‘Dig’ The Earth

Anyone that has ever eaten a tomato should know where the seeds are. Each fruit contains dozens, maybe even hundreds, of seeds depending on the variety and size. Choose a ripe tomato that you are going to use to cook or that has past its prime and you’d rather not eat from which to harvest seeds.  Squeeze the pulp from the tomato into a glass or plastic container; either use the rest of the fruit or add it to your compost pile.  This next part really had my husband in a knot – fermenting the seeds.

In the jar with the seeds and pulp add as much water as their is juice and set the jar in a warm place out of direct light.  After three days the viable seeds will sink to the bottom and the rest with the majority of the pulp will float to the top with a layer of stinky mold. Scoop out the mold and adjacent seeds with a spoon and discard (add them to your compost).  At this point I used my sieve or small kitchen strainer to pour out the rest of the liquid, drain and rinse the seeds.  

Apparently in this process it’s easy to keep the viable seeds.  From experience it makes it easy to remove the pulp. Once your seeds are well rinsed spread them over a paper towel and set them in a warm, dry place. On top of the refrigerator is a good place. After they have dried – usually within a few days to a few weeks (I’d give them at least a week), put the seeds in paper or plastic envelopes (paper retain less moisture and keep the possibility of mold to a minimum).

Fruit such as peaches, plums and nectarines are considered stone fruits. These are easy to collect since you just eat or cut away the fruit, pull out the stone, wash it, let it dry and voila – a seed. One thing you should consider before collecting these from store bought fruit is that they may be hybrid. Meaning that it is a cross of two different varieties and the resulting tree may not produce fruit like the one you ate, but one like a parent of that fruit, if it fruits at all.

So, unless you are absolutely sure that your fruit is an heirloom variety or you are aware of the characteristics of a hybrid’s parents and are OK with that you may want to stick with buying a seedling. Though there is nothing wrong with trying.

The resulting tree could still be very pretty.

I was very curious to know how to start hosta from seed, but everywhere I read said that it was not commonly done since the seeds are not always produced.  Turns out that one variety of the hostas I collected in the fall of 2007 did indeed produce pods with hundreds of seeds.  The hosta seed I collected this year was an open pollinated Elegans hosta.

The pods that form after the flowers die are about an 1″ long on this variety and hang down on the flower stem.  You have to keep a close eye on these because once they’ve dried and opened a strong gust of wind could take off with all the papery seeds.  The pods will become very woody and open when the seeds are ready for harvest.  Removing the pods when they are still green may give you seeds, but they may not be mature enough at this point to germinate.  The seeds are very small and have a papery, black tail on the husk.

This year I had three varieties of dianthus growing in my garden: Sweet William, Spangled Star and a Neon variety.  Like the daylily, once the bloom expires a pod behind the bloom begins to swell with seeds.  Allow the pod and stem to turn brown and dry out. The little pod will usually open at the top allowing you to pour out the seeds once you’ve carefully separated them from the plant.

I discovered that daylilies are one of the easiest flowers from which to collect seeds.  After the flowers have bloomed and died back the portion just behind the bloom begins to swell and form a pod.  The pod starts out green and supple the seeds are not ready yet.  Allow the pod to turn brown and dry out.  If the pods have split open it’s definitely OK to collect the seeds.  There are usually several 1/8″ diameter black seeds to a pod.

These are easy, but be careful with the hot varieties. The capsicum in the pepper that makes them hot can make your life miserable if you get it on your face and can even make the tips of your fingers burn.  So, when handling hot peppers and the seeds WEAR GLOVES and wash your hands very, very well.  To collect the seeds simply cut open the pepper.  Remove the seeds and carefully pull the them from the white, pithy center.  Discard the pith and use the pepper to your liking. Place the seeds on a paper towel or plate in a warm, dry place to dry out.  After at least a week of drying, put your gloves back on (the seeds will still have a hot bite), and place the seeds in an envelope of your choice.

When the avocado fruit has turned black and is ready to eat you can remove the seed. Take a knife and half the fruit from stem end to bottom twisting gently to separate the halves from each other and the seed.  Use a sturdy smooth blade kitchen knife to whack into the side of the seed and give it a turn to release it from the meat of the second half.

Wash it well in cool water.  Don’t store these too long or they may not sprout.  Usually, you just stab 2 or 3 toothpicks into the sides of the seed to suspend it over a glass of water. Make sure that the water covers the bottom half of the seed at all times.

On a side note, I learned something very interesting the other day on Alton Brown’s Good Eats program on the Food Network.  The avocado fruit will not ripen until it is removed from the tree.  This allows farmers an almost unending harvest season as long as the weather holds up!

Every gardener has a different way of storing seeds.  Some like plastic baggies others like paper envelopes. Personally, I like the paper envelopes since they don’t retain as much moisture and keep the possibility of mold to a minimum.  Look on gardenhere.org for patterns for large and small seeds envelopes or find ways to make your own using mail envelopes, coffee filters, etc. 

Always, always, always label your seeds.  Sometimes mystery seeds are fun,  but you really do need to know what they are so you can plant them in the right place at the right time come next spring.  It might also be a good idea to label your paper towels or plates you use to dry seeds so you know what they are when your pack them. 

Still you need to find a place out of direct light, high temperatures and high humidity to store your seeds.  Since the majority of us don’t have climate controlled rooms especially for seed storage we have to do the best we can to keep them from going bad.  A few options would be the refrigerator, a closet, or an attached garage (in the winter).  Shoeboxes, plastic tubs with lids, old wet wipes container, and file cabinets are all viable places to keep your seeds.  One tip I found interesting to keep moisture to a minimum is to put the silica gel packets you get from clothing and shoe boxes in the boxes or drawers where the seeds are stored. 

With the passing of time seeds lose their ability to germinate properly.  The more care we take to store them properly, the longer they will last.