 
 Reprinted by permission from Coping with Turbulent Times newslet-
 ter, c/o III,  Box 4630 SFA Sta., Nacogdoches, TX  75962.  
 $5/four issues, $1 & SASE for sample.
 
 SAVING SEEDS:  THE GARDENER'S GUIDE TO GROWING & SAVING VEGETABLE 
 &  FLOWER  SEEDS (revision of '78 Growing & Saving  Veg.  seeds), 
 Marc  Rogers, '90, 185 pages 6x9 (wide margins), $10 + $2.75  p&h 
 in '92, Garden Way, 105 Schoolhouse Road, Pownal VT 05261.   800-
 827-8673.   Free  catalog of 250 +  titles:  gardening,  animals, 
 cooking, crafts, building.
 
      With petunia seed over $10,000 and tomato over $2,500 per 
 pound, Marc Rogers concluded that seeds aren't cheap.  Seed 
 saving can cut costs, and reduce dependence on seed companies.  
 And, by careful selection "you can produce plants best suited to 
 your climate and your growing conditions."  This book gives 
 directions for saving seeds of 48 vegetables and 61 flowing 
 ornamentals.
      
      "Watch your plants throughout the growing season....  It is 
 the whole plant, rather than an isolated fruit, that you should 
 consider...."  Save seed from early-bearing plants, to encourage 
 that trait.  Mark your seed producing plants with a ribbon, or 
 stake, so they're not accidentally harvested.
 
      Seeds picked before they're mature won't have enough stored 
 nourishment for a good start, or even to last the winter.  (Seeds 
 "carry on their basic life processes even while dormant, but at a 
 very low rate.")  Fruits, such as tomatoes, peppers, and 
 eggplant, should be allowed to get "a bit overripe, before seed 
 is collected."  Harvest melons for seed and eating at the same 
 time.
 
      Tomato and cucumber seeds separate from the pulp easier 
 after fermenting in a little water.  Stir a few times daily to 
 discourage mold.  The good seeds will sink to the bottom.  After 
 4-5 days rinse them and spread to dry,
 
      "Most seeds, in most climates will dry adequately for home 
 storage if spread on paper towels or newspapers in an airy place 
 for a week."  Turn seeds and replace paper several times if 
 necessary.  Larger seeds take longer.  If conditions are damp and 
 you use artificial heat, don't go over 100(better 90) F.
 
      Fungi are almost inactivated at 50 F, and bacteria at under 
 about 18% moisture, therefore, "keep your stored seeds dry and 
 cool.  ... Long-term storage in the refrigerator or freezer is 
 your best bet ..."
 
      Silica gel (at drug, camera, craft, or hardware stores) may 
 be used as a desiccant.  Most "is treated to turn color when it 
 has absorbed its maximum of moisture."  It may be repeatedly 
 oven-dried for reuse.

      "It's hard to go wrong growing peas or beans for seed", thus 
 they are perfect for beginning seed savers to start with, says 
 Marc.
      Scientific as well as common names are given for all plants.  
 Address and catalog price given for 50 seed companies, large and 
 small.  The U of MN's Source List of Plants is mentioned as 
 listing "over 20,000 varieties...commercially available in N 
 America."  For info about the Seed Savers Exchange, Marc says to 
 send a SASE to RR3 Box 239, Decorah, IA 52101.  Their 418 page 
 Garden Seed Inventory ($17 1/2 ppd) describes 5,000+ non-hybrid 
 veg. varieties from 240 catalogs.  County extension agents may 
 know of local/regional seed exchanges.
 
 Review by Julie Summers, who's also in DWELLING PORTABLY (sample 
 $1, POB 190-sr, Philomath, OR 97370);  SURVIVALIST SIG (sample $1 
 1/2, POB 20188-js, Cleveland, OH 44120); & COLTSFOOT (wild edible 
 plants, sample $2, RR1 Box 313A-js, Shipman, VA  22971).  
 

  -One thing I have had some trouble with, John, is keeping foods that are
  -stored in the edible state.

Pat and I don't seem to have any problem with freezer storage.  We put
away 49 pints of spaghetti sauce last summer and to date it is still
quite tasty.  She can be a good cook when she doesn't think about it.
;+]   We did use the ultra heavy weight freezer bags.  The peaches and
strawberries have also done well.  The store bought stuff seems
susceptible to the freezer burn.  Some of the pre-prepared items like
frozen pizza, lasgna, dinners, etc. etc.  only seem to last a short
time.  My fresh homemade pasta freezes well.  ;+}  It also goes down the
gullet well.  I know, I know.... don't break my arm  Ha ha ha  But, the
fresh stuff we have put in the freezer seems to hold up better than the
stuff out of the supermarket.  Why for sure I don't know...  %-\

  -Frozen food doesn't seem to last past just a couple of months...(freezer
  -burn, you know.)   Do you have any information on the life of canned,
  -frozen or dried foods?

In the morning, I'm going to mail a disk to John with several text files
on this stuff.  Pat bought me a hand scanner for Christmas (don't be
fooled tho.  It was really so I could incorporate some tables out of
some reference books into a term paper for her schooling)  %+}  I've
been able to include the pictures in .PCX format.  So, if you have a
graphics viewer, you'll even have the pictures and drawings that were in
the articles.


