Seed Saving Saturday

dried hot peppers: makes collecting the seeds a lot less painful 

gorgeous sunflower

pretty phenomenal that one seed can turn into so many more .... and this is only one of the heads that came one sunflower seed. seed saving is magical and addictive 

last of the tomatoes into the bank for winter 

pretty nice rack 

 black turtle beans and purple barley grown at the lift lock community garden this summer 

drunken frizzy headed woman lettuce seed drying until i have time to seperate it 

Gardens & Harvests mid September

turntables & tomatoes. two of my greatest loves 

perty flowers & brassicas  

loads of peppers on my plants. had to cover them from frost warnings last night, but they are looking pretty happy in the sun today  

artichokes plants are growing well. they didn't produce much of anything except pretty leaves this season, but i can always hope & plan for future years  

sunflowers unfurling 

gorgeous purple cabbages starting to develop its fruit 

yellow beans creating bean seed 

basil survived the frost!! 

loads of chocolate peppers. hoping they will ripen before we get a frost. 

yay, finally big harvests of tomatoes! 

picked before frost warnings  

cucumbers. probably the last main harvest 

picked most of my basil because of the frost warnings 

greens & lettuce growing seeds

beet seeds growing 

red romaine bolting, will flower soon & create seeds 

mustard seed pods about to fill with seeds 

coriander putting out lots of seeds 

drunken frizzy headed woman lettuce putting out tonnes of flowers from which will come lots of seed

speckled lettuce bolting & creating seeds

Saving Tomato Seeds

select fresh ripe heirloom tomatoes 

gather like varieties (they will need to be grown in isolation for true purity). they need to fully ripe and can even be over ripe. cut in half & squeeze the seeds and "goo" into a jar. 

lablel! you can set aside the unused tomatoes for salsa, sauce or whatever you like :) 

fermented seeds; fill jars with water. viable seeds sink, mould & gross floats :) 

after jars are filled with water, and mould poured off the top for the third time, the water starts to get much clearer

fermented seeds filled with the water for the second time.

rinse off seeds 

let dry on a screen in a cool dark place 

How to Save Tomato Seeds

So, Here is a photo demonstration of how i save my tomato seeds step-by-step.

Step #1 - Start with ripe, healthy tomatoes

Step #2 - Cut them in half

 Step # 3 - Squeeze liquid including seeds, into a jar

Step # 4 - Let ferment for 4-7 days. (pictured bel0w)

Step #5 - Fill the jar containing fermented seeds with water. The seeds will sink to the bottom, and mould float to the top.

Step #6- Pour off top layer of mould and water. Do not pour out seeds.

Step #7 - Fill Jar with Water again. Let seeds settle.

Step #8 - You may have to repeat Step #6 & 7 a few times until all that remains is clear water & seeds.

Step # 9 - Strain the Seeds

Step #10 - Let dry on a suspended screen for at least one week

I dry mine of a re-claimed baking rack. It works perfectly!