Processessing Vegetable Seeds

• 1). Select the three strongest, most productive plants in your garden. Choose those plants based on the following three characteristics: how quickly they produce, how large and aromatic their vegetables are and how resistant the plant is to disease. Mark the plants with wooden stakes or ribbons. Seeds from three plants of the same variety will provide enough of a sample for the next year.
  
  
• 2). Allow flowering plants that do not produce wet vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers or squash to fully dry. Once the flowers dry, the seeds and seed pods will be visible. Collect them when the seed heads or pods begin to turn brown or gray. If coming rain will disturb this process, cut and continue the drying process inside. Hang the seeds and pods upside-down over a bag they can fall into when ready.
  
  
• 3). Wait until "wet" vegetables are overripe and beginning to rot or ferment before you harvest them for their seeds. The fermentation process is a natural and important part of seed production. Allow the vegetable to completely rot in a bowl left in an open area. Only when this process is finished will the seeds be completely matured.
  
  
• 4). Write the name of the plant and the harvest date on a paper envelope for each collection of seeds. Prepare a box to put these envelopes into that will stay in a cool, dry location. Your vegetable seeds should stay at a constant temperature and should not be allowed to freeze.
  
  
• 5). Place the seeds in their corresponding envelopes only after they are completely dry. The drying process for seeds from wet vegetables could take a couple days. Do not seal the envelopes to facilitate good air circulation and keep the seeds dry. Store them in the box so they do not spill out of the envelopes.