BackHome Magazine
Fall 1993
page  59


ENSURING YOUR GARDEN'S FUTURE
          by  Anita Evangelista


Have you experienced the horror of "seed shock"?  That's the reaction of
many gardeners to the cost of vegetable seeds these days.  Whether you're
perusing catalogs or checking seed packs in a local store, prices for
these garden starters seem to have hit a new high.  Some I've noted: $2.19
for 1.5 grams of leek seed, $1.95 for 500 milligrams of zinnia seed, and
$2.45 for 20 seeds of winter squash.  At such rates, a pound of any type
of seed sells for several times the cost of an equal weight of .999 fine
silver!

But don't despair; you can just about eliminate such expenses by obtaining
seed from your own plants.  Though some sources may lead you to believe
that access to the process is concealed in esoteric agricultural jargon,
saving seeds from year to year is as straightforward as gardening itself.
And not only will you save a bundle of hardearned cash next year, but
you'll also fill your garden with plants specifically adapted to your
region and growing methods.  What's more (as I'll tell you about shortly),
you'll be perpetuating a bit of living history.

        SEED SAVING BASICS

Begin next year's garden this year by selecting the plants that will
provide your seeds.  Pass by the hybrids, no matter how much you may
prefer these types of plants.  A hybrid is the product of a selective
crossing of two (or more) unrelated strains of a plant; say, a variety of
tomato that develops a thick, strong stem crossed with a type that
produces extra-large fruit.  The resulting F1 hybrid, or first-generation
cross, will display the best traits of both parent plants.  Hybrids are
generally more vigorous than either parent, a desirable characteristic.

Seeds from these crossbreds, however, will not produce true to type.  The
new plants will "revert" to something like the parents, or possibly like
an ancestor of one or both of the parents.  In the case of tomatoes, the
seed of hybrid fruit often reverts to a cherry tomato-type plant.

Instead, save seed only from open pollinated -OP- plant varieties.  The
OPs aren't as common in seed catalogs as they were a decade ago, but
they're frequently available in such old favorites as 'Golden Bantam' corn
and 'Rutgers' tomato.  OP seeds reproduce true to type year after year,
given a little help and wise guidance from their gardener.

A few OP varieties are self-fertilizing, with individual flowers on the
plant providing their own genetic material.  Such plants include beans,
lettuce, peas, and tomatoes.  This means you can grow several varieties of
each - for example, Romano, Kentucky pole, and wax beans - in the same
garden, and the plants will not crossbreed.

Other common OP plants produce seed through fertilization either by wind
or insects.  These include corn, beets, cabbages and other brassicas,
carrots, melons, cucumbers, radishes, spinach, squash, pumpkins, and
turnips.  For such types you have three options to prevent accidental
crossing.  You can plant only a single representative of the group; you
can stagger plantings so that seeds of crossable types mature at different
times; or you can hand-pollinate and hand-protect the individual plants
that have been selected to produce seeds.

There is a fourth option that may appeal to the adventurous; letting
plants of a particular type cross freely.  For example, you could plant in
proximity two types of cucumber; an eight inch slicing variety and a tiny
gherkin.  The next year's harvest could be very disappointing, or you
could produce a truly desirable new vegetable.

Keep only seeds from plants that have done particularly well in your
garden: those that are resistant to local insects and weather conditions
and that have the best-tasting fruit.  After several years of saving seeds
from your own "line", you will have developed plants that are uniquely and
individually adapted to your growing methods and region.

Store saved seeds in glass jars and keep them in a freezer.  Make labels
for the different seeds, but keep these inside the jars; otherwise,
they'll fall off.  On the labels include the year of harvest and the
specific variety (i.e., 1993 'Longkeeper' tomato) and any interesting
traits of growth that might help you in the future.

Seeds stored in freezing temperatures should remain viable for several
years.  It's not unusual, though, to find that only half a batch of home-
collected seeds will grow, so always keep more than you expect to need.
It's a good practice to plant at least some of your stored seed every
year, to keep supplies fresh.  But never plant all the seed of one type;
if the crop fails, you won't have any to fall back on.

Generally, vegetables are harvested at peak condition; in doing so, the
seeds-to-be -- as fruit -- are removed before they are ready for saving.
When saving fruit for seed, you need to allow it to reach its ripest
condition before picking it.  The optimum conditions for saving the seed
of both annuals (plants that produce seed during the first year) and
biennials (plants that require two years growth to produce seeds) are
given below.

**************************************************************************
                ANNUALS
**************************************************************************

BEANS:  Pick freely from your plants until later in the season (leaving
ripe beans on the vines early on may cause production to stop).  Let the
last pods dry while they're still hanging on the plants.  If the weather
is too damp and the seeds begin to mildew, pull the entire plants by the
roots and hang them upside down in a sheltered area until the pods are
completely dry.  Crack out the seeds, and store them in glass jars with
tight lids.  Some folks add a bay leaf per jar to repel bugs.

CORN:  Plant only a single variety, or stagger plantings so that the
varieties mature at different times.  Serious corn growers advocate saving
seeds from no less than 100 ears, so that a number of different plants are
represented in your genetic seed stocks.  But it's better to save seed
from just a few ears than to not save any at all.  Select only cobs that
represent the best or your corn: hardy plants, strong and upright in the
wind, ears filled out, little or no insect damage, husky kernels.  Let the
corn dry in the husk on the plant; bring it indoors before the weather
turns damp.  Remove the husks and hang the cobs to dry until the kernels
are slightly loose.  Shell them, and store them.

