Even with my fails in the Victory Garden, I still love the adventure of seeing things sprout, bloom and grow (or not). This year my only tomato plant has produced teeny tiny tomatoes. I’ve been waiting and watering and wondering and now I know why it’s taken so long – I couldn’t see them! They aren’t microscopic but they are not filling either. I figure it just gives me an excuse to find more seeds and try again.
Surprise Tiny Tomatoes 
Smaller Than a Penny!
Another thing I enjoy is that my Victory Garden gives me more than produce. It gives me seeds that I can plant next year (if I want to, lol). I watched my grandmother save seeds from her fall and summer bounty she gathered each year. Living during the depression definitely made her thrifty and resourceful. Dollars weren’t wasted when a little time and effort was all that was needed for a sustainable garden. Another way she stretched her planting was to exchange seeds with friends who were in the neighborhood or in one of her civic groups.
Seed saving and exchanging has been a practice handed down for generations. It actually began in the Stone Age. I read that our early ancestors had to understand which plants served them best. Consequently, this began the practice of passing favorite seeds down from one generation to the next.
Saving our Victory garden seeds is one of the many agricultural skills we are losing. That’s because we are more inclined to pick them up at a big box store or order online from Amazon. (Yes, my tiny tomatoes came from a big box store-which shall not be named) And that’s okay-just be prepared if you don’t get exactly what you thought. I find that it’s just as fun, interesting, and obviously better for our environment to grow a particular zinnia or an heirloom tomato from a friend’s garden. Another option is to buy from a favorite online seed sharing source. Then, if you love it, save the seed for future planting or share with other gardening-loving friends. It’s about sharing the love. (I just ordered some new seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds)
Where to Find Seed
I remember mouth-watering beans and tomatoes my grandmother grew that I definitely can’t find today in my grocery store. But there are several companies whose mission is to preserve and share endangered seed species. Some encourage gardeners from all over the world to save and swap seeds passed down for generations. I perused a couple of the catalogs and found some interesting and unusual varieties for both my vegetable and flower gardens.
I especially like Seed Savers Exchange, a non-profit organization in Utah that preserves heirloom plants. They have one of the largest non-government seed banks in the United States. I went to their website – www.seedsavers.org – where you can find hundreds of varieties of rare and organic seeds. There are about 100 different varieties of tomatoes and many go generations back. I ordered some black cherry tomato seed for a late planting this summer (I’m hoping for a Hail Mary on the tomato front) It is supposed to be one of the best-tasting tomatoes you can grow. Who knows? I may find a new favorite this year!
Another place to find non-commercial seed is through your state’s agricultural news bulletin. Where I live in North Carolina, the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services publishes the Agricultural Review. Here, farmers and gardeners can place ads for plants and seeds they have for sale. You can find garden items there that you absolutely won’t find at your local garden center. And the prices are usually very reasonable.
I love having long-lineage flowers and vegetables in my garden. I have seeds from Thomas Jefferson’s gardens, but I also have seeds from my friend’s garden and even a complete stranger who was offering extra seeds from her garden. I have few plants that don’t have a story behind them and I love telling each of them to anyone who will listen.
Wherever I get my seeds and plants, I look forward to growing them, loving them, and saving my Victory Garden seed for next year’s garden.
Benefits of Saving Victory Garden Seeds
There are many advantages and benefits of preserving and sharing your victory garden seeds. If that zinnia or heirloom tomato turns out to be a garden favorite, you are assured of growing the same year after year. I learned that as you continue to harvest and save your seed, your plants improve. That’s because over the years they become better adapted to your soil and your climate.
Another benefit I love about saving Victory Garden seeds is the prospect of making new friends. The social aspect is a big draw for me. I like meeting people who share my love of growing plants and sharing seeds and cuttings. When my daughters visit, one of the first things we do is go out to the garden and see what’s growing (and sometimes what’s not growing). One of my friends and her daughter use the Marco Polo app just so they can visit each other’s gardens during COVID-19.
Many people like that saving seeds means saving dollars. Depending on the size of your garden, buying seeds and plants can add up, so having your own unique varieties to plant can be a money saver. Seed saving also can save you time. Flowers like zinnias, bachelor buttons, and snapdragons will self-seed without you doing a thing. I have zinnias in my vegetable garden that come up “volunteer,” as my gardening friend called them, every year. I love seeing the yellow, pink, and orange blooms swaying in the breeze among my beans, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Another benefit from your Victory Garden seeds, if they are heirlooms, that we grow and harvest are better for our families and for us. Many of the corporate seeds we buy respond only to commercial fertilizers to get top yield and that translates into chemicals. That’s what we get from the grocery store unless we buy organic. This is something I’m working on doing better.
