Is #saveseeds on your farmer bucket list? But you’re afraid of scary old cross pollination? Depending on what you grow, you might not have to be scared of that bogeyman! There is one group of crops that barely cross pollinate at all. And those crops are called SELFERS. Selfers have hermaphroditic flowers that are wrapped … More Don’t Be Afraid Of Saving SELFER Seeds!
1. You’re already growing the seed bearing part. (Those are those bits inside the ripe fruit.) Unlike onions or arugula or most other veggie crops, there are no extra steps to get to your crops to go to flower and produce mature seed. 2. Tomatoes are selfers (remember last post?) so they barely cross. It’s … More 3 Reasons Tomato Seed Is Easy To Save
Saving pepper seed is even easier than saving tomato seeds. As long as the fruit is nice and ripe, all you have to do is: split the pepper open, scrape out the seeds, dry those seeds on a counter, and voilà! (Plus you get the seedless peppers to eat or freeze.) But peppers also cross … More Pepper Seed Is Even Easier Than Tomato Seed!
Lettuce is another good candidate for #seedsavingformarketgrowers It needs NO isolation distance. That’s right, lettuce is a SUPER SELFER. It is exceptional to see any crossing in lettuce. Even if the plants are grown side by side. And pretty much all the lettuce varieties you use are open pollinated. I don’t know of any hybrid … More Lettuce – The Seed Saving Super Selfer
You would think beans and peas would be a natural fit for #seedsavingformarketgrowers They are selfers and don’t cross much. They are pretty much all open pollinated, so you can easily save solid market varieties. And they are fun to shell!!! But, if you’re a market gardener, I don’t think beans and peas should be … More You Can’t Pick Your Bean And Save It Too
Eggplant seed should be as easy #seedsavingformarketgrowers as tomatoes and peppers. They are selfers with crossing rates similar to peppers. (That means you will get some crossing if you don’t use isolation distances but not heavy crossing.) And again, this is one of those crops where the seed is in the vegetable part. So you … More Eggplant Seed Frustrates Me
Escarole is the last Selfer we’re talking about for #seedsavingformarketgardeners Escarole might be bitter and beautiful and have many similarities to chicories. But Escaroles and chicories are not the same thing. Escaroles are selfers that barely cross.(Almost Superselfers like lettuce – I think) They tend to come in shades of green with not much of … More Escarole Seed – Selfer with a couple challenges
If you’re a market gardener thinking about #saveseeds You should start by looking at your seed order. Because the seed you save should be the seed you use. And that’s what we’re doing tomorrow night (Monday April 19) at 7pm Eastern. I’m giving a free online workshop called From Seed Order To Seed Plan. And … More Free Workshop: From Seed Order To Seed Plan
It is now CROSSER time on #seedsavingformarketgrowers. Reminder – SELFERS are hermaphrodite flowers that predominantly self pollinate. Crossers are on the other side of the spectrum. These are plants that predominantly cross pollinate. Some are hermaphrodites and some have distinct male and female flowers. Whatever the flower structures, CROSSERS want to CROSS. Now at first … More Crossers Wanna Cross – But You Can Still Save Them On Your Farm!
And now, it’s time for Brassicas on #seedsavingformarketgrowers. How many different Brassicas are in your garden? You can probably name a lot. (If you’ve never heard the term, here’s a short list: Broccoli (hence the picture), Napa Cabbage, Kale, Mizuna, Rutabaga, Arugula, Brussels Sprouts, Tatsoi, Collards, and many more !!! ???? ???? ???? ) Up … More And now it’s time for Brassicas