CANTALOUPES:  There are many varieties of these aromatic melons, including
the familiar orange-fleshed supermarket type, green-fleshed supermarket
type, green-fleshed muskmelons, and even a small, hardy indigenous North
American sort called "mango melon" or "vine peach".  These all cross
freely.  (See the section on pumpkins for information on hand-pollination)
Select several early fruits to eat from these plants.  Remove the seeds,
rinse them, and dry them on a plate before storing them.

CUCUMBERS:  If you have several plants, save seeds from the first fruit on
one and the last fruit from another.  If you have just one plant, you'll
have to save seed from the last fruits, for if the cukes aren't picked,
the plant will stop fruiting.  Let a couple of large, healthy cukes remain
on the vine until the fruit has turned a golden color.  Peel and mash the
whole cucumbers.  Cover them with water, and let this stand at room
temperature for several days; it will become pretty smelly.  Pour off the
liquid as well as the goo floating in the water.  Viable seeds will have
settled to the bottom of the container.  Spread the seeds on a plate to
dry before storing them.

PEAS:  Treat the same as beans.

PUMPKINS, and WINTER and SUMMER SQUASH:  These all come from four species
of the _Cucurbita_ genus.  Crossing within species is possible, so you
should plant only one variety from each one.  _Cucurbita_Pepo_ includes
acorn, cocozelle, crookneck, and scallop squash, pumpkins, and zucchini.
_C._Maxima_ includes banana, Hubbard, buttercup, and turban squash.
_C._Moschata_ covers butternut and "cheese" squash.  And _C._Mixta_
includes cushaws.  So you could confidently plant an acorn squash, a
Hubbard squash, and a butternut squash without any crossing.

Suppose you want to grow pumpkins and zucchini, both members of _C._Pepo_.
Then what?  You could separate the plantings by several hundred feet,
which will slow down pollinating insects.  Or you could hand-pollinate
female flowers.  To do this you detach a male flower (it will have a
slender base), and carefully tear away the flower "petals" so that only
the long anthers and stem remain.  Swab this across the newly opened
female flower (with the tiny fruit at the base), to distribute pollen.

Use several male flowers on each female.  Gently tape the female flower
shut, and you're done.

If the _Cucurbita_ species cross and produce fruit, the results will be
perfectly edible and often quite interesting.

POTATOES:

OOOOoooooppsss,  I thought that one was done..  I guess I'll have to
pull that issue back out and finish it off.  ;+}

If Pat would just give me some time to get MY stuff done on the confuser
instead of doing her stuff, I'd probably have even more goofs like that.

Any way, now with the scanner the info is starting to roll in.  TTYL

                        The WEE Scot
                            Paul
                           KC5AIQ

The Herb Companion  
August/September 1993  
page 38  

Growing Seeds  
      by  Andy Van Hevelingen   

In my garden, most of the annual herbs such as borage and love-in-a-mist
reseed themselves without any intervention on my part.  Many of the
herbaceous (nonwoody) perennial herbs also tend to reseed with reckless
abandon.  I'm sure anyone who has grown lemon balm, feverfew, chives,
elecampane, pennyroyal, fennel, or sweet violets knows only too well the
multitudes of seedlings these plants can generate and the area they can
claim as their own.  The only reason I might collect seeds from such
plants would be to give them away or to control their rampant spread.  The
woody perennial herbs such as lavendar, rosemary, and the thymes are more
restrained in self-seeding and produce far fewer offspring.  I normally
propagate these herbs vegetatively rather than by seed, however.  

Some herbs don't self-sow freely, some cast their seed far from the parent
plant (even, like the butterfly weed and dandelion, on the wind), and some
are difficult to propagate by cuttings or root division.  It is from these
groups that I collect seed for propagation in later seasons.  

GENERAL HARVEST METHODS  

In late summer, I begin checking the garden for signs of seed development.
The withering or dropping of flowers indicates that seeds have begun to
form.  After that milestone, I watch for flower stalks that have dried and
turned brown and seedpods that have turned from green or yellowish brown
to brown, gray or black.  The vast majority of herb seeds are brown or
black when ready to harvest.  

A reliable test of seed maturity is a light tap on the dry flower stalk.
If any seeds rattle or are dislodged, they are ready for harvest.  Also,
watch for birds eating the seed heads (as they do reliably on my
_Agastache_  plants).  This is an obvious indication not only that the
seed may be mature (though some birds will eat green seeds) but that you'd
better get out there and harvest it.  If the seeds are small or contained
in pods so that their maturity isn't outwardly visible, as in the sages
(_Salvia_spp._) or anise hyssop (_Agastache_foeniculum_), I select a dry,
brown flower stalk and remove some of its seeds; if they're dark brown or
black, it's time to harvest them.  

I harvest seeds late in the day after a few days of dry weather to ensure
that all plant parts are dry.  If the foliage or seed head is wet when
picked, it will not dry quickly and is likely to mold.  Few sights are
more disappointing than a bag of seed heads that have turned to compost. 

Cut the entire seed head or part of the flower stalk that contains seeds,
avoiding any part of the plant that is still green, and place it in a
large paper bag, cardboard box, or wooden bowl.  Place only one kind of
seed in each container, and label each with the name of the herb it
contains.  