Harvesting and Saving your Victory Garden Seeds
So, you grew outstanding flowers and vegetables from the seeds you got from friends, a seed exchange catalog, your state’s agricultural newsletter and famous gardens like Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Now it’s time to harvest the seeds!
Saving Victory Garden seeds is not difficult but there is a process to follow. I guess you could call it the Golden Rule of seed saving, but first and foremost is to remember, if you save seeds from hybrids, you won’t get the same parent plant. To get an identical plant, you have to grow open-pollinators or heirlooms.
For the annuals in my flower garden, hybrids are fine. When I want those particular green beans we love, however, I will have to plant an open-pollinator or an heirloom to get that same green bean. I also have to understand how to plant to prevent cross-pollination. I have some heirloom tomatoes in my garden and had to be sure to plant the different varieties a distance from each other.
To save many flower and vegetable seeds, you can let them dry on the plant. Beans and lettuce are good examples, as are zinnias. When they are ready, carefully gather the seeds in separate envelopes. For most vegetables like tomatoes and peppers, you can let the fruit ripen, scoop out the seeds and dry them.
I always spread my Victory Garden seeds out on a newspaper or on paper towels and leave them for about a week. If they don’t dry sufficiently, they will get moldy and unusable (yes, I know this first hand). I will also use paper towel if I don’t have newspaper handy. The seeds will stick to them and when they dry, all you have to do in roll them up in the paper towel and store them in an airtight container. To plant, just tear off the paper towel with the seed one by one and sow, paper towel and all. Easy-peasy!
If you dry your seeds on newspaper, they will roll right off into your container. It’s okay to put them in envelopes, but make sure it goes into an airtight container. Airtight is crucial, so use canning jars, jars that have lids with rubber gaskets or plastic zip-lock-type bags. I am reducing my plastic use, so I purchased re-usable bags from Amazon that work great!
To ensure they stay dry, you can take one of those silica gel bags that you find in medicine bottles or new shoes and place one in each container with your seeds. Or you can order them from Amazon. A Good Housekeeping article I read suggests dividing two heaping tablespoons of powdered milk between four layers of facial tissue. Then fold and place it inside your seed storage container. Who knew?
Seeds stored in the garden shed or garage will not last long, so be sure to put your containers in a dark, cool, dry place. For best germination, it’s suggested you use them the following year, but they will last for about three years. Be sure to date each container, so if you don’t use them before the three years, you will know to toss them- or have lower expectations on germination. I have to admit that I was saving my seeds in envelopes only before I researched this.
Some seed savers suggest putting your airtight container in the refrigerator to store. If you do that, when you take it out at planting time, keep them in the container until they warm up. If they are still cold when you open it, the moisture in the air will cause them to clump together.
Even if you follow directions perfectly, don’t be disappointed if all your seeds don’t germinate. It happens to the best and some seeds just naturally have a low germination rate, Regardless, by saving and planting your Victory Garden seeds, you have the assurance that they are non-GMO and don’t require commercial fertilizers to do well in your garden.
If you want to learn more about saving and sharing seeds, I’ve listed several web sites below that are preserving seeds, so we don’t continue to lose the varieties from our past. These are people who love our earth and are willing to go the distance to change the course we have been taking.
Unlike cookie exchanges where you enjoy the moment, and then the cookies are gone, seed exchanges and plant dividing are gifts that keep on giving. They give memories and beauty and help the environment. It’s one of the great indulgences that are not harmful.
I hope this has inspired you to start saving AND sharing your own Victory Garden seeds.
Happy Planting!
DeeAnn- The Victory Garden Gal
Research articles:
“Seeds of Change: The Seed Saving Movement” By Dr. Mercola Master Gardener Foundation, Jefferson County, WA https://jcmgf.org/seeds-of-change-the-seed-saving-movement/
“Seed Saving – Quick Tips for Saving Your Garden Favorites” By Marie Iannotti 4/4/18 The Spruce https://www.thespruce.com/seed-saving-tips-1402414
“6 Tips for Storing Seed Saved from Your Own Garden” By The Editors June 6, 2018 Good Housekeeping https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/a20706339/how-to-store-seeds/
“What’s the Difference? Open-Pollinated, Heirloom and Hybrid Seeds Christy May 2, 2012 Seed Savers Exchange https://blog.seedsavers.org/blog/open-pollinated-heirloom-and-hybrid-seeds
Seed preservation organizations:
www.rockymountainseeds.org