Saving Seed

 Photo:  Leek flowers going to seed

Saving Seed

Saving your own flower and vegetable seed is a great way to get plants used to your location, save money and ensure the freedom to grow the varieties you like without being tied to seed trends which will ensure a healthy biodiversity. 

It’s said that we only eat about 20% of the vegetable and fruit varieties that were grown in the 1950’s because of intensive monoculture growing so it’s important to carry on heirloom seeds that can’t be controlled by large companies. 

It’s difficult for even Irish Seed Savers to collect and store their seeds in their seed bank of more than 800 varieties. Their funding has been cut and they have even resorted to crowd funding on Indiegogo to raise the €100,000 shortfall. They only managed to raise €9,100 so are asking for smaller on their website.  Irish Seed Savers are adapting to the reduced funding from the Department of Agriculture by organizing concerts and employing someone to promote the organization in an attempt to keep growing. You can donate directly on their site. We can safeguard our own seed supply by collecting our own, just in case.

Seed-saving can be easy. You'll get better seed than you can buy, even from the professionals. And you can keep your own varieties going for future years. But, just as with growing the plants, there are a few key bits of information you need to know to keep varieties pure and drying is very important. Remember to dry your seed properly, or it will not survive storage. Don't use heat though to dry it - we have a whole info sheet on drying your seed, so read that when you've got it harvested.

One key thing before you start - you can't save seed from F1 (hybrid) varieties. You need real, open-pollinated seed.

The Secret of Saving Great Seed

You want healthy seed that is true-to-type and keeps well. For any one vegetable, you need to ask yourself a few questions: Do the plants cross pollinate? Do I need to do anything special when drying the seed, how long will they last? 

The answers are different for each vegetable. I’ve chosen just two from realseeds. 

Broad beans

Broad beans will cross with other varieties that are growing nearby.   So if you want to keep your variety pure, you need to isolate them in some way.    Theoretically you should aim for at least half a mile between varieties.   In practice, in a built up area, fences, trees and houses will all reduce insect flight.   This means you should have minimal crossing even with beans much closer than half a mile so long as none of your immediate neighbours are growing different varieties of bean.

Let your seed beans mature and dry on the bush. The pods will turn dark drown, dry and wrinkled. Then pick and shell them out.   Check that they are really dry by biting on them.   If your teeth leave a dent, dry them further in a warm (not hot) place with a good flow of air.    Broad bean seeds should keep for several years, so there is no need to grow plants for seed every year. 

Tomatoes

Most modern varieties of tomato are self-pollinating, and will not cross.   The anthers on tomato flowers (which make the pollen) are fused together to make a tight cone that insects cannot enter. Usually the stigma (the receptive surface for receiving pollen) is very short, and so is located deep inside this cone of anthers. No insects can get to it and the only pollen that can fertilise it comes from the surrounding cone of anthers.

To collect the seed, allow your tomatoes to ripen fully.   Then collect a few of each variety that you want to save seed from.   Slice them in half across the middle of the fruit, and squeeze the seeds and juice into a jar.    You then need to ferment this mixture for a few days - this removes the jelly-like coating on each seed, and also kills off many diseases that can be carried on the seeds.   To do this put the jar of seeds and juice in a reasonably warm place for 3 days, stirring the mixture twice a day.   It should develop a coating of mould, and start to smell really nasty!

After 3 days, add plenty of water to the jar, and stir well.   The good seeds should sink to the bottom of the jar.   Gently pour off the top layer of mould and any seeds that float.   Then empty the good seeds into a sieve and wash them thoroughly under running water.   Shake off as much water as possible, and tip the sieve out onto a china or glass plate (the seeds tend to stick to anything else).   Dry somewhere warm but not too hot, and out of direct sunlight.   Once they are completely dry, rub them off the plate and store in a cool dry place, where they should keep well for at least 4 years. 

Tip: Rice added to a jar of seeds helps to suck out the moisture.

I am experimenting with leeks this year and allowing the biennial plant to flower and seed. They have large, strong stalks and the flowers are a haven for bees. The plants will eventually fall over and the seeds will root into the ground. I also have some aforementioned broad bean seeds that I will be putting out next month for an early crop next year. The process of collecting and storing both vegetable and flower seeds will be trial and error for a while but one day I’m sure a lot of us will be free of big company restrictions and have our own unique collection of plants grown to tolerate out climate.