A permaculture farm aims to be as self sufficient and resilient as possible. A corner stone of self sufficiency is seed saving. Growing non-hybrid, open pollinated seeds also makes you more resilient, as the seeds adjust to the changing climate every year.
It has been a few years now that we have rarely bought seeds for our vegetables and crops. We have been diligently saving seeds to sow back in the following season. With cereals, pulses, legumes, oilseeds it is simple, because the seed is the crop. But for vegetables, we have to keep aside some plants to over-ripen and produce seeds.
Winter vegetables like radish, carrots, turnip, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, fenugreek, brassica, are simply left in the beds to overgrow and fruit, then cut, dried and threshed to release the seed. Summer vegetables like squashes are left on the vine to over ripen and dry out.
Vegetables like brinjal and tomato have a slightly more complex process: the seeds have a gelatinous covering that must be removed before drying, otherwise the seeds tend to catch fungus and lose their vitality. We pick the over ripe fruit, remove the flesh and seeds, mix with water, let it stand for 48 hours to ferment off the gelatinous layer, rinse, strain, and dry the seeds in the sun before packing them in airtight ziplock bags for the following season.
- Pick the overripe or almost-rotting fruit from the plant.
- Remove the flesh and seeds from the fruit and collect them in a bowl. Discard the skin.
- Add some water to the flesh and mix it thoroughly by hand.
- Let the mixture stand for 48 hours.
- After 48 hours, a layer of fungus will appear on the surface. Remove it, pour off the water, and the clean seeds will remain at the bottom of the bowl.
- Rinse the seeds with clean water a couple of times and strain them. Spread them on a paper towel and let them dry in the sun.
- The seeds are completely dry when they separate easily from each other as you run your fingers through them.
- Store the dried seeds in airtight ziplock bags and sow them the following season.
For pulses, cereals, legumes, oil seeds and spices like fennel, ajwain and dill, we simply keep aside a part of the harvest, drying it completely before storing in a sealed container, sometimes adding neem leaves or cow dung ash for protection against insects and fungus.
We have so many native trees, avenue trees and medicinal trees growing at Aanandaa. Still haven’t got down to saving their seed and propagating them. Maybe we will start doing that next year!
Meanwhile, we have far more vegetable seeds this year, than we require for ourselves. So we are making them available on our website for you to buy and sow in your kitchen gardens. We are confident that they will do well in climates similar to the North India (extreme weather: ranging from 5C to 45C). Let us know your feedback!
