What Seeds are You Saving?

[TEG Project Manager]

We know that the heirloom bean gardeners are saving bean seed. It is a great big part of what motivates their gardening, what interests them.

What else? What seed are you saving this week or soon?

I realized that saving pea seed this month has interfered with my habit of sowing a fall crop of snow peas in the final week of July. My intention is to use the same piece of ground where some Mammoth Melting have been maturing seed for another sowing of Oregon Sugar Pod. Should be able to pull those vines and do that sowing, tomorrow ... in August!

Today, I will make a list of varieties that require fresh seed from the tomato patch this year.

Steve

Great ideas in this thread! Congrats on getting featured on our homepage!

 

[ducks4you]

I brought in and saved some marigold seeds last week.

 

[MinnesotaGardening]

I'm a bit limited in my options at the moment, but that wont stop me! I'm attempting to save amaryllis seeds. I cross pollinated a couple of varieties and am looking forward to the long process of seeing what that can produce.

 

[flowerbug]

I'm a bit limited in my options at the moment, but that wont stop me! I'm attempting to save amaryllis seeds. I cross pollinated a couple of varieties and am looking forward to the long process of seeing what that can produce.

i hand pollinated mine here too some years ago just to see what the seeds look like. they remind me a lot of the tulip seeds but much bigger. very light weight, black, i never planted them because the cross pollen source was the same plant and i had no extra room to grow them out.

 

[MinnesotaGardening]

i hand pollinated mine here too some years ago just to see what the seeds look like. they remind me a lot of the tulip seeds but much bigger. very light weight, black, i never planted them because the cross pollen source was the same plant and i had no extra room to grow them out.

I actually read that most cultivars (not 100% sure I'm using that term correctly for amaryllis) are hybrids, so pollination on the same plant can still produce a variety of results. But I'm quite far from an expert. The room concern might be an issue, but I figure they can be a little crowded, we'll see how that goes.

 

[ducks4you]

@MinnesotaGardening, you are very brave! That's a LOT of work!!
Let us know how it turns out.
Isn't it nice that nobody can tells us how to run our on gardens!!!!!

 

[flowerbug]

if anyone wants seeds from my flowers this year to play with i can do some hand pollination to get more. it wasn't tough at all to do. they were so cute!

just be aware that it takes a long time to grow them from seeds to flowering size. i would guess 5-7yrs. perhaps the short end for people further south who get warmer and longer seasons. dunno. i'm not familiar with how they grow down there...

like @MinnesotaGardening i'm no expert either. i've just been growing the same ones for about 18yrs.

 

[Prairie Rose]

I actually threw away most of my saved seeds a few years ago, because moisture had gotten into the jars and nothing germinated when I tested. Some of them were more than ten years old too.

Usually I save seeds from my favorite peas, beans, and tomatoes, as well as some radishes and herbs, but since switching to raised beds I need to educate myself again on how likely my plants are to crossbreed in such a small space.

I have a calendula mix I love and will probably try to save seeds for this year, as well as a certain kind of green bean seed that my mother grew for decades and hasn't been able to find. We have been trying for years to find a variety of white half runner beans that tastes the way she remembers. I have two new strains to try, and if one of them passes the taste test I will save those as well.

The only thing I will miss from throwing those seeds away is a tomato my aunt sent me. Potato leaf, fruit as big as a brandywine with a rich yellow-orange color and very good flavor. The writing was too faded for me to make out the variety name, but it was Gold something or other. I will have to scour the internet to see if I can find it again.

I like saving seeds so I don't have to buy my favorite plants over and over again, but I also like starting over and trying new things, because how will I find new favorites if I never plant anything new?

 

[MinnesotaGardening]

i've just been growing the same ones for about 18yrs.

Eighteen years! Wow, I'm thoroughly impressed! I hope some day I can say that about my plants.

Like I tell people who ask about the long wait time until some plants mature - X-number of years will pass no matter what. And at the end of that time, I'd like to have the slow plants rather than nothing!

 

[MinnesotaGardening]

@MinnesotaGardening, you are very brave! That's a LOT of work!!
Let us know how it turns out.
Isn't it nice that nobody can tells us how to run our on gardens!!!!!

Yes it is! And the line between brave and foolhardy is a narrow one..