I'm working on saving a few seeds this year. Not an easy task here where the weather gets so humid. I can't tell you how many times I've 'dried' seeds, only to find them growing mold 3 months later. Clearly, I'm not doing something right.
The remedy is to practice, practice, practice. This year I'm saving onion seeds.
I planted onions from sets in the Spring, and I got a lot of great onions. One of them sent up a gorgeous flower and I enjoyed looking at it so much that I didn't cut it. Later, I realized that I could let it go to seed and then save the seeds.
Here's a close up of that gorgeous flower in July.
How perfect is that?!
Now, it's matured and set seed. I left it in the garden until it turned brown and the seed pods started opening on their own. The seed is good and mature now, ready to start out on its own.
So, I cut it down and shook the seeds into a bowl. In a week, I'll put them in an envelope, clip it closed and label it with variety and date.
I've heard rumors that you can put seed in the freezer to keep it good and dry. Does that really work? It won't kill the seeds? Please comment if you have some experience with freezing seeds!
I"ll likely plant these onion seeds in the cold frame this fall to let them grow all winter. I hope that they're mature enough to use as sets in March or April.
