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Garden Advice, Seed Saving

Beginners Guide to Seed Saving

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Southern Exposure strives to promote everyone’s right to save seed. We know that many backyard gardeners don’t have the time, space, or desire to save all of their own seeds, but we love seeing gardeners try to tend a variety or two. The pandemic further reinforced just how important seed saving is. We saw a surge in sales, especially of staple crops like corn and beans. Seed saving is easier than you think! Follow this beginner’s guide to seed saving to get started saving your favorite varieties.

Selecting Varieties 

If you’re going to save seed, it’s essential to save it from the right plants! Hybrid plants are the first-generation crosses of two different parents. If you try to save seed from these crops, it probably won’t be true to type, meaning that the plants may be different in appearance, flavor, or other characteristics than that hybrid you grew.

Open-pollinated

Open-pollinated varieties are the crops you want for seed saving. These stable varieties have been bred to produce the same crop year after year reliably. You may notice that some open-pollinated seeds are listed as heirlooms. 

Heirloom

The word ‘heirloom’ does not have a strict definition, but it’s generally used to reference open-pollinated varieties that have been passed down from generation to generation. Southern Exposure considers varieties to be heirlooms if they were bred before 1940. 

Planning Your Garden

If you’re a small gardener hoping to save a few seeds this fall, you don’t necessarily need to have done any special planning. However, planning a garden for seed saving will improve your success.

Isolation Distances

When preserving varieties, you need to prevent them from crossing. You probably know that an Amish Paste Tomato could cross with a Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter Tomato, but there’s more to it than that. Plants in the same family can also cross. Cabbages for instance, could cross with broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, and other crops in the brassica family.

Crops need to be isolated to maintain varieties. Isolation can be achieved by distance or succession planting so that the crops aren’t blooming simultaneously. You can find isolation distances for different crops here.

Seed growers may also achieve isolation by covering blooms with bags and hand pollinating or growing in high tunnels. 

Population Size

Diversity is key! To maintain genetic vigor, you need a large enough population to preserve genetic diversity. Saving seed from a single pepper plant may be fine for a year or two, but it isn’t a good long-term idea.

Learn more about garden planning for seed saving with this fantastic post from SESE seed grower Debbie Piesen of Living Energy Farm.

Garden Planning for Seed Saving

What to Look for When Saving Seed

When you save seed, you’re determining the next generations of that crop’s characteristics to an extent. Generally, if you’re trying to maintain a variety, you want to save seeds from those plants that display the typical characteristics of that variety or are true-to-type. 

However, you may also want to select for certain characteristics. For example, you may want to save seed from tomato plants that displayed the highest resistance to late blight. 

There are several characteristics you can select for, including:

  • Trueness-to-Type
  • Earliness
  • Vigor
  • Cold Hardiness
  • Color
  • Stockiness
  • Drought Tolerance
  • Disease or Pest Resistance
  • Lateness to Bolt
  • Flavor
  • Uniformity or Lack of It
  • Size & Shape
  • Storage Ability
  • Productivity

Consider marking certain plants you know have some of the desired characteristics. That way, you can be sure you’re gathering from the correct plants when it’s time to harvest seed. 

Seed Saving from Annuals

Many of the crops we save seed from are annuals. Their life cycle takes place during a single season. They start as a seed in the spring and produce seed by fall. 

These are excellent choices for beginner seed savers. They include squash, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, peas, basil, and more. 

Harvesting

When harvesting for seed saving, remember that some crops will need to mature beyond what you would typically allow for eating. For example, cucumbers should be fat and yellow, jalapeños should be red, and sweet corn should be dry and hard. 

Fermenting Seed

Some seeds have a gelatinous coating that you’ll need to remove before drying and storage. In the wild, this coating will help preserve the seed and temporarily inhibits germination as it lies on the ground until the following spring. In a garden setting, we want this coating gone before planting. Crops with this coating include:

  • Cucumbers
  • Tomatoes
  • Squash

To remove this coating, place your seeds into a jar or container and cover them with water. The containers need airflow, so don’t put a lid on. However, you can cover them with a cloth or coffee filter and a rubber band to keep out fruit flies. 

 Let this mixture ferment for three days, stirring it once a day. It’s okay if you notice some mold growing on top. After three days, add more water and stir the mixture again. The viable seeds will sink while the pulp and bad seeds will float, and you can pour them off the top. Drain your viable seeds.

Drying Seed

No matter what type of seed you harvest, you want to ensure it’s fully dry before storing it. The seed should be dry and brittle. Larger seeds, like pumpkin seeds, should snap when you bend them, not flex. Smaller seeds should crush under pressure instead of flexing.

After adding your seeds to a container, check it regularly for the first week or two. If you notice any condensation inside the jar or other signs of moisture, remove your seeds and dry them further. 

Biennials

Biennial crops require two growing seasons to reach maturity and produce seed. They need to go through a cold period called vernalization to produce seed. These include beets, Swiss chard, bulb onions, cabbage, collards, Brussels sprouts, kale, broccoli, carrots, turnips, and others.

