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.
