Every gardener will know that feeling twice a year when the seed catalogs begin to come through the mail! Spending hours perusing the pages of lovely vegetables, especially in the winter months when the Summer season lays ahead and photo’s of succulent homegrown tomatoes and eggplants fill the pages, or as we gardeners call it – garden porn! But really is buying seeds the only way to go? Naturally we can purchase organic non-GMO seeds from sustainable seed growers but how can we gardeners get more eco-friendly? By saving our own seeds and making ourselves more self-sufficient.
Whether or not you grow vegetables or just flowers in your garden saving seeds year and year not only helps the environment but also your pocket book, perhaps allowing money to be better spent on other areas of your life to improve your carbon footprint. Not only that but it’s so easy to do!
Collecting seed
All the information you need on seed saving is right at your fingertips! The internet is such a great resource that all the information you need is right in any search engine. Simply inputting “saving tomato seeds” into google will bring up a plethora of webpages dedicated to saving seeds. Each type of plant generally has it’s own rules of seed saving depending on how it pollinates. Some vegetables like peas and beans, you simply leave the pods on the plant till they get brown then save the dried seeds inside. Other plants like tomatoes or pumpkin require a little more work, requiring that you cut into the plant, scoop out the seeds, wash/rinse the seeds then leave to dry thoroughly. In any case you can guarantee to find some results for seed saving specific varieties online. All it takes is a few minutes.
Saving seeds
This one is down to the individual, some save seeds in paper envelopes, some in small plastic baggies, and others then place their seeds in the fridge to prolong the seeds life and germination viability. Either way, I say just do it. You could use recycled paper envelopes, make your own envelopes reuse plastic baggies, just make sure the seeds are completely dry before storing and in an airtight container.
Saving seeds from hybrids
If the variety you are saving seed from is a hybrid (made from two different varieties) then the seed saved from the hybrid fruit/vegetable will not come “true to seed”. That means that they won’t be the same once replanted. Purists will say that these seeds shouldn’t be saved, but honestly for me gardening is all about the experiments. Why not save it, and see what grows? The seed isn’t costing you anything after all and all you lose is a little time.
Pollination
It’s also worth noting that some varieties of plant don’t pollinate every year. Onions for example never flower their first year, so you may have to wait for a while to get your seed collection from these plants. However when then DO flower, it’s beautiful and the seeds are aplenty!
More reasons to save seeds
Saving seeds can have a great neighborhood impact regardless of whether it’s vegetables, fruits, or flowers. In my neighborhood a few of us swap vegetable/herb seeds. A good neighborhood system is so important for an eco-friendly community. For neighbors who want to grow their own food and make steps to becoming more eco-friendly offer a small variety of seeds from your own collection, the seeds were free for you, you get to help a neighbor in need, and help the neighbor become more sustainable, plus if you subscribe to Eastern philosophies then it’s also good Karma.
I’ve only been gardening a short few years but I already saved a lot of my own seeds, from vegetables like eggplant, peas and radish to tomatoes, herbs and marigolds. I never met a seed pod I didn’t like 
Honestly it’s just something I really enjoy doing and more than anything I enjoy passing seeds on to friends and neighbors so we can all have beautiful gardens and provide a great habitat for wildlife.
