Seed saving. It is always with some reluctance that I start taking seed from crops. It is a recognition that the autumn harvest is beginning and winter will follow.
Saving your own seed is worthwhile if, like me, you otherwise would end up spending large sums of money with seed suppliers each year. Many vegetables produce quantities of good seed which are viable and produce the same variety next year. Presently I am drying Oregon Sugar Snap peas, an excellent cropper both in the polytunnel and outdoors. Eaten as a mangetout or left to produce peas, I always take seed from pods that have gone over. Leave them to dry thoroughly in the greenhouse or a sunny windowsill then store, labelled, in an airtight box in a cool place.
I keep my seeds in a plastic tub with sachets of silica, to absorb any moisture, and the seed will keep in many cases for a number of years.
Broad bean seed is still on the plant, but harvest the pods as they wither and blacken before damp weather causes rot.
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