Seeing as how most of us gardeners haven’t even planted yet, harvest time seems like it’s an eternity away. That being said, it’s really never too early to start thinking about saving seed from your garden. With a little planning, and maybe a little help from experienced volunteers, you can be on your way to being a seed saver this year!

If you are interested in saving seed, you should plan your garden appropriately. For some plants, like tomatoes and peppers, we save seed from the part of the plant we eat, which makes it easy. But for others, like lettuce for example, we may need to plant some extra plants specifically for saving seed. Usually, you wouldn’t want to let your lettuce bolt, or go to seed, because it effects the taste of the leaves. If you want to save seed, however, you will want to plant a few extra plants that you will allow to develop seed that you can save.

Another thing to begin thinking about now, is what qualities in your plants do you desire? Do you want to have the earliest tomatoes on the block? Maybe you want the meatiest pepper in town? Whichever qualities matter the most to you, those are the seeds you want to save. Choose your earliest tomato, or your meatiest pepper, or whatever you like, and grow those seeds again next year to increase your chances of growing plants with those qualities again.

If you have extra seed to spare, the All Pueblo Grows Seed Lending Library is always looking for donations! You can visit https://www.allpueblogrows.org/updates/little-libraries-to-visit to find a list of our Little Seed Libraries around town. Any seed donations can be left in these boxes or brought to the Extension office. You can email shaffers@pueblocounty.us to arrange dropping off seeds or for more information.

Maybe you are still in need of seeds to plant this year? The All Pueblo Grows Seed Lending Library can help with that too! You can request a seed kit by going to allpueblogrows.org and following the link on the home page to request a seed kit. We have themed kits such as, basic kit, spring kit, kids kit, and salsa kit. These will get you started on your growing adventure for the year. Once you have your kit, be sure to tune into our monthly Zoom sessions where Master Gardeners will guide you through the year with timely gardening presentation and advice. With a little help, even a beginner can go from planting seeds to saving seeds. Email shaffers@pueblocounty.us for information on registering for the monthly Zoom sessions.