Occasionally, I come across seed heads that are covered with aphids.  I
harvest them anyway but then place them in the freezer for a few days to
kill the aphids.  This doesn't seem to harm the viability of the seed.  

COLLECTING FROM SPECIFIC PLANTS   

The first couple of years I grew pink gas plant (_Dictamnus_albus_
'Rubra'), I collected the seedpods in a small, open basket and was
mystified when I later found the pods open but no seeds in the basket.  I
discovered that the seedpods pop open when they dry, and the seeds are
expelled forcibly.  I now collect gas plant seed when the pods begin to
turn brown but before they've opened, and I put them in a closed paper
bag.  I can hear the seeds as they hit the sides of the bag.  Some
gardeners collect gas plant seeds by placing a paper bag or a piece of
netting or sheer pantyhose over the immature seed heads while they're
still on the plant, and attaching it to the stem with a twist tie.  

The ripe seedpods of butterfly weed (_Asclepias_tuberosa_) split open to
expose great multitudes of seeds lodged in a cottony mass for wind
dispersal, much like dandelion seeds.  When the first pod on a plant
splits open, I harvest all the pods on that plant and, as with gas plant,
put them in a closed container.  

Seeds of many plants, including honeywort (_Cerinthe_spp._) and borage,
mature along the flowering stem until hard frost kills the plant.  Borage
will easily self-sow, but our winters are too hard for the honeywort, and
so after the plant has been in flower for a while, I inspect the lower
ends of the flower stalks daily.  I pick any mature black nutlets
carefully to avoid disturbing the upper end of the stalk, which is still
flowering and contains immature seeds.  

AFTER-RIPENING AND DRYING  

Few seeds will germinate if planted immediately after ripening on the
plant.  I therefore leave the seed heads I've collected in their containers
a few weeks until the seeds have dried and ripened completely.  After the
seed coat has dried and hardened, the embryo slowly loses moisture and also
undergoes chemical and other physiological changes.  The seed needs to be
kept in a dry, warm place with good air circulation; I prefer the garage,
as any hitchhiking insects can escape without entering the house.  If
you're pressed for time, you can remove the seeds from the dry pods or seed
heads and clean them immediately after harvest, but then give them a few
weeks of open-air drying before storing them in airtight containers.  

The main danger in storing seeds in an unheated garage or barn is the high
humidity that several days of rain can produce.  Seeds and other plant
parts will take up the moisture from the air and thus become more
susceptible to disease.  By the time the fall rains start (usually in early
September in north-western Oregon), I will have taken all my seeds inside
the house and started the next tasks: checking them carefully for insects,
then cleaning them.  

The only seeds that I find at all difficult to extract are those of
licorice.  The two hard seeds are contained in a small pod that's covered
with stiff, fine bristles like tiny slivers.  I used to open each pod
individually by pressing my thumbnail down on the pod seam, hoping my thumb
was callused enough to prevent penetration by a spine.  I finally wised up
and now place the tough pods between newspapers and walk on them with heavy
boots first, which tends to rub off the bristles as well as break open some
of the pods.  The seeds, dark green when mature, are tough enough to
withstand this treatment.  

CLEANING  

Seed is cleaned by separating it from the plant material (chaff) that was
harvested with it.  By the time I get around to cleaning my seed, much of
it has already separated from the plant in handling and is lying on the
bottom of the bag.  In other cases, vigorously shaking the dried flower
spike will separate the seeds from the plant.  Sometimes it may be
necessary to "milk" the seeds out with a gentle squeeze at the base of the
pod.  However, experience has taught me not to try to collect every single
seed, just the ones that separate easily from the plant.  Those that have
been injured or have not fully developed may not separate easily and
should be thrown away; the wound that occurs when an under-developed seed
separates from the plant can be the first point of entry for fungal
infection during storage.  

Freeing large seeds from the chaff is easy enough; I just pick them out
with a knife or tweezers.  I pluck really large seeds, such as those from
lovage, angelica, and sweet cicely, directly off the seed heads
individually and avoid the issue of cleaning altogether.  

For small seed, such as that of summer savory, winnowing is the easiest
method for separating the chaff from the seed.  There are many ways of
doing this and a lot of room for creativity.  Each year, we dedicate a
board meeting of the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon to seed cleaning for
our seed exchange.  Members bring an amazing array of aluminum pie plates,
knives, clippers, wooden bowls, colanders, cookie sheets, homemade screens
and magnifying glasses, and use them in many clever ways to extract the
seed from the chaff.  Some folks scoop small amounts of round seeds (basil
and clary sage) with their chaff onto a tilted cookie sheet; the seeds
roll down, and the chaff stays put.  Screens can also be helpful in
cleaning.  Start with a mesh size just large enough to allow the seeds to
fall through when they are brushed lightly across the screen, then use a
slightly smaller mesh that will hold the seeds but allow smaller material
to be brushed through.  

No matter what ingenuity you bring to the process, though, seed cleaning
can sometimes be tedious.  I have no special tools for the job, just a
pair of tweezers, lots of patience, and perhaps a captivating television
show.  I spread newspapers on a table, dump out small amounts of seed, and
manually pick out the seeds, throwing the chaff into a bag beside me.  

STORAGE    

The container you choose for storing the cleaned seed should be relatively
airtight.  Baby food jars or other small, lidded jars are good for seed
storage.  I use plastic margarine tubs, and I write the name of the herb
and the year on a piece of paper taped to the lid.  I leave the lids off
for a few days to ensure that any excess moisture is gone, and then I snap
the lid on tight.  

