A big step toward self-sufficiency is knowing how to collect and store seeds from your garden. On today’s podcast episode I discuss all the basics of seed saving and all the reasons you may want to start doing it.
Homestead Updates:
- Slow, Non-Exciting Week on the Homestead! Just get up and do it again.
Homesteading Relevant News:
- Forbes Article: Dear Homesteaders, Self-Reliance Is A Delusion
- Sustainable Living Podcast: Are Homesteaders Moochers?
- Pioneering Today Podcast: Dear Forbes, Homesteading, and Self-Reliance is a Delusion?
Hangin’ Out on the Homestead Front Porch:
This week’s Q & A from the Front Porch: What is one skill you would like to learn that you believe would make you more self-sufficient?
Main Topic Of Discussion:
Seed Saving for Self Sufficiency
Why Save Your Seeds?
- To save money
- To ensure you have the best garden you can have.
- For preparedness
- To become more self-sufficient through knowledge
- For future generations.
- To participate in seed exchanges.
What To Know Before You Start Saving Seeds.
- Podcast episode with Mary from Mary’s Heirloom Seeds: What’s The Difference Between Heirloom, Hybrid, and GMO Seeds?
- Self, insect, and wind pollination
3 Easy Garden Favorites To Save Seeds From.
- Beans – When to harvest seeds, separating chaff, testing for dryness.
- Lettuce – How and when to collect the seed
- Tomatoes – Collecting seed, fermentation process, testing for dryness.
Storing Seeds
- Enemies of storing seeds are moisture, heat, light.
- Store in a cool, dry, and dark place.
- The freezer is great but seeds MUST be completely dried.
- Envelopes, bags, jars.
Resources For Seed Saving
- Website: Seed Savers Exchange
- Book: Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, 2nd Edition by Suzanne Ashworth
- Book: The Complete Guide to Saving Seeds: 322 Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, Flowers, Trees, and Shrubs by Robert E. Gough
Today’s Recommendations:
Go hunting and fishing! For us, the squirrel hunting season just got started so it’s a great time to put a few in the freezer. If you want to know more about squirrel hunting I did a whole episode on that a couple of years ago called “What You Need To Know About Hunting Squirrel“. This is also a great time of the year to go fishing as the mornings are cooler and pleasant for us in the midwest anyway. So get out there and enjoy some nature!
Book: The Only Squirrel Cookbook You’ll Ever Need
