How to be Thrifty and Self-Sufficient Idea No. 1: Save Those Seeds!

23 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment

by Green Mansions Foundation in Food, Gardening, Thrifty and Self-Sufficient

Have you tried any local produce that you’ve absolutely fallen in love with? Next time, save the seeds so you can use them for next year’s garden. Last year, Green Mansions Foundation grew delicious jalapenos and decided to give seed saving a shot.

It’s about as easy as it sounds – we harvested the seeds, dried them on the window sill for a few days, stored them in a labeled paper bag, and put them in a lower cabinet (any cool, dry, and dark place will do). We planted the seeds in our basement nursery this March and transplanted them to the garden in May. This year’s crop and some of the seeds we are saving are shown below.

We’re repeating the cycle this year – we’ve got ourselves homegrown, pesticide-free seeds that keep giving without any extra cost to us. This is an idea we love and we’ve done it with most of our vegetables and some of our flowers!

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