How I Became More Self-Sufficient on My Homestead by Harvesting My Own Garden Seeds

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About three years ago, pre-pandemic, my partner and I were living in a small condo. We knew that was never our dream, as I had about 100 plants cramped into one window space, and my partner had an entire workshop set up on our small balcony. I grew up in a farming town and always enjoyed the self reliance I noticed in my childhood. After the pandemic happened we realized how dependent we were on society for our basic needs and how badly we wanted that to change.

After a few years of working extremely hard, feeling doubtful, pushing forward, and overall never giving up, we ended up buying our own piece of bare land, something that we had dreamed of for quite some time.

The land had nothing on it and was densely forested with a small cleared sunny plot in the front of the property. We got busy the first summer, clearing trees, making a driveway, building a storage shed, and pouring a concrete pad to set our temporary camper home on. We installed a septic system, ran power, and drilled for a water well. That summer everything came together and we could finally start working on projects that geared us towards our ultimate goal of self-sufficiency.

Alongside slowly working on building our home on our homestead we built our chicken pen and coop, set up a water catchment, and created a booming garden from the ground up, using resources on the land.

One of the major things we wanted to focus on in being self-sufficient was being able to feed ourselves, which through gardening, canning, and preserving our food we were able to.

Self-sufficiency can look like many different things but in order to not rely on society or others for our food source was a major goal of mine to figure out, and one simple way I stepped into a more self-sufficient food system was by not only growing my own food but by growing and collecting my own seeds for following gardening seasons. It's a simple process in which I break down below, so maybe you too can move towards a more self-sufficient way of life.

What does it mean to grow your own seeds?

Typically each year, gardeners will either head to department stores and nurseries to pick up vegetable starts or packets of seeds, or they will fill out seed orders from companies that sell garden seeds. Both are great options but they can be costly, with seeds costing anywhere from $2 to $10 per pack of seed and starts being anywhere from $3 to $60 per plant, variety dependent.

Growing your own seeds is so simple, and takes hardly any work once a plant is established. Growing your own seeds means collecting your own seeds from your own garden harvest to use and plant the following year, for no cost to yourself outside of typical gardening costs- soil amendments, water, and time.

How do you grow your own seeds?

It may seem confusing to grow your own garden seeds but it's so simple anyone can do it, from beginning gardeners to advanced.

In short, to grow your own seeds all you need to do is sit back and let your garden plants reach their “seed state” in which they are far past their consumable stage and have begun to fully develop their fruiting seeds.

Take a marigold flower for example, one of the easiest plants to tell when it has gone to seed. Once the bloom has finished its lifestyle and has started to die it will look brown and dead on top, and feel dry and crunchy to the touch. Lightly tug on the dead petals and release the seed pods, and store them in a dry dark place until the following year for planting.

For something that is a bit harder to tell, take a cucumber, and wait until it is in its desired edible state. When it turns yellow the cucumber is fully ripened and ready to harvest seeds from. Cut it open and scoop out the insides, separate the seeds from the pulp, and wash and dry on a sheet of parchment paper. Once dry, place them in a storage container and keep in a dry dark place.

Can I collect seeds from any plant?

In short, yes, all plants produce seeds, figuring out when they are prime for picking is crucial in the germination rate success.

Also, it should be noted that seeds should only be collected from plants that are disease free and have had a high pollination rate for the best chances at future healthy plants.

Flowers, fruits, vegetables, perennials, and annuals, all produce seeds and can hence be collected.

How do I collect seeds and eat crops from my garden?

You really only need one crop or fruit to collect seeds from. Take a tomato for example, one tomato has dozens of seeds in them, and while they may not all germinate, the amount of seeds you will collect from one tomato will be enough to provide you with plenty of plants, and then some to give to others.

In conclusion, collecting your own seeds from your garden plants is a simple way to become more self-sufficient by eliminating the cost and reliance of buying them from other sources. You can even sell your seeds locally, making a profit off your garden.

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