A Seed-Saving Story

A Seed-Saving Story

By Debbie Innes, Master Gardener

(Reprinted with permission from The Prairie Garden 2025)

My education in gardening and seed saving began at my grandmother’s feet. She lived 30 minutes away, so I had the good fortune to see her often. She made her summertime living growing plants to be sold from her 70-foot greenhouse. My grandparents ran a u-pick garden in the early days at their place on the banks of the Souris River, where they grew mostly corn and tomatoes for sale. The family plot had all the things you could easily grow and preserve, as well as fresh greens and fruit-bearing shrubs and strawberries too. She preserved everything she possibly could and baked bread in her wood-burning stove, so I learned some of that as well.

I followed her around to the many gardens and watched her pick and gather seeds as she went. She would fill her pockets with seeds to be sorted later into envelopes or whatever was handy. As a mother of ten, she had no time to waste. From her, I learned that there are seeds worth saving and some that aren’t.

Open-pollinated plants

You will only want to save seed from open-pollinated plants. Open pollinated means plants that are grown to produce fruit and seeds and are allowed to breed freely by natural means. This includes pollination by bees, butterflies, humans, birds, wind, and other insects. The result is a more genetically diverse plant, which can also result in more variation among the plant offspring.

Open-pollinated plants are your best bet for seed saving and replanting year after year. This is only if cross-pollination has not occurred between different varieties of the same kind of plant. An example of this is the squash family of plants (curcurbita). Pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, and other squash types will all cross-pollinate. Some very oddball fruit can result unless you can give some separation between the plants.

Hybrids

A hybrid plant is created when pollination is controlled, and two different varieties are cross-bred. This is to select for certain attributes, for example, natural disease resistance or productivity. Hybrid seeds often include “F1” in their names, which stands for filial 1, “first children”; the first generation resulting from the cross.

Heirloom plants often have a history of 50 or more years and can be either open-pollinated or self-pollinating. Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicon) can be self-pollinating. An heirloom has a story behind it, and it has been passed down through a family or community.

An example of this is my Amish paste tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum). It was passed to me by a neighbour who grew it every year with great success. It is a Roma type, with robust vines and large fruit. There is some variation in the fruit, as some are the typical roma shape and some are more ox-heart in shape. The flavour is consistently sweet and delicious. It’s a great canning tomato as it skins easily and has only a few seeds.

Another favourite tomato is pink Berkley Tye Dye (Solanum lycopersicum ‘Berkeley Tie Dye Pink’). As the name implies, it is striped red, pink, and green in colour, also consistent in shape, and tastes amazing. It is a variety developed by Brad Gates ‘The Tomato Guy’ from California. I have saved seed from this open-pollinated variety and will grow it again this year.

Here’s a seed collection help that my grandmother used: Put a tomato in a jar, add a little water and let it begin to break down. Fermenting the tomato seeds will help remove the coating the seeds have. The coating is a natural plant defence to keep the seeds from sprouting inside the tomato.

We save Purple Peacock heirloom beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and a black Hungarian pepper. The beans grow to eight feet and produce enough beans to feed two for a whole year. I’m able to make several batches of salsa with the peppers, and I sometimes use them decoratively, too.

Saving seeds and growing your own food is empowering, and it makes a lot of sense. The cost of both seed and produce is on the rise.

We finished our last carrot in storage in the fridge in March and onions were still around for a few extra weeks. Many beans, tomatoes, apples, and more are in the freezer; they will available around the calendar year and some beyond that. I should note here that I don’t save seed for onions and carrots at this point, as I grow for specific traits—i.e, large carrots and onions. Seeds for these are hybrids and, after the first year, the product might vary too much. But I understand that it is easy and something I might look into.

My Grandmother always found room for flowers and included many in her garden. She collected seed from many of the following common and non-native annual varieties and grew them every year: calendulas (Officinalis), cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus), batchelor buttons (Centaurea cyanus), morning glories (Ipomoea), sunflowers (Helianthus), snapdragons (Antirrhinum), gloriosa daisy, (Rudbeckia hirta), poppies (Papaver), larkspur (Consolida), and marigolds (Tagetes). All of these have some interest to pollinators.

The real pollinator magnets are the native flowers and some grasses, and I have saved many native seeds. The pollinators are better adapted to take pollen and nectar from these plants, and some are specific nectar and food sources for them. An example is the milkweeds (Asclepias) for monarchs. The nectar of some cultivars is not accessible to our pollinators. It’s so rewarding to grow some and watch the pollinators come.

I am also keenly interested in the art of Floral Design and help teach and coordinate classes. I find it rewarding to grow my own cut flowers and save seeds.

This year, I’m growing a couple of new old varieties, namely white Wedding Asters (Callistephus chinensis) and annual Lupines (Lupinus) with great success. I’m hoping to save seed from these to grow another year. I save seed from perennials that are cut flower material. I’ve grown many types of mums, ie ‘daisy’, lupines, delphiniums, dianthus/carnations, and more. This is also a huge saving if starting a new garden bed.

Over the years, I have purchased seed from faraway places, like the Chelsea Flower Show, Verbascum, Agrapathus ‘Blue Lily of the Nile’ and Big Blue pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima ‘Queensland Blue) from Australia. I have not seen any of these available locally. The flower stalks of Verbascum are a metre tall and very unique. The bees love it, too. I will save the seed this year, so it is not lost to me.

You also have the option in some cases to grow a specific colour of flowering plant, whereas the local greenhouses may only sell mixed colours.

This year I’m growing mostly blue or yellow, a good cut flower or pot plant. My list for blue flowers are: browalia, nigella (nigella papillosa ‘Midnight’ and n. damascena  ‘Persian Jewels’, morning glories (Convolvulus tricolor ‘Blue Enchantment’), petunia (Petunia grandiflora pendula ‘Blue Morn’), honey wort (Cerithe ‘Kiwi Blue’), and blue lace flower (Trachymene coerulea). Native blues are Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata), Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) and Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia Virginica)—just to name a few.

All are seed-saving candidates, except the petunias, I think.

Now, when to pick the seed? The flowers need to be left on the plant until the seed head is completely dry, brown, and with brittle stems and flower heads. You should pick the flower heads or carefully remove the flower center and put them into a paper envelope or bag. If you can isolate the seed from the fluff, then so much the better. I especially want to do this with milkweed, as its large fluff takes up space and is also difficult to contain. This fluff makes seeding and storage more difficult. This can be done easily with milkweed if you open the seed capsule slowly from one side and flick out the seeds as you hold the top of the capsule. Rubbing the seed between your fingers can work as well.

My grandmother would repurpose envelopes, pill bottles, jars, or small bags. I sometimes make up fancier seed envelopes that I give away at talks and events (see picture). I try to use previously owned materials as my grandmother has done. I discovered that empty CD envelopes have a clear window that you can see the seed through and I can use them year after year.

I save foil pie plates or other trays for drying other seeds such as beans, tomatoes, sometimes squash, and sometimes flowers. I bundle stems of flowers and seed heads and hang them from wire coat hangers. All my seeds are stored in a room downstairs. It is dark, dry, and cool. All are ideal for saved seeds.

The story continues… what will be a success this year? Or will it be better luck next year? One thing is for certain: I will always have seeds that I can plant and make a feast for the eyes. I hope you will try saving and growing some seeds.