Many biennial crops can survive temperatures into the 20°Fs. In parts of the south, you can easily overwinter them. However, further north or in the mountains, they may need heavy mulch or season extension like high tunnels or row cover. In the far north, you may need to pull plants once they go dormant and bring them into a cool space like a root cellar before replanting them in spring. Read more about saving seed from biennials here.

Ira Wallace shells Blue Clarage Corn (share seed)Storing Seed

Ideally, it would be best if you stored seed somewhere cool (about 50°F), dark, and dry. You can use seed packets that you’ve made or like those we offer on the website. You can also use mason jars or other containers you have on hand. 

Label everything with the variety and date you stored or last tested your seed.

Testing Seed

You can do a simple germination test at home to ensure your seeds are still good before planting time. Take ten seeds and place them folded into a damp paper towel in a container or bag (to help hold in moisture). Set your container in a warm place. 

The amount of time you’ll need to leave them will, of course, depend on how long whatever type of seed your testing requires to germinate. Be sure to keep the paper towel damp. You may have to sprinkle water on it if it begins to dry out. 

The number of seeds that germinate will give you a rough idea about their germination rate, and you can plant accordingly. If you have a lot of seeds, testing more than ten will give you a more accurate percentage. Even if only half germinate, you still use your seed; just be sure to plant thickly in the case of direct seeding or multiple seeds per cell when starting indoors. 

Saving seed from even a single variety can help you become more self-reliant, expand your knowledge of plants, and deepen your relationship with your land. We firmly believe that seed saving should be available to all. Follow this guide to become a seed steward. 

Garden Advice

Beginner’s Guide to Okra & Giveaway

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Okra has long been a common crop in southern gardens. This warm-weather-loving plant originated in northeast Africa and was brought to the U.S. in the late 1660s by way of the slave trade or via Europe. Its high mucilage content makes it an excellent vegetable for thickening soups and stew, but it’s got many other uses too! Grow your own with this beginner’s guide to growing okra.

Preparing a Bed

Okra needs a location with full sun to maximize production. It thrives in fertile, loamy, well-drained soil. The ideal soil pH is between 6.5 and 7.0. Okra does best with lots of hummus, so it’s good to add a couple of inches of well-aged compost to the bed before planting. 

Planting Okra

Okra SeedlingsOkra seeds have a hard seed coat and germinate slowly, especially in older varieties. To speed things up, soak your seed overnight before planting. Alternatively, you can use a technique called scarification. It sounds complicated, but it just means you use sandpaper to lightly abrade the seed coat before planting, helping it break down faster.

Okra can be started indoors or direct sown. To start indoors, sow in pots 2 to 3 weeks before planting out. To direct sow okra, wait until all danger of frost has passed and the soil temperature averages 65°F. Sow seeds 3/4 to 1 inches deep. 

If you live in a northern climate, sow okra indoors 2 to 3 weeks before your last frost date. Some folks with high tunnels or other season extension methods may be able to set them out a bit earlier; just make sure they have plenty of room to grow. Okra can get up to 6 feet tall!

If you’ve started your seeds indoors, be sure to harden off your okra like other seedlings before transplanting. It’s best to transplant on an overcast day or in the evening. Water your plants in well.

Sow or transplant your okra into rows 5 to 6 feet apart. Transplant or thin your okra to 18 inches apart in the rows.

Caring for Okra

Hill Country Heirloom Red OkraOnce plants are a few inches tall, mulch heavily around them, this keeps the soil cool and moist and helps suppress weeds.

Keep okra plants well watered through the summer. They are most productive and disease-resistant when grown in moist soil. 

Some folks side-dress okra with compost of balanced fertilizer once they’re about 6 inches tall. However, you want to avoid over-fertilizing. Too much nitrogen encourages okra to put more energy into leaf production and little into flower and pod production. 

Grow okra on a 4-year garden rotation plan to avoid pest and disease issues. It’s worth noting that older okra varieties are more resistant to root-knot nematodes due to their deep root systems. Grasshoppers may eat your okras’ lower leaves.

Harvesting 

Most okra varieties are best when harvested between 2 and 4 inches long. Pod tenderness will vary over the season. You may be able to snap young pods off with your hands, or you can use hand pruners to cut them.

You may want to wear gloves and long sleeves when harvesting okra. Okra has hairy leaves and tiny spines on the pods, which irritate most people’s skin.

The Whole Okra & Giveaway

If you want to learn more about this amazing crop, check out The Whole Okra: A Stem to Stem Celebration by our friend Chris Smith. He provides excellent growing advice, history, recipes from chefs, and a fantastic look at the many uses for okra, including okra oil, okra coffee, okra marshmallows, okra tofu, okra vodka, okra pickles, okra pancakes.

Be sure to visit us on Instagram this week! We’re giving away a copy of The Whole Okra and a packet of one of Smith’s favorites, Puerto Rico Everblush Okra. Visit us on Instagram @southernexposureseed before Thursday, May 5th, 2022, at midnight EST to enter for your chance to win.

Garden Advice

Seed to Storage: Success With Peppers

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Peppers are one of the best plants to learn to start from seed. Growing from seed rather than just purchasing transplants allows you to access a wide range of unique varieties that you won’t find in stores. Here are some tips for success with peppers from seed to harvest and beyond. 

