Hey Gardenerds, I'm Christy Wilhelmi from Gardenerd. I got a request for a video on
seed saving for beginners so let's explore that today. The first thing you need to know is the
difference between seeds you can save and seeds you shouldn't save, so let's start there. Hybrid,
open pollinated, and heirloom are the three things you need to know the difference between. First
let's start with open pollinated. Open pollinated means that it is pollinated, it's a variety that's
been pollinated via the wind, birds, bees, etc. And so if you save seed from the fruit of that plant,
and plant it and grow it out, it's going to result in a fruit that's very, very much like its parents.
Heirlooms are open pollinated seeds so they behave the same way. They're just a seed that has been
handed down from generation to generation. So those are going to be more interesting
than some of the other things that you see out there in the world, like the stripy tomatoes and
the funky, you know, old peppers and stuff like that. Those are heirlooms but they are open pollinated.
Hybrid seeds are, you know, the more popular varieties that you see in the nursery like
Celebrity and Early Girl and Best Boy and that kind of stuff. And those have been bred in a
controlled environment. And this is not genetic engineering. Hybridization has been done for
thousands of years and basically you are, they are tracking the traits of a very specific line
of parents. Two parents, and then they cross those parents in a controlled environment so nothing
else can get in the way. and the fruit that results from that, uh, that pairing, the seeds from those
are grown out, and that is an f1 -- filial uno. It is the first generation of hybrid seeds. Now if you
grow seeds from that plant out from that variety that's labeled as an f1 or a hybrid, you're going
to end up with seeds that are not stable. They're going to revert back to something in their genetic
makeup that may be completely different from what you expect. So they're a wild card and you
don't generally want to save seeds from hybrids because you can't guarantee that they're going
to grow up to be just like their parents. If you're patient and you've got about seven years you can
stabilize a hybrid but let's...we're talking about this for beginners so choose open pollinated and
heirloom varieties to grow and then you can save those seeds. All right, that's part one
part two is saving the seeds themselves. What are the easiest seeds to save?
The things you want to save seeds from are from plants that are self-pollinating, really
meaning that they have both male and female parts in the same flower. Plants that have both male
and female parts in the same flower are things like beans, peas, lettuces, peppers, and tomatoes. And
I know that people say that tomatoes can cross pollinate and peppers can cross pollinate but
it's...it's not something that happens very often and these are really easy seeds to save. So let's
start with those. Beans and peas are really easy. You grow them out on the vine, you leave them on
the vine until they dry and get brittle and when you...you kind of whiggle them in your hands they
will shake like a rattle. And if you leave them too long the pods will shatter and the
seeds will scatter all by themselves the pods will shatter and the skis will
scatter. That's hard to say, the pods will shatter and the seeds will scatter. So you want to catch
them before then but you want them to be dry and crisp and not give really in your hand at all.
And they need to shake like a rattle. And then gather those put them in a bag, and then you
can just kind of stick your hands in the bag and kind of, you know, rough things up in there or pop
them open one by one. And then there's a whole thing about winnowing that we'll talk about
in a different video. But basically that's the idea. For other things like tomatoes and peppers,
basically tomato seeds have a little membrane around them, it's a gel that
you need to dissolve before you save those seeds before they're shelf stable it sounds
really intimidating but it's actually really easy to do. And I'll put a link in the description about
to a blog post that will help you figure out how to solve this problem. basically you
soak them in water for a few days. The fermentation happens, that membrane wears off and then all the
foam and gross stuff rises to the top. You scoop that off, you rinse the seeds out, let them dry on
a paper towel and you've got tomato seeds for next year. Peppers, honestly let the peppers dry
just like peas and beans on the plant or off the plant you just want them to dry without getting
moldy, so in a dry a dry location. And then you're going to pop them open and dump out the seeds let
those continue to dry. And then the thing you need to know most about saving seeds is that when you
put them away for storage you need to put them in the freezer for three days
before that. Because that kills off any possible bean weevils or other insects that might be
microscopic and hanging around on those seeds. Very important thing to do. You can also save seeds from
herbs like this parsley behind me. Let me show you what this looks like. Here's a good example.
So parsley ...all right parsley has a flower and when it goes to flower it eventually
turns into little seeds like this. Now these, these seeds are still green they are not ready
but when these turn brown, I can then pull these off put them in a bag save these seeds and / or
scatter them around the yard, which is what I do most of the time here at Gardenerd headquarters.
And then just, you know, they'll reseed themselves next year, or you can seed them on purpose in the
places you want. Things like this, like uh parsley, cilantro, fennel, and dill, they're umbles. They're
in the Umbiliferae family. They all work the same way and saving seeds from them is very easy. You
can also save the seeds from lettuces. They're self-pollinating so they don't tend to cross
but if you're really worried about them growing, if you're growing a lot of different varieties
right next to each other you may want to just let one variety go to seed at once. And lettuces, you
want to put a paper bag over the top of the seed head as the lettuce gets tall and bolts to seed.
Put a paper bag over the top, staple it around the bottom so that when the seeds do dry out just
leave them there in the garden. Let it get ugly and when the seeds do dry out then you'll be able to
snip off the bottom of that plant, or the top of the the top of that plant, rather, turn it over and
let the seeds continue to dry out and they will fall into that bag. And you can sift and winnow
thereafter. Ao for easy seed saving stick with beans, peas, tomatoes, and peppers, lettuces, and
some of these these umbiliferae herbs. That's it! That'll get you started. Seed saving is such a huge
subject and you can dive deep into those more difficult-to-save seeds. Just choose heirloom
and open pollinated varieties, save the seeds I mentioned in this video and you'll be on your way.
For more information about saving seeds and growing the food and especially about
heirlooms and all that kind of stuff visit Gardenerd.com, because we're all about heirloom
and open pollinated varieties there. If you like this video and found it helpful please subscribe
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to support all the free stuff we do here at Gardenerd. Happy gardening.