High Elevation Gardening Web Log "Blog"

The easiest seeds to save include dry beans and peas and summer and winter squash. These seeds are big and easy to handle. Choose the best of the harvest for seed saving to ensure that you preserve desirable characteristics. Because peas and summer squash are eaten while immature, a few pods and fruits must be allowed to mature to develop viable seeds. To save beans and peas for replanting, allow them to dry in the pod. Harvest the pods and shell them. To save squash seeds, scoop them out and spread in a single layer on a plate to dry for a few days. Place seeds in small plastic bags or jars, label, and store in a dry, dark, cool location.

Last year, I received several heirloom varieties of winter squash and dry beans as a gift from David Pecusa, a 32-year-old Hopi and Akimel O'odham man. David's farm near Bacavi on Third Mesa is an inheritance from a great grandfather who first farmed the land in the1920's. I met David last year when he was a student in a permaculture certification course I co-taught with fellow Flagstaff permaculturist Josh Robinson. David likes to grow heirloom varieties of Hopi colored corn, beans, squash and melons. He is a prolific seed saver.

In June, David distributed two dry bean varieties among class members, with the hope that we would save seeds for replanting. One is a white pinto-type variety with deep magenta blotches. The other is a Hopi heirloom David called mawingwa. It is lavender with deep purple stripes. I felt like I was handling precious gems. Grasshoppers almost devoured my bean plants during July's drought, but I managed to multiply my supply for replanting this year. David's garden is at a much lower elevation than Flagstaff, so the plants that survived are undoubtedly more cold-hardy than the ones that died.

In October, David presented me with seven large (and I mean large!) winter squash and pumpkins from his garden. They had beautifully-textured skins in mottled shades of green, gray and orange. Some were round, some oval, some pear-shaped. One variety came from David's uncle on the Gila River Indian Community near Phoenix. Others were Hopi and Acoma varieties. One variety David originally purchased from Native Seeds/SEARCH (www.nativeseeds.org), a nonprofit conservation organization in Tucson that collects heirloom seeds from Southwestern Native American and Hispanic farmers.

In addition to David's seeds, I saved seeds last year from two Japanese kabocha squash that grew almost unnoticed on a single plant in my community garden's compost bin. The compost pile was only watered a couple times during June, so the squash appears to be an extra-hardy strain that does not require a lot of care. Kabocha squash are a small, round winter variety with dark green skin and dense, sweet, deep orange flesh that is perfect for baking or making pumpkin pie.

A couple of additional heirloom seed sources I really like:
Seed Savers Exchange (www.seedsavers.org), Decorah, IA
Seeds Trust (www.seedstrust.com), Cornville, AZ

Lisa Rayner is a Flagstaff author whose books include Growing Food in the Southwest Mountains. For more information, visit www.LisaRayner.com.

Lisa Rayner is a Master Gardener volunteer. Dana Prom Smith, a Master Gardener volunteer, is coordinating editor for the Master Gardener Column. He can be contacted at stpauls@npgcable.com. For gardening questions, call the Master Gardener Hotline, 774-1868, x19, or visit MG Web site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.