===== Savings seeds =====

I seldom save seeds from our vegetables. Exceptions are:
  * [[garden:about:plants:beans:varieties|Beans (dry beans are easy to manage)]]
  * [[garden:about:plants:corn|Corn (from flint corn which are dried and grown in isolation from other corn]])
  * Leeks (once, anyway)
  * One variety of tomato

Of course, the seeds I do collect are from open-pollinated varieties.

==== Selection ====

I save seeds for only one variety of tomato. It is not commercially available, as far as I know. The main reason is that this variety, [[garden:about:plants:tomatoes:varieties#TPS Golden|TPS Golden tomato, mentioned elsewhere]], has shown unusual resistance to late season blight. It's a plus that this golden is a beautiful tomato (by shape and coloring) and it has most appealing flavors.

I am selecting first for blight resistance, so I collect seeds from tomatoes on plants that have not been affected by blight and whose fruit has not been tainted. Other characteristics seem common to all the fruit, except I avoid collecting from the smallest tomatoes.

Except in the hoop house I have isolated TPS Golden from other varieties to avoid possible cross-pollination. In the future I will scrupulously isolate the Goldens.

==== Standard method ====

{{ :garden:about:plants:tomatoes:seeds:img_1368_-_version_2.jpg?200|Tomato seeds and gel fermenting in water}}I use a method generally recommended by master gardeners, fermenting the seeds to separate them from the gel. This:
  * helps sort out bad seeds (good seeds sink, bad ones float to the top)
  * reduces some seed-borne illnesses
  * eliminates a germination inhibitor

Here's the procedure:

  * Cut the tomato into several pieces
  * Scoop out the seeds and gel into a small container
  * Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water and set the container aside, out of the sun, for 3 to 5 days.
  * A moldy film forms on top. That’s okay.

To separate the seeds: 

  * First carefully remove the film. 
  * Add more water and stir (good seeds have sunk)
  * Carefully pour off the water and the floating bits of pulp (repeat until all the pulp is gone and you have clean seeds)
  * Drain them as well as possible (using a paper towel helps)
  * Spread them in a single layer on a screen or a paper plate to dry. (The medium needs to wicked away the moisture. Seeds tend to stick to a paper towel but don’t use a plastic or ceramic plate.)

{{:garden:about:plants:tomatoes:seeds:img_1370_-_version_2.jpg?300 |Tomato seeds drying on a dehydrator screen and paper towel}}{{ :garden:about:plants:tomatoes:seeds:img_1371_-_version_2.jpg?180|Dried seeds in a paper envelope}}I leave the seeds to air dry for a couple of weeks. Then I put them into a paper envelope and store in a cool, dry, well ventilated place.

==== Reasons not to ====

I don't generally save seeds because:
  * Most must stay planted long after I am preparing my garden for the next season
  * Many are easily affected by cross-pollination with other varieties
  * Some dry out only very slowly in the cloudy, humid conditions of fall and winter 
  * In most cases it is more trouble than it is worth
  * Often plants gone to seeds are unsightly
  * A variety of professionally grown, open pollinated seeds are available and relatively inexpensive

Some of the above are reasons why I don't take locally saved seeds at a seed exchange. (I still remember the "turnip seeds" that were a really a mixture a radish and who knows what!)