Saving Seeds from Beans, Peppers, Onions...and More!

Saving your own seeds is the ultimate in self-sufficiency. Every gardener should give it a go!

Over time, saving seeds from your best plants can result in vegetables that are perfectly suited to your garden’s growing conditions. This means stronger, healthier plants - and bigger harvests!

In this short video we show you just how easy it is to save seeds from veggie garden staples such as beans, lettuce, onions and peppers.

If you love growing your own food, why not take a look at our online Garden Planner or Garden Journal which are available from several major websites and seed suppliers:
and many more...

[UtahTrip]

I've been growing heirloom (and other) tomatoes for over 30 years, collecting the seeds each year. For all varieties I've found that it's a simple matter to take the seeds right out of the tomato, spread them onto paper towels and leave to dry for a few days. The seeds are stuck to the towel when dry. Then I roll up the towel with the seeds, put them in a freezer bag, and pop them in the freezer until spring. I have always had close to 100% germination with this method. I have never needed to clean the jelly or pulp from the seeds. Hope this saves some time and makes it easier for folks to collect and store their own tomato seeds!

[dalenlorriefullmer]

I purchased rare/endangered seeds from a specialty company in Tucson, Arizona. The plants grew tremendously! I carefully saved the seeds of these endangered plants for the future. Something to think about when you're just planting any old seed - choose the rare varieties!

[ThinkPraise]

I plan to start saving seeds. I accidentally saved some seeds from last year and thru them in soil and they were bell peppers, I had no idea what I was doing 😀

[lisaswinson]

I love saving seeds. I have acquired quite the hoard. If you save enough to can start a side hustle selling them

[NS-pfzc]

I started saving seeds this year. I did save arugula (brassica) seeds simply because I only had one type of brassica flowering, and so considered it safe to save. Its incredibly empowering to realize you just took a step toward self sufficiency for almost no effort!

[iinmyheart]

Coriander is my favorite to save. Working with fourth generation seeds, yay!

[charleslewis]

Saved some Czar runner bean seeds(white) after watching Charles Dowding. Have sown them in greenhouse, every seed germinated. So easy. Leeks also, have hundreds!

[cek]

I love to save bean seeds, this year I saved lettuce seeds and couldn't believe how many seeds from just 1 plant! Blessings to you sir:)

[julieelliott]

I first started with flowers, marigolds, etc.. then my ornamental onions. I’ve learned so much from you. I’ll watch until my iPad goes dead. Thanks Bob. 😄😄😄😄😄

[rosewood]

I love your videos, Today I am Watching all of them through the day. I have been gradually starting to use seeds I have decided to use all seeds this year. Last year I bought plants from a very reputable plant company that sells to all major stores. It seems their quality control has been failing. All the plants had bugs in them leaving me with 1/4 of my crop. I bought kale for fall, it was raining so I left the new plants out overnight. When I got up lots of my kale were eaten. From now on only seeds I collected from my own plants. I just seeded some kale and in no time they came up. Thanks for all your fantastic videos...

[lindacharron]

Great information! I will try this. Now every year we get "volunteers" in our garden that just sort of grow themselves. We get many tomato plants! This year we got 10 acorn squash plants! Last year we had 3 butternut squashes that gave us about 15 beautiful huge butternut beauties! We ate them well into the winter! The seeds might be coming from our compost pile but I never realized that the seeds would winter over in our New England climate! It's so much fun to garden!

[beebob]

I remember dad saving seeds. He had a nice tomato and saved those seeds. Mice got them in winter. Not all of them but a lot.

[yahushaismyshepherd]

Any advice for zone 3 short season and seed saving.

[rickeyharwood]

Leaving seed collecting until the very end of the season seems to be selecting those with a longer time requirement to mature. I designate a section of my bean row(s) from which to harvest no beans, leaving even the earliest ones to become seeds for another year.

[rae]

What is the best way to overwinter onions to save seeds for the next year? My coastal area gets a lot of rain and I'm afraid if I leave them in ground they will rot.

[EnchantedAlana]

thank you for sharing that cabbage family crosses easily (I had no idea). Awesome vid!

[annestudley]

Thank you for this information. Question: do bean and pea pods have to be totally dried out before harvesting them for seed, or can they be harvested when the seeds are bulging in the pods and then left to dry out inside? Comment: I grow various brassicas close to each other, and so far I've let the red Russian kale, arugula, and mustard self seed whenever they bolt. They have always come out as the exact plants they were before, so there wasn't any cross pollinating - and I have plenty of bumble bees in my garden every day. This year I'm letting this happen with 2 others: chijimisai and yod fah - let's see what happens...

[livelifelivehappiness]

I enjoyed your videos. Thanks for sharing.

My wife and I have a small garden with several varieties of peppers and tomatoes. Do you have any recommendations on how to select fruit and be assured it hasn't cross pollinated?

Thanks!

[DD-OO]

This is my first time planting pole beans, they coming along nicely. If I wait until the pods dry on the plant and then dry out one week after removing from pod, should I store in dark place or in refrigerator?

[bob-kutf]

It’s good to take the pulp off seeds as it can keep the seed from germinating that’s its job in the fruit. Put the seeds in a cup with some water after a few days the pulp separates from the seed which then can be properly dried.