DIY Network

The Dirt On Heirloom Tomatoes: Saving Tomato Seeds Suzanne Ashworth, author of Seed to Seed, gives her secrets on drying, saving and planting tomato seeds. From "The Dirt On..." episode DTDO-110

Ahmed Hassan talks with Suzanne Ashworth, an expert on growing from seeds.

Suzanne Ashworth is a seed saving expert. In fact, when it comes to saving seeds and growing produce from them, Suzanne literally wrote the book.

Ashworth's book, Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, explains how to save and plant seeds from a wide variety of produce — including tomatoes.

Suzanne stopped by The Dirt On to explain the process of saving heirloom tomato seeds and answer some basic questions.

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A selection of heirloom tomatoes

Q: Why should you save heirloom tomato seeds as opposed to those from hybrid varieties?

Suzanne Ashworth: When you save the seeds from a hybrid tomato like an ‘Early Girl' or a ‘Better Boy,' the next plant you grow might not have the same characteristics as the original. If you save seeds from an ‘Early Girl' variety for example, your next plant might not set fruit as early as an ‘Early Girl' should. Heirloom varieties will breed true though. That means, what you plant is what you get.

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D

Q: How do you save the seeds from an heirloom?

Suzanne Ashworth: Follow these basic steps:

• Cut the tomato across the middle and squeeze out the seeds, catching them in a jar. Harvest your seeds when the tomato is ripe and ready to eat. This is when the seeds are ready and you won't have to waste anything because you can turn that tomato right into salsa.

• Remove the gel sac around each seed by fermenting them. That gel is actually there to prevent germination so there won't be little tomato plants sprouting inside the fruit. In nature, the tomatoes will drop from the vine and rot, leaving the seeds on the soil. This rotting process gets rid of that gel sac but it also takes a whole lot of time. In order to mimic this and make it happen much faster you must ferment the seeds. To do this, fill the rest of your seed jar with water (figure A) and let this sit for two to three days.
  
  
• After the fermentation period the good seeds will be at the bottom of the jar so if you have any hollow seeds floating at the top, pour those out. Then rinse off the good seeds by pouring them into a strainer and running room temperature water over them (figure B).

• Next, you'll need to dry them off. Wipe the bottom of the strainer with a towel (figure C) and pour the seeds out onto a hard surface like a plate (figure C). Don't lay them on a paper towel because the paper fibers will stick to the seeds.

• It's important to keep the seeds out of the sun. A cool, dry place like a garage is the best place to dry them. If they don't dry quickly, they could start to germinate so if it's humid, plug in a fan to help speed things along. You should also stir the seeds up a couple times a day to prevent them from sticking to each other. This will help them dry evenly too.

• Once they are completely dry, seal them up in an airtight container. A glass jar is perfect for this. Make sure to label them so you'll know what you're planting next spring and then store them in a cool, dry place.
  

GUESTS :

Suzanne Ashworth
Author of Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners.
Suzanne is also owner of
Del Rio Botanical
www.delriobotanical.com