Poor Man
Survival
Self
Reliance tools for independent minded people…
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A Digest of Urban Survival Resources
Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden.
- Orson Scott Card
- Orson Scott Card
Having your own garden is an
important and valuable step in increasing your self-reliance.
If
you’ve taking that a step further, as we’ve suggested, and begun using heirloom seeds in your garden, that's even
better. Now, as your first harvests are beginning to come in, is the time to
begin saving seeds for the next season.
That’s
one of the beautiful things about heirloom seeds. A single heirloom plant now
can grow your garden for years—or even generations—to come.
Seed
harvesting is easy … as long as you know what to do with each of your heirloom
plants.
For
the most part, seeds fall into three categories: wet, dry, and flowering. If
you know how to harvest seeds from each category, you’ll be pretty well set to make
the very most of your heirloom garden year over year.
Harvesting
Heirloom Seeds: Step-by-Step
So, let’s get started.
First
there are wet seeds. These come from some of the most popular plants like
tomatoes and cucumbers. In these plants, the seeds grow inside the fruit or
vegetable. Often, you eat the seeds (though not always). And when you remove
the seeds, you get a lot of pulp with them.
To
harvest wet seeds:
- Pick a healthy, ripe specimen of the fruit or vegetable.
- Slice it in half. (For tomatoes, slice in half at the
equator.) Gently squeeze or scoop out the seeds. Leave as much of the
heartiest part of the vegetable behind as possible.
- Put what you scoop out into a glass jar, and add water
to cover the seeds.
- Cover the jar, but not with an airtight seal.
- Place the jar in a warm location. You want it to be
between 60 and 70 degrees.
- Stir the contents once a day. You may notice a fungus
growing in the jar. Don’t worry. This is a good thing. It helps make your
seeds more disease resistant.
- Allow the seeds to sit for a while—three days for
tomatoes, two days for eggplant and cumbers, a day and half for squash.
Then, fill the jar with warm water and swirl it gently.
That’s
one of the beautiful things about heirloom seeds. A single heirloom plant now
can grow your garden for years—or even generations—to come.
Seed
harvesting is easy … as long as you know what to do with each of your heirloom
plants.
For
the most part, seeds fall into three categories: wet, dry, and flowering. If
you know how to harvest seeds from each category, you’ll be pretty well set to
make the very most of your heirloom garden year over year.
- Allow it to rest for a moment. Viable seeds will sink to
the bottom.
- Carefully pour off the water, pulp bits and seeds that
have floated to the top.
- Rinse the viable seeds so they are clean. Place them on
a paper towel and allow them to dry completely.
- Store the seeds in a plastic bag for the next year. (Don’t
forget to label it!)
This
process works for tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, most melons, and many types
of squash.
Many
other types of plants produce dry seeds. These seeds are often within pods,
like peas and beans. But for other plants, the seeds grow within the
vegetable--the difference from wet seeds is that they are easy to separate from
the plant without getting a bunch of pulp in the process.
To harvest dry seeds if they grow
in pods:
- Allow several pods to continue growing on the plants
until they dry out and become husks … usually about six weeks after the
actual harvest is complete.
- Pick the dried pods.
- Gently crumble the husks from the seeds.
- Store the seeds in labeled, plastic bags.
To harvest dry seeds from
vegetables like peppers:
- Select a healthy, mature specimen.
- Cut it open and gently remove the seeds.
- Put the seeds into a bowl of water.
- Skim off the seeds that float and discard—they are bad
seeds.
- Gently pour away the water. Save the seeds that sank to
the bottom.
- Allow the saved seeds to dry completely on paper towels.
- Store them in labeled, plastic bags for the following
season.
Some
plants, like lettuce don’t produce seeds within the edible parts of the plants.
Instead, these plants have to flower and go to seed. This is true for lettuces,
carrots, and radishes, just to name a few.
To harvest seeds from flowers:
- Select two or three plants to save for seed harvesting
rather than eating.
- Allow those plants to bolt and flower. The flowers will
form a seed head.
- Cut the seed head from the plant, preserving as much
stem as possible.
- Hang seed heads to dry upside down over a container to
catch seeds as they drop.
- Allow the seed heads to dry for two or three weeks
- Gently shake any remaining seeds from dried heads into
containers.
- Place the seeds in plastic bags, label, and store for
the coming season.
Harvesting
your own seeds is a rewarding and smart way to ensure that you have some
insulation from our fragile food supply system. Seeds you save will actually
remain viable for up to eight years when stored in a cool, dark place.
Seed
saving is also a great way to add healthy, nutritious and tasty food to you
diet for years and years to come!
Other
useful gems for living…
Find DIY and Homemade ideas here:
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Yours in freedom,
Bruce ‘the Poor Man’
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