{{gwi:2110340}}Image by: wintersown

Growing your own berries is a lot of fun. Choose to save the seeds of the best fruits in your garden, choose berries that are not only delicious but show resistance to disease and ease of care. More than likely these traits will show up in the new plants grown from the berry seeds you've selected to save and grow.

How do I save the seeds?

From the plant you've selected allow the fruit to over-ripen, let it get quite "squishy". Put the over-ripe berry into a kitchen strainer with a fine sieve. Gently and slowly push the pulp through the sieve...you want to just seperate the seeds from the fruit, you don't want to push so hard you'll crush the seeds ;-)

Rinse the seeds well with gently running cool tap water...if you do it while they're still in the sieve you don't have to worry about them washing down the drain if they slosh out of a bowl.

Place the cleaned seeds onto a plate and allow the seeds to air dry for several days. Keep the plate in an out-of-the-way location so it can't get knocked over. You can stir the seeds every now and then to assure that all their surfaces are given a chance to dry.

Where do I get the sieves?

You don't have to go to a specialty garden store or purchase them through an expensive catalogue! Start by looking at the dollar store in their kitchen aisle...very often they sell sieves, or check out a store for cooks...many offer multi-packs of sieves with assorted screen sizes for an inexspensive price.

How do I know when the seeds are dry?

Dry seeds don't cling to each other, are seperate from each other, and they move easily across a plate when you push them with your finger.

Good luck with your berries.....I hope they'll be just as yummy as you want them to be!

Trudi