Start Saving Seeds
The seeds you borrow from any of our libraries are free, and yet they are priceless. We hope you learn a lot as you experience the joys of gardening and seed saving. As you grow as a gardener and experience success in you garden, please consider bringing some seeds back to share the fruits of your labors with the seed library community.
Choosing the Right Seeds to Save…
The seeds that you’ll find in our bank are all open-pollinated or heirloom varieties, meaning seeds saved from these plants will produce fruit the next season which will be the same as the parent plant. Our seeds are categorized by how difficult they are to save, not grow. Please feel free to try growing any seed that interests you. We all learn by trying new things.
When growing to save seed, please try to match the seed saving difficulty with your gardening expertise. Here are some guidelines for growing plants to save seed.
Easy Seeds
Easy seeds are great for beginners and grow plants that are less likely to cross-pollinate with other plants in that family.
Tip: Stick with one variety of a plant, or separate different varieties with a taller buffer crop or distance.
Medium Seeds
Medium seeds grow plants that are insect pollinated. These plants are likely to cross pollinate with other varieties of the same plant to grow a “mystery” plant. They may require some form of isolation—tenting or hand-pollination.
Tip: Choose only one variety from each plant or separate similar plants by placing them a good distance apart, like in the front and back yard.
Advanced Seeds
Advanced seeds grow plants that are wind or insect pollinated, are very likely to cross-pollinate with other plant varieties, and are biennial.
Tips: Stick to a single plant variety, stagger growing times, and use tenting or hand pollination techniques to preserve the purity of the seed. It’s also very important to check the botanical name to ensure which plants are related and susceptible to cross-pollination.
At harvest time, please take some extra steps to save seeds for others to borrow and plant. By returning a portion of seeds you save from your strongest, tastiest, and most vigorous plants, you’ll help keep our seed bank growing.
Three Ways to Save Seeds…
Dry Seed Processing
For plants with seeds that grow on the outside of the plant.
Wet Seed Processing
For seed that grow inside the fleshy fruit of the plant.
Fermentation Seed Processing
For seeds with a gel-like coating.
How to Avoid Cross-Pollination
Isolation
When you hear “isolation” in regards to seed saving it means to separate a variety in order to avoid cross-pollination between different varieties. Here are a few types of isolation:
Choosing the Right Seeds to Save…
The seeds that you’ll find in our bank are all open-pollinated or heirloom varieties, meaning seeds saved from these plants will produce fruit the next season which will be the same as the parent plant. Our seeds are categorized by how difficult they are to save, not grow. Please feel free to try growing any seed that interests you. We all learn by trying new things.
When growing to save seed, please try to match the seed saving difficulty with your gardening expertise. Here are some guidelines for growing plants to save seed.
Easy Seeds
Easy seeds are great for beginners and grow plants that are less likely to cross-pollinate with other plants in that family.
Tip: Stick with one variety of a plant, or separate different varieties with a taller buffer crop or distance.
Medium Seeds
Medium seeds grow plants that are insect pollinated. These plants are likely to cross pollinate with other varieties of the same plant to grow a “mystery” plant. They may require some form of isolation—tenting or hand-pollination.
Tip: Choose only one variety from each plant or separate similar plants by placing them a good distance apart, like in the front and back yard.
Advanced Seeds
Advanced seeds grow plants that are wind or insect pollinated, are very likely to cross-pollinate with other plant varieties, and are biennial.
Tips: Stick to a single plant variety, stagger growing times, and use tenting or hand pollination techniques to preserve the purity of the seed. It’s also very important to check the botanical name to ensure which plants are related and susceptible to cross-pollination.
At harvest time, please take some extra steps to save seeds for others to borrow and plant. By returning a portion of seeds you save from your strongest, tastiest, and most vigorous plants, you’ll help keep our seed bank growing.
Three Ways to Save Seeds…
Dry Seed Processing
For plants with seeds that grow on the outside of the plant.
- Allow the seed to dry on the plant, and collect the seedpods before they break open.
- For plant with seeds that develop in the center of the flower, allow the plant to dry. When the stem holding the seed head turns brown, harvest the seeds.
- Label and store seeds.
- Return a few seeds in a labeled envelope to the seed bank.
Wet Seed Processing
For seed that grow inside the fleshy fruit of the plant.
- Rinse off the seeds and dry them thoroughly.
- If the seeds have a gel-like coating, use the fermentation process.
- Label and store seeds.
- Return a few seeds in a labeled envelope to the seed bank.
Fermentation Seed Processing
For seeds with a gel-like coating.
- Mix the seeds and the seed juice with a little water in a small plastic or glass container with a lid.
- Allow the seeds to ferment for 4-6 days.
- When a layer of mold has formed on top of the water and the seeds sink, the fermentation is complete. Add more water, swish it around, and remove the mold and pulp. The good seed will sink to the bottom, while the bad seeds will float to the top. Remove the bad seeds.
- Drain the water from the seeds and set them out on a plate, screen, or paper towel to dry thoroughly. Once the seeds are completely dry, place them in a moisture-proof container.
- Label and store seeds.
- Return a few seeds in a labeled envelope to the seed bank.
How to Avoid Cross-Pollination
Isolation
When you hear “isolation” in regards to seed saving it means to separate a variety in order to avoid cross-pollination between different varieties. Here are a few types of isolation:
- Distance-depends on how the plant cross pollinates. Check this Seed Matters-Seed Saving Chart to see what distance is ideal for different species.
- Timed Isolation-for this method you would want to use a type of plant that has a quick turn around in our neck of the woods. The idea behind it is to plant different varieties within the species at different times so that niether of them are flowering at the same time.
- Bagging/Hand Pollination-plants like squash that have large colorful flowers that attract a lot of insects you will want to use this method. You want to put a fine mesh bag (very small holes so no insects can get in) over a female blossom that is almost ready to bloom in the evening and the next morning after the dew has dried, you will take at least 3 male flowers from the same variety, but different plants and exchange pollen from the male flower to the female flower. For a more detailed and visual tutorial check out the SLOLA Education Cucurbits video on the Seed Saving Tutorial page of our website.
- Alternate Day Caging-using this method you would want to make a structure with fine mesh walls that you would put over a certain number of each variety every other day. When you have the cage over one variety you let the other go un-caged so that insects can do their job of pollinating.
