If you want something interesting to grow, try saving some seeds
from the vegetables you buy at the supermarket.

Many of these vegetables are immature, so the seeds won’t
germinate. But some items are fully mature and will germinate
with little effort.

At this time of the year, watermelon and cantaloupe are in the
stores, and they’re great choices for saving seeds.

Just Use a Cup

For watermelon, just spit the seeds into a cup as you’re eating
and rinse them with water. It’s best to do this while they’re a
little moist so all the sticky juice can be washed off.

Spread the seeds on a paper towel or newspaper to dry. Don’t let
them stay wet too long or they’ll start to germinate.

Cantaloupe seeds are just as easy to save. Scoop out the seeds
and separate them from the clinging flesh. Rinse and dry as for
watermelon. Collected watermelon and cantaloupe seeds will last
five years or longer.

Buy an Extra Tomato

Tomatoes are another good source of seeds. You may want to buy an
extra tomato or two while shopping, since there won’t be much
left after you extract the seeds.

Scoop the seeds and pulp out of the inside of the tomato. Then
place this in a container and allow it to ferment for three to
five days. (It will get pretty stinky, so don’t do it in the
house.)

After the fermentation process, to separate the good seeds, add
water and carefully pour off the pulp and floating seeds, leaving
the good seeds at the bottom.

Continue to add water and pour off the pulp and floating seeds
until you are left with clean, viable seeds at the bottom and the
water is clear.

Strain, Dry, Save

Then pour this through a strainer to collect the seeds. Place the
collected seeds on paper towels or newspaper to dry. Tomato seeds
should last at least four years.

Dry beans and peas found in the supermarket are another source of
seeds. These are ready to go. Instead of putting them in the pot,
plant them in the garden. These seeds should last at least three
years.

Once collected seeds are dry, they can be put in coin envelopes,
Mason jars or any easily sealed container. Make sure to label
them including the date.

The best place to store seeds is in a freezer, preferably a
nonfrost-free type. These freezers don’t have a defrost cycle so
they stay consistently at freezing temperatures. The germination
of the seeds will often improve after three to six months of cold
storage.

F₁ Mysteries

Many commercial vegetables are called F₁ varieties.
They’re bred using special techniques for peak performance, which
results in the seeds not coming true-to-type.

In other words, the seeds you save from the grocery produce
section may not perform as well as the original variety. This is
particularly true with watermelon, cantaloupe, and tomato. Beans
and peas are generally not bred this way, so they should perform
as well as the original.

But don’t be disappointed that you don’t exactly reproduce the
grocery veggies. Part of the fun of saving seeds is to see what
the plant breeder put into the variety.

The seeds you save from F₁s will segregate into the
original material the plant breeder used to develop the variety.
This is a great starting point for your own breeding program.