo now, and unbleached before that.)
Brassicas
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages, kales, bok choys, and a variety of other greens are in this family. They are open-pollinated. Pollinators love their yellow flowers. Other than broccoli, cauliflower, and full-head cabbages, the leaves of brassicas are still delicious while the plant is flowering and setting seed. The leaf shape of Hon Tsai Tai and Dwarf Bok Choy changes as they put up flowers, but those leaves are delicious.
Seed pods are produced along the stems that had flowers. Let them form, dry, and cure on the plant if possible. Some birds seek them out. Protect if necessary, while allowing insects to pollinate. When the seed pods is dry, collect them, crush them with gloves, and the seeds emerge.
Winnowing
Winnowing is as ancient as plant cultivation; and, for the most part, wind has been the winnowing partner. And, it is what I use.
- Two receptacles are needed – like two large bowls, and a windy afternoon.
- Seeds with chaff are in one bowl.
- Simply, slowly pour the seeds with chaff from one bowl to the other with distance/height between them. The wind blows the chaff and the seeds fall into the lower bowl.
- Put your seeds into a storage envelope or container. Label, then store in air tight container in the fridge or cold room.
Videos about backyard habitat and/or seed saving