Selecting Pepper Varieties

We carry many pepper varieties at Southern Exposure, which we separate into three basic categories.

  • Hot Peppers
  • Seasoning Peppers
  • Sweet Peppers

They fall into three species: Capsicum annuum, Capsicum chinense, and Capsicum baccatum. C. annuum includes most peppers easily found in the U.S. and almost all sweet peppers. 

C. baccatum and C. chinense are generally more disease-resistant than C. annuum. 

C. annuum generally has thicker walls, so it adds more bulk to sauces. C. chinense has the thinnest walls, but C. baccatum tends to be the easiest to dry. 

While any hot pepper has its heat mostly in its seeds and ribs, the heat of C. chinense is relatively more dispersed, and the heat of C. baccatum is especially concentrated in the seeds. C. baccatum and C. chinense generally have very fruity flavors that complement sweet as well as savory dishes.pepper seedlings

Starting Seeds

Starting peppers seeds is easy as long as you follow some basic guidelines. Start pepper seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost. 

Start your pepper seeds in proper potting mix. Potting mix drains better and doesn’t compact like ordinary garden soil. It’s also best to start peppers in well-draining trays or soil blocks. Sow seeds about 1/4 inch deep.

Pepper seeds require warm temperatures to germinate. They do best when kept between 75 and 80 degrees during the day and at least 65 at night. Temperature can make the difference in peppers germinating in 5 days or 20.

Placing your seed starting set up in a warm room will help you seed peppers coming up faster. You can also purchase seedling heat mats that the trays sit on. This provides steady, even warmth to your seedlings.

Your seedlings also need a good light source once they’ve germinated. Setting seedlings in a window doesn’t provide enough light. You can use grow lights or other re-purposed lights. The long ones you’d find in a shop or basement work well for doing multiple trays of seedlings. 

Peppers need an uncrowded root system for maximum production. Pot your peppers up to 3-inch pots when they develop a few leaves. You may need to pot them up again if your seedlings become large.

Transplanting

Harden off pepper seedlings before transplanting out. Hardening off allows plants to acclimate to field conditions like wind and sun exposure slowly. Begin by moving your pepper plants outdoors for an hour or two each day on warm days. Gradually increase the time you leave them out over a week or two before transplanting. Don’t let your seedlings wilt!

Wait until it has really warmed up to transplant your peppers. Plant them out after the dogwood blossoms have fallen or the soil temperature reaches 65°F. Ideally, transplanting should be done on an overcast day. 

Space your plants in rows or blocks 18 to 24 inches apart. Especially if you have less than ideal soil, it’s a good idea to dig a larger transplant hole than necessary and add some finished compost. Then plant your peppers so that the soil is at the same level as in the container. If you used peat pots, tear off the tops, so they don’t stick up above the soil and wick moisture away from the roots. harvesting banana peppers

Pepper Care

A month after planting, it’s a good idea to mulch around your peppers. Avoid doing this earlier as it can keep soil temperatures too cool for good growth. The mulch will help keep the soil moist and suppress weeds.

Pepper plants can be side-dressed with fertilizer when they’re young. Avoid getting any on the roots, stem, or leaves as it can burn the plant. Over-fertilizing should be avoided. Read application rates carefully. Don’t fertilize after plants have flowered, as this can cause the flowers to drop and fail to set fruit. Good levels of phosphorus in the soil are essential for good yields. 

Stake larger pepper plants to avoid logging, particularly if they are heavy with fruit. You can also use tomato cages.

You can extend your season by covering your plants at night for 1 to 2 weeks during mild frosts. Before the first hard frost of the season, pull plants and place the roots in a bucket of water. Store in a cool location to extend the season by up to one month. 

Harvesting Peppers

Peppers can be harvested green however they aren’t fully ripe at this stage. You can eat peppers at any stage of ripeness, but fully ripe peppers have more flavor and nearly double the vitamin C content.

Hot peppers generally get hotter as they ripen. For example, a red jalapeño will be spicer than a green one.

Preserving and Using Peppers

There are many ways to use and preserve peppers. Many seasoning peppers like the Hungarian Paprika Spice Pepper have thin flesh and are ideal for drying. Depending on your climate, they can be air-dried on screens, threaded and hung, or dried in a dehydrator. Then you can grind them to make an excellent seasoning.

Pickling peppers is also a simple, common way to put up a large harvest. Pickled peppers go well on pizzas, sandwiches, and salads. Sweet Banana Peppers and Jalapeños are common choices, but it also works with other varieties. You can find instructions here.

Fermenting is another common way to use peppers. Making your own hot sauce is a delicious way to spice up a variety of meals. Try this recipe from Soul Fire Farm.

You can also freeze peppers. Peppers don’t need to be blanched, so you can just chop them or cut them into strips and freeze them. Freezing them in a single layer on a cookie sheet before transferring them to a bag or container keeps them from clumping together for easier use. For a fun night and a bit of extra flavor, you can also roast peppers over an open fire before freezing.