Our Homestead

Seeds need to come from heirloom plants.
This past season, I had a vegetable that looked exactly like a butternut squash but it had the color of a zucchini.

Especially anything in the cucumber family needs to be heirloom. If not, you know which seeds you put in the ground but you won't know what will grow out of them.

I mostly recycle my seeds. Here are some tips:

Tomatoes: Don't bother. Some tomatoes will drop on the ground, they will grow "wild" plants the next year. Dig them up and plant them like you would any other tomato plant. Nature has done the work for you.


Peppers: Very easy. Just save the seeds in an open bucket. Cover when completely dry.


Radish: Let some radish plants go into seed. They will start to flower and the flowers will turn into pods. Once the pods are dry, pick them and take the seeds out.


Peas: Let some pods dry on the vines. Pick when completely dry.


Beans: Let some beans dry on the bushes. Pick when completely dry.

Pumpkins: When you cut the pumpkin, wash and dry the seeds. You need to wash them real well because they get a bit sticky.

Broccoli: Let the broccoli flower, it will get yellow flowers. Once the flowers are done blooming, they will form what looks like little spikes. Keep these spikes on the plant until the look completely dry (usually a month or more), then pick them. The seeds are inside.

Cilantro: The easiest one ever.. let it go into seed, it will form small white flowers that turn into pretty big round seeds. Harvest when seeds are dry, or you can leave them on the plant and they will reseed themselves the next year.

Parsley: Let it go into seed, it will make flowers, When the flowers dry, you see the seeds and can pick them.