You are being LIED to about saving and growing seeds for your garden

My Dad died two years ago and I came across some tomato seeds he had saved from a particularly tasty grocery store tomato. I've been growing them and it feels good. Planning on saving the rest of the seeds for my kids, since they loved their grandpa so much.

My grandmother had a continuous tomatoe garden in the same spot for decades. She never trimmed or staked the vines. They sprawled everywhere and grew some of the best tomatoes for fresh eating and canning. She would leave lots of ripe ones on the vines to self sow for the next growing season.

45 years of gardening, and I see 90% nonsense on the internet. keep up the good work!

One last quip. Never underestimate the power of gifts from the compost pile. Some of the best plants i have ever grown came from compost surprise plants. Also seeds from hybrids can produce some amazing fruits. That flovorless tomato matter they sell in stores can provide some amazingly delicious fruits, they will probably be de-hybridized (not the same as the fruit they came from, see mendel and his peas) but thats where the magic lies.

I tried fermenting seeds. It works. Too much trouble. I've done this for a loooong time and it works just fine. Find the tomato you want to save seeds from. When you slice the tomato for eating, smear a few of the seeds on a paper towel; no washing, no fermenting, just smear. Dry seeds and paper towel very dry. Put them in a zip lock bag. Store in a dark place or even freeze them til next year. When ready to plant, lay the paper towel or bits of the paper towel on the prepared dirt and cover lightly. Keep moist, until they sprout. They always sprout; every single seed.

I have been seed saving for 40 years. I used to tie different coloured ribbons to the plants I wanted to save seed from. I selected the strongest, (red ribbon) the earliest fruiting, (green ribbon) the most prolific (yellow) and the best tasting (blue). I don't do the ribbon thing any more though. Several years of each selection cross pollinating has given perfect results. I have always spread seeds like tomato or capsicum (bell peppers for Americans) onto toilet paper, then left on the window sill inside the house to dry. (no fermentation) By the end of our Australian summer, the seeds are drier than an Arab's sand shoes. Come Spring, I merely rub the toilet-tissue-covered seeds in my hands then plant them. A little bit of toilet paper won't stop them from growing, and if I happen to plant several of them in a clump, I can transplant them later. Thanks for the great vid...

I love this guy, so positive, always walking through what seems like an endless garden of perfection

Really good info. Just like my grandparents taught me. Also people dont realize how long properly prepared seeds last. I have seeds 30+ years old, that still reliably sprout and grow into full producing plants

I never fail to learn something in your videos, James. The same goes for your fans. Thanks for the envelope seed keeping method. I’m 66 years old and I don’t believe that you can’t learn from the young. They may not have as much life experience but, I guarantee you, there’s a lot of really ingenious ideas from young people. I planted a garden a few weeks ago with the help of my nephew, his wife and their children. I just marveled at how much I learned that day from my 10 year old great niece and her family. My garden looks beautiful, by the way. I wasn’t blessed with a green thumb, so I’ll take all the help I can get!

I have a degree in horticulture and have worked in the business for over twenty years. It makes me so happy to see you giving good advice and explaining why doing things the right way helps. Keep up the good work!

“The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.” ― Henry David Thoreau Fabulous! Love you, Tuck and James. I have learned so much from this channel!

One time after using some tomatoes for cooking, I threw the seeds attached to the part of tomatoe where the stem meet, into a few of my plant pots as a top compost thing. All the seeds were sprouting after a few weeks. We weren't sure what was growing until the sprouts grew real leafs to realize they were tomatoes.

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 Love Tuck! I just got finished watching another gardener who picked her ornamental/flint corn, it was the "bloody butcher" heirloom variety I believe, she showed all the pretty ears and then she showed the ears that were sparse and didn't fill out and she said "but these won't go to waste, because I will save them for seeds that I sell to all of you" I left her a comment and said, "I would not buy seed from you because every good gardener knows you only save the seeds from your very best vegetables and fruits. You never save seed from vegetables that came out deformed, or vegetables that are the smallest, sickly, or not your very best." You hit the nail on the head when you spoke about people misinforming others about saving seeds.

I have always put my dry seeds in a paper envelope. Plastic bags can rot the seeds if there is any moisture.

I used to buy my tomatoes as plants from the nursery. Now I'm starting my own inside in the spring. In the future I will save my own seeds and be completely self sufficient! Thanks James!

This is exactly how I have been saving my tomato seeds. I am very interested in learning how to save the more difficult vegitables, like carrots, lettuce, etc.

Tuck isn't fooled by 'gardening hacks'. Tuck learns from the best. Be like Tuck.

Lately i "grow" some tomatoes that sprout in the hens yard from scraps that the hens got. I dont know which variety started it but now they have around an inch in diameter fruits and healthy strong and kinda compact plants. They produce like crazy and the fruits ripen really fast. By the time my other tomatoes die off they just keep going literally to the frost. Nice bite sized juicy tomatoes. This year we had stink bugs ruining the garden. Its a new thing here. But the "wild" tomatoes are surviving well and since the fruits grow and ripen quick the bugs dont do much damage in them. These are now my favourite tomatoes since literally they grow themselves. We did not touch them at all until we started harvesting them. And they sprout again each year from the fallen fruits. Meanwhile the hens garden the place. Sweet deal! :)

Love seeing your dog. Ours dies 2 weeks ago and this soothed my soul watching him in your garden. Plus felt the endorphins as you were stroking him. Thanks for sharing him along with your wonderful seed tips!

It's 2020 and people realize that we are being lied to by every big business.