Seed Saving: Harvesting Heirloom Yellow Crookneck Squash Seeds

 

Fall is here and our garden is coming to it's end.  If you are a gardener you are probably like me and are already thinking about next year's garden!

One thing that I do is to observe varieties that did well for me so that I can replant successful varieties next year!  At the end of the season I allow some of my best producing heirloom vegetable plants to grow their vegetable well beyond their maturity in order to harvest some mature seeds to save for next year's planting. 

So here I will show you how I harvested some heirloom yellow crookneck squash seeds. It's a simple process and saving heirloom seeds allows you to grow free food next year.  Isn't that a great thing?  Free food! I love that!

Heirloom Seed Saving:  How to Harvest Heirloom Yellow Crookneck Squash Seeds

Choose a mature squash that is well beyond it's picking peak for consumption. It will be large and bumpy and will therefore contain lots of seeds.

Slice the squash into sections and remove the seeds.  I try to go thru and choose the most mature, plump seeds for harvesting.

Heirloom Yellow Crookneck Squash Seeds

Work thru the gooey membrane and pull out the seeds.

Seed Saving Heirloom Yellow Crookneck Squash

Lay the seeds in a thin layer on a paper towel and allow them to dry out completely. It will take several days for this to be accomplished.  You want to make sure they are dried out completely because you do not want any moisture left remaining so that the seeds will not mold.

Once you are sure that the seeds are completely dried out, place the seeds into an envelope.  Clearly mark the seed variety and the date that they were harvested on the outside of the envelope. Store in a cool, dry place until time to plant next year!

Do you harvest your heirloom seeds too?