Agriculture was originally little more than the realisation that we could save seeds from the plants we ate and plant them again to have more of where they grow wild. Since That realisation, human civilisation has revolved and evolved around agriculture and, at the same time, the plants we grow have evolved to better suit our needs over countless generations of ARTIFICIAL SELECTION. While selective Breeding is being dramatically outpaced now by more aggressive (and sometimes frightening) methods of altering the genetic variation of the species we grow. Many, many gardeners still maintain HEIRLOOM VARIETIES of our many favourite plants. Heirloom varieties are plants that have been altered by generations of selective breeding for particular traits colour, taste, shape, etc.
Many crops
They are not, it is important to remember, distinct speciestomatoesare all tomatoes, no matter that they are little and yellow or huge and red, just like a German Sheppard and a Chihuahua are both still dogs. Indeed, many crops that you may think are distinct species are not jalapeno and sweet peppers, zucchini and many varieties of pumpkin, cantaloupe and honeydew melons these are all examples of crops that will readily cross with one another, given the right circumstances. Please refer to the attached discussion on pollination and varietal purity for more information. Saving seeds from your garden for the next season is a simple and fun way to cut down on your gardening costs and provides a remarkable feeling of self-reliance and connectedness to the complete gardening cycle.
IMPORTANT SEED HARVESTING TIPS
Ensure the fruit is ripe (we harvest many crops early green peppers, zucchini before the seeds are mature. Sometimes the fruit must over-ripen before the seeds are mature, beans for example, must be dryAnd Woody.
Tomato seeds must be fermented for about one week before they can be easily washed and dried for storage. A good rule of thumb for checking the maturity of seeds is soaking them in water floaters are likely not viable.
Make sure that seeds are allowed to dry completely in open air before storing them in closed packets.For crops where we don’t eat the fruit (root vegetables, herbs, salad greens), allow the fruit to dry on the plant.
When seeds are tiny, don’t be too concerned with isolating them from the surrounding dried plant materials. Seeds can be properly stored for at least a few years and still be used; they might just take longer to germinate.Some plants that grow in places with a winter season have seeds which must endure cold temperatures before germinating; this is called STRATIFICATION. You can plant them outdoors in the fall and let them spend the winter there, or give them a short time in the freezer (or a slightly longer time in the fridge) before starting them.
