Seed Saving 2025

General Gardening
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At this point, I have a lot of seeds that I bought, but only bean, peppers and maybe some squash seed that I saved from last year. I am trying to devote a lot more energy into saving seeds and plant material from now on, so I thought that I would start a thread to talk about “all things seed saving” for 2025.

In order for me to really do a good job, I have determined that I am going to need a full “seed saving center set-up”. I am not going to just throw the seeds on a plate on the counter to dry and forget about them. They have gotten thrown away by accident in the past (by my children, while cleaning the kitchen) using that method.

I am putting together an inexpensive little set up that will fit in the corner of my dining room.

Here’s my plan:
This shelving unit to dry the seeds -

Dedicated mesh strainers for wet seed -
https://www.dollartree.com/mesh-strainer-35n/275709?Ntt=fine%20mesh%20strainer

Envelopes - will have a variety -
https://www.dollartree.com/mead-6-security-envelopes-80ct-boxes/689422
(Interestingly enough, there used to be 80 in this box and they never changed the link name, they just changed the pic and description. They got hit with shrikflation.)

I will dry them on ceramic plates dedicated to this set up bought from the thrift store/yard sale or if I can get them for free, all the better.

I usually just write the seed variety on the drying plate with a marker. I have markers that I can dedicate to this set up, so that won’t cost anything extra.

I think my set up will run me about $25 overall, which is a pretty low investment for something that could end up saving me thousands of dollars over the years. I didn’t order the shelf yet, because I wanted to wait to see if others had less expensive ideas.

For my hot peppers, I will string as usual. Beans will dry on the stem, as usual. Tomato seeds, I haven’t really saved before, but I understand the process and it doesn’t seem difficult at all. I really want to isolate a few tried and true varieties that we like and select for qualities that we like.

Anyway, I’ll stop there. Any other ideas as far as set up goes? How do you like to save your seeds?

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Following this with interest, as I’ve been thinking that my seed saving could be more streamlined. I’m thinking of tightly spaced shelving where I can slide low cardboard trays. I save these trays in various sizes that come with packaging of various things, and find they are perfect for stashing seeds or herbs I need to dry. My climate is on the dry side tho. Might be a moldy situation in a more humid climate.

I’m curious about using screens. I usually hand-pick my way thru seeds, which is very inefficient.

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I like the thought of using recycled materials such as boxes that you saved. Are you going to be using them to dry the seeds or for seed storage?

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Maybe in the expensive side, but, have you thought about an old letterpress cabinet?

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Those are beautiful cabinets, but I would be concerned about airflow, if you are talking about using it for drying seeds. As for long term storage, I put mine in the freezer or fridge, depending on the seed.

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Sorry, I was thinking only about storage

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No worries, all ideas are welcome. :slight_smile:

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For drying the seeds. I’ve used this a lot for lettuce in the past.

I have cardboard boxes filed with seed envelopes stashed in my closet. I’ve been wondering about storing seeds in the freezer instead!

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Since I didn’t receive any other ideas for a seed saving center that were less expensive than what I had come up with, I went ahead and ordered the shoe rack and it should be here on Sunday.

@MaracujA have you decided on what you will use to dry your seeds?

@Professor_Porcupine what seeds are you planning on saving this year?

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I’ve been so focused on starting plants in a new greenhouse setup (lots to figure out lol), that I haven’t really made any progress in my thinking here.

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@FarmGirl-Z6A Grocery Store and Wild Foraging, altho it really isn’t much of a plan.

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I mean do you have certain seeds that you would like to save this year?

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I’m confused, what do you mean?
I like to save every seed that taste good or could provide useful genetics.

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Some people have specific seeds they are interested in saving, for example, maybe the person really likes melon, and they have a goal of saving all the yellow melon seeds they can.

However, you seem to be saying that you don’t really have any goals, you will just save any seed if you like the fruit it came from. That’s fair.

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I recently heard Emigdio Ballon speak about the establishment of the Tesuque Pueblo Farm seed bank. He might be open to sharing advice.

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Thanks for the links. That was a great article. I especially appreciated what the elder said here:

“Ballon believes local agricultural independence is the best way to foster and ensure global food security. “We should have a small collection of seeds in every community,” he says, “because tomorrow might be a problem. We need to start asking, ‘How are people going to survive?’ ‘What is our food future?’ ‘What happens when we go to the grocery store and the shelves are empty?’” The answer, he says, is in the seeds we save.”

I totally agree, which is why I have been slowly trying to do better, but this year, I don’t plan to move slowly any more. :slight_smile:

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Let us know how the shoe rack works out for drying seeds!

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Oh I see, you mean what kinds of Seeds I plan to save when I get land to grow them on?

Well that would be too many to list Squash, Melons, Peppers, Tomatoes, Brassicas, Beets, Tree Crops, Wild Edibles, just to name a few. It’s~120 different Crops species I’ve captured enough diversity to start doing Good Breeding Work with.

Saving Seed & Plant Breeding for me is the exact same activity. All my Plant Breeding Goals boil down to

  1. Adaptability : How well my plants adapt to my Soils, Pest/Diseases, Water cycle, Enviroment, Gardening Style & Habbits.
  2. Taste/Flavor : Improve Flavor of my plants + Remove/Reduce any bad Flavors/Toxcity. Make the Best Tasting Food Possible, exactly to my Liking & Taste buds.
  3. Yield/Ease of Harvest : How much Food Value Yeild can my plants generate & how easy can I make the Harvest.

These 3 literally apply to all the Crop Species I want to save seeds for. Not sure if you’d call that a plan as I have no Land. If Research & Seed Saving counts as part of a plan than yes.

The first Crop species I plan to redomesticate is Squash as I have enough diversity for all 5 cultivated species, Knowledge on how to make Interspecies Hybirds & plans to cross them all into a Landrace.

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My little seed saving station is set up for the most part. I reinforced the flimsy cloth shelves with duck tape and I think it should work great.

The box has envelopes, markers, pens, etc. in it. I might glue some extra seeds to the outside for decoration at the end of the season.

I am planning to go to the thrift store to try to find some used Corelle plates to dry the seeds on. They should be pretty easy to find.

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I like the sign.

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