Check stored seeds periodically for mold and insect damage.  Clumping of
seeds when the container is slowly tilted and rotated may indicate mold.
Other signs include a black, sooty color and perhaps a moldy smell.  If
you suspect mold, dump the seeds on a sheet of white paper, then pour them
back into their container and look for black, downy dust on the paper.  If
there is any mold, throw away the entire container of seed.  

Fine dust at the bottom of a container may indicate the presence of
insects, and further examination is wise.  Most storage pests are larvae
that are large enough to see without a hand lens, and their webs are
usually visible in a container of seed.  If you find or suspect an
infestation, freeze the seed for a couple of days to kill the insects. Dry
ice can also by used to kill insects in stored seed.  Simply drop a piece
into the container, then replace the lid lightly.  The insects either die
from the cold or suffocate when the dry ice sublimes into carbon dioxide.
CAUTION::  Don't screw the lid tightly on a jar containing dry ice, as the
jar will explode.  

The optimum storage temperature for seeds ranges from 35 deg to 65 deg F,
and humidity should be low.  (a refrigerator is an excellent place to
store seeds if you have enough space.)  Seed stored under these conditions
can remain viable for at least 2 and sometimes as long as 15 years,
although with every additional year in storage seed viability will
decrease.   

Seeds must never become completely dry: the tissues within the seed must
retain at least a small amount of moisture to remain alive.  Some seeds
with hard coats are able to withstand dessication to a moisture content as
low as 5 per cent of their total weight, while others with fleshy reserves
may tolerate dessication only to 60 per cent.  Seeds stored in a paper
packet take up and lose moisture within a range of 5 to 20 per cent of
their total weight in response to the humidity of the surrounding air;
seeds in the open air take up and lose moisture even more rapidly.  These
frequent fluctuations can seriously impair seed viability.  

SEED TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS 

Most herb seeds are small and dry and have a hard, dark brown or black
seed coat.  They typically are long-lived: seeds of sweet basil often are
viable for seven years or more under proper storage conditions.  Many such
seeds, especially those of biennial and perennial herbs, may require a
period of cold or of dry storage to induce dormancy before they will
germinate.  

A few herbs, such as angelica, lovage, sweet cicely, and parsely, produce
moist seeds.  The seeds tend to be large and have fleshy, spongy inner
tissues because of their large storage reserves.  Such seeds are short-
lived: they tend to dry out over time; this process is accelerated under
improper storage.  Cold storage in the refrigerator or freezer not only
helps maintain the viability of moist seeds but also induces dormancy in
those that require it for germination.  

An ANNUAL herb completes its life cycle in a growing season, which is
typically a year.  After flowering and setting seed, the original plant
dies.  Most annual seeds have no special requirements for germination;
once ripe and dry, they will germinate if given sufficient warmth and
moisture.   

A BIENNIAL plant completes its life cycle in two growing seasons or years.
Most biennial herbs belong to the parsley family (Umbelliferae).  They
include caraway, parsley, and angelica.  Such plants should be grown
either from fresh seed that has been dried thoroughly and then planted
immediately in early fall or from seed that has been stored in the cold to
ensure high germination.  

PERENNIAL plants live for more than two years.  All perennial herbs
produce dry, hard seed except for French taragon, horseradish, and true
peppermint, which do not produce viable seed and must be propagated
vegetatively.  Gardeners may become frustrated trying to propagate
perennial herbs from seed because many perennial seeds contain chemical
inhibitors, or dormant embryos, or have impermeable seed coats or other
characteristics that pervent germination unless the seeds are specially
treated.   

VIABILITY TESTING  

I find it fascinating to see a seed develop into a living plant, but it's
extremely frustrating when I plant a large number of seeds and only a few
germinate.  I try to use my own collected seed as much as possible because
I know its history and can attest to its parentage, but often I must rely
on commercial seed companies, friends, and seed exchanges through garden
societies and botanical gardens (see sidebar "Desperately Seeking Seeds?")
In all cases, unless I test the seed for viability, I have no idea whether
it is alive, has been properly stored, and has met its dormancy
requirements for germination.  

Testing seed is not hard to do: just take a sample (perhaps two dozen
seeds) and place it on a pad of wet tissue or moistened paper towel in a
closed container and see how many germinate, and how quickly.  However,
not all seeds are alike; germination for some may depend on the presence
or absence of light, and the actual spectral quality of the light, and/or
the temperature, including the fluctuation between night and day
temperatures, and some seeds may require pretreatment in order to
germinate.   

SCARIFICATION  

Some seed coats, such as those of hibiscus seeds, are initially almost
impermeable to water or air.  To promote germination, you must open or
soften the seed coat by either nicking it with a knife or sanding it
lightly with a file or sandpaper.  Extreme care should be taken to cut
through or abrade only the seed coat and not injure the embryo.  As soon
as the seed coat is penetrated in this way, the embryo is susceptible to
fungal infection, and the seed must be planted immediately.  

SOAKING  

The hard seed coats of herbs such as parsley need to be softened to allow
adequate water uptake and air exchange.  Placing such seed in hot (not
boiling) water and letting it stand for between 6 and 24 hours will help
leach out any chemical inhibitors, shortening the germination time.  Sow
the seed immediately after soaking.  

