3 Easy Seeds to Save

Save your seeds for yourself, your neighbors, and your planet! You can donate your saved seeds to our Seed Library to help us maintain a diverse, climate-resilient supply of local seeds.

Save Peas & Beans

1. Wait for pods to begin drying on the vine. Pods will turn leathery.
2. Bring pods inside to fully dry. This step reduces pests.
3. Set in your freezer for 2 weeks, to kill any possible weevils or pests.
4. Crush dry pods on a tarp or sheet
5. Screen crushed seeds using our Seed Screens
6. Store in a cool, dry place

Save Lettuce seeds

1. Allow your lettuce to bolt in hot weather. (Bolting is when the lettuce sends up a tall flower stalk, pulling sugar from the leafy greens to grow flowers and making your lettuce leaves very bitter.)
2. Lettuce flowers look like white puffs with dark, small seeds
3. Bring the puffs inside and separate the chaff as much as you can. Don’t sweat the small stuff, as it will blow away or decay quickly when planted with seeds.
4. Dry on a cloth for about 1 week, protected from wind.
5. Store in a cool dry place, or plant seeds for another harvest.

Save Tomato Seeds

Tomatoes must be fermented to release seeds from a gelatinous coating before saving. Follow these steps:

1. Select the BEST fruit at peak of ripeness
2. Crush the WHOLE tomato into a jar with a lid.
   1. Yes, all of it. There are helpful enzymes and micro bacteria on the outside as well as the flesh and juices which are necessary to free the seeds.
3. Add just enough water to cover pulp and cover LOOSELY with the jar lid.
4. Ferment for about 2 weeks until most seeds have sunk to the bottom. (Floating seeds can be discarded, as they are not viable.)
5. Pour off the liquid, and replace the water.
6. Pour and repeat until seeds are as clean as possible.
7. Dry FULLY and store in a cool, dry place.