[CH] Seed Saving, part 1 (long)
Bob Batson (rcb@kc.rr.com)
Sun, 1 Oct 2000 14:47:30 -0500
Tips on Saving, Drying, and Storing Chile Seeds
Select chiles that are ripe, fully colored and show no signs of
disease. When cleaning large-fruited chiles, break or cut the flesh
off without damaging the internal core. The stem should be left
attached to the core and will act as a handle. The blade of a small
knife can be used to carefully scrape the seeds into a bowl.
Chiles can also be cleaned in a blender or food processor, if the
flesh is not going to be eaten. Cut the stems off the fleshless seed
cores, adding enough water to cover the cores. Blend until the cores
disintegrate and the seeds are free.Gently stir the mixture and the
good seeds will sink to the bottom. The immature seeds and flesh
fragments will float and can be pored off with part of the water. Add
more water, blend the mixture, pour off more debris, and repeat until
clean.
Small chiles can also be cleaned using a blender or food processor.
Cut off the stems and a little bit of their shoulders, before putting
the pods and water into the blender. Always wear rubber gloves when
working with hot chiles. Chile oil is very pungent and will remain on
unprotected fingers even after washing. Touching any area of the face
with hands that contain chile oil residue can cause extreme
discomfort. Also, be sure to clean chiles in a well-ventilated room,
because the fumes can cause severe respiratory distress.
After all the debris has been poured off, dump the remaining water and
clean seeds into a strainer. Wipe the bottom of the strainer on a
towel and dump the seeds onto a dish or cookie sheet to dry
Pepper seeds should be dried away from direct sunlight, until they
seeds break when folded. If the seeds bend instead of breaking,
additional drying is necessary
Additional Drying
Containers used for seed storage should always be airtight. Glass and
metal are the only common materials that are completely
moisture-proof. Glass jars with good rubber seals under their lids,
such as baby food jars or canning jars with new lids, provide a nearly
airtight seal when screwed on really tight. Gallon glass jars that do
not have a common-sized canning lid can be modified into excellent
storage containers by cutting gaskets for their lids out of used
automobile inner tubes. Lightweight plastic bags are not
moisture-proof and make poor storage containers. However, seeds can be
put into such bags before being stored inside a large, airtight jar.
Color-indicating silica-gel is an excellent desiccant (moisture
absorbing material) for drying seeds. By comparison, powdered milk is
less than 10% as effective as a drying agent. Silica gel, which looks
like little plastic beads, is often treated with cobalt chloride which
indicates how much moisture has been absorbed. The beads are deep blue
when completely dry, but gradually change to light pink as moisture is
absorbed. Silica gel should be stored in an airtight container to keep
the material dry until it is needed.
The drying process requires a glass jar with an airtight lid, at least
half a pound (1/4 kilo) of good desiccant such as color-indicating
silica gel, and the seeds. Each sample of seeds should be placed in a
paper packet and carefully labeled. Determine the total weight of the
seeds and packets, and then measure out an equal weight of dark blue
silica gel. Place both the packets and silica gel into the jar and
screw the lid on tightly. The silica gel will immediately start
absorbing moisture from the seeds.
After seven or eight days, open the jar and separate the packets of
seed from the silica gel. The seed packets are then stored in another
moisture-proof container without silica gel in order to maintain the
low moisture content of the seeds. The second container should be
another glass jar or any similar moisture-proof container. Thoroughly
dry seeds reabsorb moisture quickly, so always try to minimize the
time the seed packets are exposed to the moisture in the air while
being shifted to the second container.
The very best place to store an airtight container of THOROUGHLY dried
(less than 8%) seeds is in a freezer. The next best place is in a
refrigerator, followed by any cool area where the temperature
fluctuates as little as possible. When retrieving seeds from frozen
storage, ALWAYS allow the sealed jar to reach room temperature before
opening. Let the jar set out overnight, whenever there is sufficient
time. If the jar is opened before the seeds reach room temperature,
moisture will condense on the cold seeds and rehydrate them. Also try
to limit the number of times seeds are retrieved from the jar, because
temperature fluctuations gradually reduce the viability of the seeds.
When removing seeds from storage that have been dried to low moisture
levels, expose the seeds to the air for a few days before planting, if
time allows. This will let the seeds slowly pick up some moisture,
instead of going immediately from low moisture to a very moist
planting environment.
If you would like to save the seeds of other vegetables, the best
reference source is a book called Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. If
you can't find this locally, you can order this book now from
Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com), the Internet's largest bookstore.
Information above from The Seed Savers Exchange (3076 North Winn Road,
Decorah, Iowa 52101; tel. 319-382-5990, FAX 319-382-5872). They are
the publishers of the book _Seed to Seed_ (ISBN 0-9613977-7-2). The
book _Seed to Seed_ by Suzanne Ashworth is called _Saatgutewinnung im
Hausgarten_ in German.
Sources for silica gel
I got my silica gel from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (P.O. Box
460, Mineral, VA 22936; http://www.southernexposure.com). NOTE: I'm
not affiliated with them, just a very-satisfied long-time customer.
I THINK Abundant Life Seed Foundation (PO Box 772, Port Townsend,
WA 98368) sells it and I'm sure Territorial Seeds (PO Box 157, 20
Palmer Ave., Cottage Grove, OR 97424) does. The price-list from
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange is free and their combination
catalog/garden guide is $2.00. The latter, IMHO, is well worth the
money. Two pages in the catalog are devoted to seed saving
supplies. Silica gel is available as follows (in the 2000 catalog):
#85-113-A 1 oz. for $3.00; packed in Seed Saver vial(tm) #57
#85-113-B 3 oz. for $5.30; packed in Seed Saver vial(tm) #114
#85-113-C 1 pound $12.10
#85-113-D 5 pounds $43.00
#85-113-W 5 pounds $45.00 shipped west of the mississippi
#85-113-N 5 pounds $55.00 shipped to Canada
#85-113-E 30 pounds $245.00 (48 states only)
Five pounds of silica gel beads (each bead is about the size & shape
of a capital `O') fill 3 3/4 quart jars, so one pound is probably
enough. Besides, " ... silica gel can be reactivated indefinitely by
drying eight hours in a 200-degree F. oven. Batches weighing over a
pound should be stirred occasionally to speed up the drying process.
Always dry silica gel slowly, because temperatures that are too high
can scorch and ruin it, turning the beads black. Silica gel can also
be easily dried in a microwave which works on the moisture in the
material. It only takes about 25 minutes to dry an 8" x 12" glass
dish that is filled with silica gel to a depth of 1.5-2". Progress
can be checked by watching through the glass door of the microwave as
the silica gel changes from pink to deep blue. Whichever drying
method is used, the silica gel is then stored in an airtight
container to keep the material dry until it is needed ..."
Color-indicating silica gel is also available from large craft shops,
sold for drying flowers. Unfortunately, it's sold in the form of very
fine powder and, in my experience, is a royal pain to use.
--
Bob Batson L 39 12 14 N 94 33 16 W
rcb@kc.rr.com Kansas City
TCS - Mystic Fire Priest USDA Zone 5
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Under the most controlled conditions, the experimental apparatus
will do exactly as it pleases.