STRATIFICATION   

In seeds such as those of sea holly (Eryngium spp.), the moist cold of
winter causes physiological changes that are necessary for germination.
To mimic this cold period, soak the dry seeds in warm water (170deg-210deg
F) for 12 to 24 hours.  Sow them immediately into a moist planting medium
in an airtight container (I often use resealable freezer bags).  Place the
container in the refrigerator or freezer for three to five weeks.  I put
sweet cicely seeds in the fridge and angelica seeds in the freezer, but
either fridge or freezer will yield about the same result.  Empty film
canisters with their tight-fitting lids work very well for stratifying
small amounts of seed.  

PROPAGATION AND PARENTAGE   

As a commercial wholesale herb grower, I still regard growing herbs from
seed with mixed emotions.  There is no easier way to propagate annual
herbs and most biennials.  However, continued seed propagation of
cultivars or hybrids, if not done selectively, can result in the eventual
loss of important genetic qualities of the orginal parents.  I recall
reading in old herb books about a dwarf purple basil that I believe is now
lost, and I know of a commercial grower whose Purple Ruffles basil mostly
came up with green spots this year.  The popular lavender cultivar
Munstead has been propagated by seed for years and is probably far
different from the original strain.  

To maintain the characteristics of the parents, cultivars of perennial
herbs should be vegetatively propagated.  Those grown commercially from
seed must be selected for varietal characteristics; seedlings that don't
measure up should be discarded.  Many annuals can be propagated from
cuttings, and some growers use this as a means of maintaining a variety.  

I feel that we, as gardeners, have a responsibility to try to preserve
"old-fashioned" plants, and I applaud seed foundations that are
establishing genetic seed banks for heirloom plants in an attempt to
perpetuate certain varieties so that we won't be left with an odd lot of
hybrid seedlings.  


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DESPERATELY SEEKING SEEDS??  

A careful harvest will often produce far more seeds of a particular plant
than one garden needs.  Somebody somewhere is sure to want those extra
seeds and might be able to repay the generosity with a few precious seeds
of a plant that you've been searching for.  A seed exchange group can help
make those connections.  

Seed swapping is an old idea that probably started between neighbors
chatting over the backyard fence.  Seed exchanges operate in much the same
informal way -- putting people in touch with one another so that they can
use what they have to get what they want.  They are generally grassroots
groups affiliated with local or regional gardening organizations and open
only to their members.  

Many of these exchanges are champions of biodiversity, preserving the
genetic heritage of heirloom and traditional seeds by the simple means of
passing them on.  

One of the largest of these groups, the Seed Savers Exchange, of Decorah,
Iowa, in recent years decided, for space reasons, to cut herbs and flowers
out of its annual listings of vegetables.  A separate exchange spun off,
this one devoted exclusively to flowers and herbs.  It's called the Flower
and Herb Exchange, 3076 N. Winn Road, Decorah, Iowa 52101.  

Membership, which costs $5 a year, includes an annual catalog with names,
addresses, and descriptions of available herb and flower seeds, cuttings,
and bulbs.  Members contact each other directly and include a small fee to
cover mailing costs.  The fee for a sample of seeds is slightly higher for
members who don't have seeds to trade.   

Several national magazines also publish seed exchange information as
reader services for their subscribers, and herbs are frequently found
among the offerings.  For example, National Gardening (180 Flynn Ave.,
Burlington, VT 05401) has a column in each issue for its seed-swapping
subscribers, as does Organic Gardening (Rodale Press, 33 E. Minor St.,
Emmaus, PA 18098).  

BackHome Magazine  
Fall 1993  
page  59  



ENSURING YOUR GARDEN'S FUTURE  
          by  Anita Evangelista   


Have you experienced the horror of "seed shock"?  That's the reaction of
many gardeners to the cost of vegetable seeds these days.  Whether you're
perusing catalogs or checking seed packs in a local store, prices for
these garden starters seem to have hit a new high.  Some I've noted: $2.19
for 1.5 grams of leek seed, $1.95 for 500 milligrams of zinnia seed, and
$2.45 for 20 seeds of winter squash.  At such rates, a pound of any type
of seed sells for several times the cost of an equal weight of .999 fine
silver!     

But don't despair; you can just about eliminate such expenses by obtaining
seed from your own plants.  Though some sources may lead you to believe
that access to the process is concealed in esoteric agricultural jargon,
saving seeds from year to year is as straightforward as gardening itself.
And not only will you save a bundle of hardearned cash next year, but
you'll also fill your garden with plants specifically adapted to your
region and growing methods.  What's more (as I'll tell you about shortly),
you'll be perpetuating a bit of living history.  

	SEED SAVING BASICS  

Begin next year's garden this year by selecting the plants that will
provide your seeds.  Pass by the hybrids, no matter how much you may
prefer these types of plants.  A hybrid is the product of a selective
crossing of two (or more) unrelated strains of a plant; say, a variety of
tomato that develops a thick, strong stem crossed with a type that
produces extra-large fruit.  The resulting F1 hybrid, or first-generation
cross, will display the best traits of both parent plants.  Hybrids are
generally more vigorous than either parent, a desirable characteristic.  

Seeds from these crossbreds, however, will not produce true to type.  The
new plants will "revert" to something like the parents, or possibly like
an ancestor of one or both of the parents.  In the case of tomatoes, the
seed of hybrid fruit often reverts to a cherry tomato-type plant.  

