Harvesting seeds from the grocery store
16.5 years ago indoor seed starting, seed saving
There is more than one way to harvest seeds sure can grow your own but there is also another option. Use seeds someone else grew by buying them at a grocery store or farmers market.
Have you ever have bought potatoes, sweet potatoes or yams and noticed sprouts coming out of them, dig a hole and plant them in the ground and in a few weeks you may have your own potato plant. Not a fan of those, why not try garlic, ginger, onions, peanuts, avocados, dried beans, apples, tomatoes, peppers, or anything else you can imagine.
This year I am going to attempt potatoes and garlic, how about yourself?
Tags: cheap, garden seeds, garlic bulbs, outdoor plants, pepper plants, tomato plants, vegetables
16.8 years ago
While this might seem like a good idea, there are a lot of problems or potential problems with this.The first is when dealing with seeds from peppers, tomatoes or other fruits and vegetables, the parent plants are mostly commercial hybrid varieties. Many of these plants also require isolation to produce pure seeds, and this is not assured if they were not grown for seed saving in the first place. If you end up growing seed that has cross pollinated or is from a hybrid parent the results will be unpredictable at best and probably not useful for eating.The next problem is climate. If you plant garlic from China, the chances are it won’t be immediately suitable for your garden’s climate. Perhaps after a few years of regrowing it this may change, but you will save yourself a lot of time if you start with something more suitable to your garden. This same thing holds for many other fruits and vegetables that might have been grow in a far away place, that perhaps will never be able to adapt to your climate.Many of the things you mention are heavily processed or even cooked before the are sold in the store, and are unlikely to be viable. For example beans that are intensively dried or roasted peanuts. Others like potatoes, onions or garlic may be treated to retard sprouting, and so may never grow.Finally, there is the issue of disease. Many commercial vegetables like potatoes and garlic commonly carry diseases, that you could introduce into your garden. If you buy official ‘seed stock’ for these, they are normally certified disease free. If you get these from a friends garden, at least they can tell you if any obvious diseases were present in their garden.If you are still intent on doing this, I suggest a local organic farmers market rather than a supermarket, and maybe after consultation with the farmer.A better place to look for free seeds are seed exchanges, as these often have people who aren’t interested in anything in exchange and will send you seeds in exchange for the price of postage. There are some links to these on the front of my blog.
16.8 years ago
patrick, thanks for the great points, I meant to mention the disease and hybrid warnings thanks for adding them.As you mentioned I would definately recommend getting produce from a farmers market over a regular grocery store since the chances of growth in your climate and not being treated to prevent germanation.One other thought is to confirm the germination ability of your collected seeds by throwing a few seeds in a baggie with a wet paper towel and see what happens.
16.8 years ago
There is a book on this exact subject: The After-Dinner Gardening Book.And you’d be surprised how many people do this – there is a very, very long post on GardenWeb about it called ‘plants from the produce department’ in the frugal gardening forum. Aside from the few problems, who doesn’t like to experiment? Besides, it’s a great way to get kids involved with growing things.Good luck trying things out!
16.8 years ago
Tina, funny thing with the mention of kids that is actually where my inspiration came from. I noticed a couple of my potatoes sprouting and decided it might be a good “science” lesson for my daughters.My daughter also likes to throw her orange seeds in our flower bed with the hopes of growing a “orange tree” but unfortunately we live a little too north for that to happen.I’ll definately have to take a look at “The After-Dinner Gardening Book”
16.8 years ago
I grow garlic greens from the supermarket garlic all the time-its a great way to use the tiny cloves or already sprouted garlic. While there are always the hybrid warnings, I and most people I know have gotten good tomato and pepper crops from seeds that sprouted from the recycled kitchen water. I just recently decided, just for fun, to try growing things from my spice rack-fennel, fenugreek, cilantro-and what a surprise, these herbs germinated faster and grew much much better than the years of sowing from seed packets.
16.8 years ago
I am trying this year with garlic, heirloom tomatoes, and green peppers from the farmers market. So far they are growing great.
16.8 years ago
I went out and bought some organic garlic today, while I was there saw an organic potato sprouting on my own and couldn’t resist. Guess I will see what happens.
16.7 years ago
Just this week I read the Berenstain Bears Grow It to my kids and there are several tips in there for doing this. It has actually inspired me to try and do a hanging yam plant, just for ornamental reasons. I once saved seeds from some mini bell peppers. They germinated but they didn’t produce too well on my part-sun apartment balcony. By the way, thanks for your blog. I am very new to gardening and I like to know cheaper ways to do it too.
16.6 years ago
Amazing we don’t have that one in our kids collection; will have to keep an eye out for it. Must say the garlic from the grocery store seem to be growing well. Also have some potatoes which have not peaked through yet.
15.6 years ago
not to mention when it comes to bell peppers, when they are green they not completely ripe to begin with, so the seeds tend to not be completely developed yet, and the same goes with tomatoes that are shipped out in boxes whall they are green..
15.6 years ago
t3chn0b0y, that is a good point. I decided to try to harvest some jalepeno seeds from a store without luck. I definately would recommend trying produce from neighbors and farmers markets that may have had a longer life on the plant.
15.1 years ago
Peppers turn red when they are ripe. Use the seeds from them. Good idea planting tiny garlic cloves. What's the best time to plant them?
15.1 years ago
Jean, yep the longer you can keep them on the plant the better. Really wish I could buy red jalapenos around here taste so much better. At least I have my canned ones and hopes for next summer.As for garlic, this is the first year I remembered but planting in fall is apparently the best time. Though if you forget like I normally do plant them as soon as you can work the soil during the early spring and should get some smaller though still tasty garlic.
14.5 years ago
seeds grown from hybrid plants inedible? That is not true. Just because it is not going to be the same as the veggie you got it from does not make it un-fit for eating. I have done this many times with chile from ristras or sprouting organic potatoes from the store. Both came out fine. its fun
12.8 years ago
I just turned forty and one of my fondest memories is growing a lemon tree when I was 10 years old from the seeds i saved from a lemon wedge served in my fast food iced tea. I can tell you from the child’s perspective your idea of seed harvesting in unusual places is indeed a fun project and I’m glad you suggested everyone to try this.:)
I simply put them in a paper towel soaked with water and placed that on a plate on top of the fridge where it was warm. (I’m sure a plastic bag would be better but I’m just telling you what I did as a kid.) The seeds had thick white sprouts coming out in about ten days and I planted those in flower pots.
Over the years and after repotting the tree many times, it got about six feet tall! I live in Kentucky and we have cold winters so I always had to bring the tree in for the winter. So we used it as a houseplant. Kind of like a having a ficus except way more special. I just put it in front of a southern facing window.
I never got lemons off the tree and it never got taller, but it was huge fun for a child that lasted many years. I spent many years in caring for that tree and amazing neighbors with my lemon tree in Kentucky. Everyone would ask where I got it and I was so proud to tell them the story of the seeds from the lemon wedge I got for free in my sweet ice tea. 🙂
I say go for it!!