Saving Heirloom Seeds

I have saved my tomatoes this way  for years and then read an article a few years back that went into a-lot of detail about harvesting the seeds, soaking them in water for days, fermenting them and then pouring off the smelly, moldy water and finally drying them thoroughly before storing them.  I'm glad I didn't know the correct process all these years  I may have decided it was just to much trouble  and never saved my seeds!

Below are tomato seeds  saved from an heirloom variety.  Harvest the first fruit to mature as long as it is of superior quality so you will be progressively bettering the variety.  I like to write the date on the paper towel so I know when it matured.







This is the way I save my Heirloom tomato seeds.

Woops I didn't write the date or kind on these.

I will just have to wait and see what kind they are!

  Get a paper towel , smoosh the seeds in a thin layer over the towel.  Now this is the most important part.  Grab a pen and write what kind of seed and the variety on the towel before you forget!  When the seeds are completely dry I store them in baggies according to vegetable variety and keep in the fridge.  Seeds from eggplant and peppers can be harvested this way also.

To plant, tear of a section of the paper towel, plant the towel and seeds under 1/4 inch of soil.  The paper towel will dissolve.  Transplant tomato seedlings into individual containers or pots when they are about 1-2 inches tall.

I harvest winter squash in the same manner.


When I harvest seeds from lettuce, spinach, arugula, or other greens I allow the plants that are the slowest to bolt to go to seed and harvest them.  This helps establish plants that will preform for longer periods of time.

Arugula Seeds

gather seeds from lettuce when the tops of the blossoms are dry and fluffy