Instead, save seed only from open pollinated -OP- plant varieties.  The
OPs aren't as common in seed catalogs as they were a decade ago, but
they're frequently available in such old favorites as 'Golden Bantam' corn
and 'Rutgers' tomato.  OP seeds reproduce true to type year after year,
given a little help and wise guidance from their gardener.  

A few OP varieties are self-fertilizing, with individual flowers on the
plant providing their own genetic material.  Such plants include beans,
lettuce, peas, and tomatoes.  This means you can grow several varieties of
each - for example, Romano, Kentucky pole, and wax beans - in the same
garden, and the plants will not crossbreed.  

Other common OP plants produce seed through fertilization either by wind
or insects.  These include corn, beets, cabbages and other brassicas,
carrots, melons, cucumbers, radishes, spinach, squash, pumpkins, and
turnips.  For such types you have three options to prevent accidental
crossing.  You can plant only a single representative of the group; you
can stagger plantings so that seeds of crossable types mature at different
times; or you can hand-pollinate and hand-protect the individual plants
that have been selected to produce seeds.  

There is a fourth option that may appeal to the adventurous; letting
plants of a particular type cross freely.  For example, you could plant in
proximity two types of cucumber; an eight inch slicing variety and a tiny
gherkin.  The next year's harvest could be very disappointing, or you
could produce a truly desirable new vegetable.  

Keep only seeds from plants that have done particularly well in your
garden: those that are resistant to local insects and weather conditions
and that have the best-tasting fruit.  After several years of saving seeds
from your own "line", you will have developed plants that are uniquely and
individually adapted to your growing methods and region.  

Store saved seeds in glass jars and keep them in a freezer.  Make labels
for the different seeds, but keep these inside the jars; otherwise,
they'll fall off.  On the labels include the year of harvest and the
specific variety (i.e., 1993 'Longkeeper' tomato) and any interesting
traits of growth that might help you in the future.  

Seeds stored in freezing temperatures should remain viable for several
years.  It's not unusual, though, to find that only half a batch of home-
collected seeds will grow, so always keep more than you expect to need.
It's a good practice to plant at least some of your stored seed every
year, to keep supplies fresh.  But never plant all the seed of one type;
if the crop fails, you won't have any to fall back on.  

Generally, vegetables are harvested at peak condition; in doing so, the
seeds-to-be -- as fruit -- are removed before they are ready for saving.
When saving fruit for seed, you need to allow it to reach its ripest
condition before picking it.  The optimum conditions for saving the seed
of both annuals (plants that produce seed during the first year) and
biennials (plants that require two years growth to produce seeds) are
given below.  

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		ANNUALS     
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BEANS:  Pick freely from your plants until later in the season (leaving
ripe beans on the vines early on may cause production to stop).  Let the
last pods dry while they're still hanging on the plants.  If the weather
is too damp and the seeds begin to mildew, pull the entire plants by the
roots and hang them upside down in a sheltered area until the pods are
completely dry.  Crack out the seeds, and store them in glass jars with
tight lids.  Some folks add a bay leaf per jar to repel bugs.  

CORN:  Plant only a single variety, or stagger plantings so that the
varieties mature at different times.  Serious corn growers advocate saving
seeds from no less than 100 ears, so that a number of different plants are
represented in your genetic seed stocks.  But it's better to save seed
from just a few ears than to not save any at all.  Select only cobs that
represent the best or your corn: hardy plants, strong and upright in the
wind, ears filled out, little or no insect damage, husky kernels.  Let the
corn dry in the husk on the plant; bring it indoors before the weather
turns damp.  Remove the husks and hang the cobs to dry until the kernels
are slightly loose.  Shell them, and store them.  

CANTALOUPES:  There are many varieties of these aromatic melons, including
the familiar orange-fleshed supermarket type, green-fleshed supermarket
type, green-fleshed muskmelons, and even a small, hardy indigenous North
American sort called "mango melon" or "vine peach".  These all cross
freely.  (See the section on pumpkins for information on hand-pollination)
Select several early fruits to eat from these plants.  Remove the seeds,
rinse them, and dry them on a plate before storing them.  

CUCUMBERS:  If you have several plants, save seeds from the first fruit on
one and the last fruit from another.  If you have just one plant, you'll
have to save seed from the last fruits, for if the cukes aren't picked,
the plant will stop fruiting.  Let a couple of large, healthy cukes remain
on the vine until the fruit has turned a golden color.  Peel and mash the
whole cucumbers.  Cover them with water, and let this stand at room
temperature for several days; it will become pretty smelly.  Pour off the
liquid as well as the goo floating in the water.  Viable seeds will have
settled to the bottom of the container.  Spread the seeds on a plate to
dry before storing them.  

PEAS:  Treat the same as beans.  

PUMPKINS, and WINTER and SUMMER SQUASH:  These all come from four species
of the _Cucurbita_ genus.  Crossing within species is possible, so you
should plant only one variety from each one.  _Cucurbita_Pepo_ includes
acorn, cocozelle, crookneck, and scallop squash, pumpkins, and zucchini.
_C._Maxima_ includes banana, Hubbard, buttercup, and turban squash.
_C._Moschata_ covers butternut and "cheese" squash.  And _C._Mixta_
includes cushaws.  So you could confidently plant an acorn squash, a
Hubbard squash, and a butternut squash without any crossing.  

