Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Saving Tomato Seeds

The tomatoes are ripening. We are trying to collect free seeds for everyone for next year. If you're growing an open-pollenated tomato, here's how to save the seeds.

1. Scoop out the seed pulp.
2. Put it in a fine metal sieve.
3. Use a scrubbing brush and your hands to remove the pulpy coating off the seeds. Then scrub the whole mess with paper towel to remove the seed coating. Make sure each seed is free of its coating.
4. Place the seeds on a fresh paper towel to dry overnight.
5. Pick the seeds off the paper towel and put them in a labelled paper envelope.

If your seed come from the communal plot, please give the envelope of seeds to Nancy.

How to tell if your tomato is open-pollenated

Google the name of the tomato. If the terms heritage, heirloom, OP, or open-pollenated come up in the descriptions, then the seeds are worth saving. If the term hybrid is included, the seeds are not viable.

Never put tomatoes in the fridge. Tomatoes lose their flavour when exposed to temperatures below 10 degrees.

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