Suppose you want to grow pumpkins and zucchini, both members of _C._Pepo_.
Then what?  You could separate the plantings by several hundred feet,
which will slow down pollinating insects.  Or you could hand-pollinate
female flowers.  To do this you detach a male flower (it will have a
slender base), and carefully tear away the flower "petals" so that only
the long anthers and stem remain.  Swab this across the newly opened
female flower (with the tiny fruit at the base), to distribute pollen.
Use several male flowers on each female.  Gently tape the female flower
shut, and you're done.  

If the _Cucurbita_ species cross and produce fruit, the results will be
perfectly edible and often quite interesting.  

POTATOES:  
SEED STORAGE
 
     Are those seeds any good which you had left over after
planting your garden last spring?  Most packets now cost 25
cents or more, compared to a dime only a few years ago. So, it
would be a nice saving if you could plant this spring those
which you did not use last year.
     Many kinds of garden seeds remain viable for several years.
Therefore, check your supply carefully before you make out your
new order.
     The germination percentage you secure from old seeds
depends in part on the conditions under which they are stored.
The best way to keep most seeds from year to year is in a tight
jar in your home refrigerator. We appreciate that such space
usually is not available.
     The second choice is to store your seeds in a tight con-
tainer in a cool basement. Seeds may lose viability quite
rapidly in the warm temperatures of the average home.
     In general, garden seeds may be divided into three groups,
in terms of their longevity. Short life span seeds should give
satisfactory germination for one or two years. Medium life span
seeds usually will remain viable for three or four years. Long
life seeds should grow after storage of five to six years and
sometimes longer.
     Accurate information on the longevity of flower seeds is
hard to find. Based on limited observations, the following
should be considered as short ife span seeds:  astor, candytuft,
cleome, columbine, honesty, kochia, phlox, salvia, strawflower,
and vinca.
     Some of the more common flowers with long life seeds are
alyssum, calendula, centaurea, coreopsis, cosmos, marigold,
nasturtium, nigella, petunia, salpiglossis, scabiosa,
schizanthus, sweet pea, verbena, viola, and zinnia.
     Most vegetable seeds have rather long life, but there are a
few important exceptions. For example, corn, leek, onion, and
parsnip seeds have short life spans. Those with medium longevity
include beans, beet, carrot, Swiss chard, mustard, pepper,
pumpkin, and tomato. The seeds of other commonly grown vege-
tables will usually grow quite well even when five or more years
old.
     You may test the germination of your seeds by placing a
definite number on moist blotter paper in a dish or pan covered
with plastic or glass to maintain a high humidity. Place your
seed containers in a warm location and count those which germi-
nate in 10 to 14 days. From these figures you can easily deter-
mine the percentage germination and adjust the thickenss of
planting accordingly.
     Plant your old seeds more thickly than you do fresh ones. If
the seeds are at or beyond the above suggested ages, plant
them about twice as thick as usual. Scatter them in a band in
the row rather than in a narrow dense line.
 
 

 LL>  1) Is it OK to store tomato and pepper seeds in the freezer?

It is, provided the seeds are first DRIED to about 8% moisture content and
then are sealed in an airtight container - e.g., a glass jar for canning
purposes (with a screw-on metal lid) and a rubber gasket between the jar's
rim and the lid.

The best set of DETAILED directions for saving vegetable seeds are in the
1991 book _Seed to Seed_ by Suzanne Ashworth (ISBN 0-9613977-7-2)
published by the Seed Savers Exchange. It's a 222-page, 8 1/2 x 11-inch
in size and is $20. You can get it from the Seed Savers Exchange, Route 3,
Box 239, Decorah, Iowa 52101 or Pinetree Garden Seeds, Box 300, New
Gloucester, ME 04260, 207-926-3400.

 LL>  2) Where does one buy dessicant to put in seed storage containers
 LL>     to absorb moisture and prevent mold?

Your best bet will be a color-indicating desiccant like silica gel. You
can purchase it by mail-order either from the SOUTHERN EXPOSURE SEED
EXCHANGE, P.O. Box 158, North Garden, VA 22959, 804-973-4703 (orders
only!!) or TERRITORIAL SEED COMPANY, 20 Palmer Ave., Cottage Grove, OR
97424, 503-942-9547 (orders only!!). I suggest you first try to buy some
locally from a chemical supply dealer first. Mail-order shipping rates on
this item usually tends to be rather high.

 LL>  * Forwarded from "Herbs-n-Such"  * Originally by Steve V.
 LL> Johnson  * Originally to All  * Originally dated 17 Jan 1993,
 LL> 11:24
 LL>  I have heard that there is a "seed bank" somewhere to promote
 LL> the use and preservation of plants native to north america,
 LL> which does sales and trading of these native resources...
 LL> I also have five acres of natural wooded habitat in southern
 LL> Indiana in which I whould like to re-install some native species.
 LL>
 LL>  Can anyone help to put me in touch with a native seeds network
 LL> or seed bank?

One such place is:

Native Seeds/SEARCH  2509 N. Campbell Ave. #325, Tucson, AZ (What, no zip?)

They specialize in SW seeds, so they may not be the source you are looking for.
However, I be they could point you in the right direction.

Try also: See Savers Exchange, R.R. 3, box 239, Decorah, Iowa 52101 (Ask for a
copy of their free brochure and enclose a stamped, self-addressed long envelope)
 
