5th Graders Save Heirloom Tomato Seeds

Today some of Ms. Conn's and Mr. Lantos' students learned how to save heirloom tomato seeds. We used open-pollenated heirloom tomatoes, not hybrid tomatoes. Seeds from open-pollenated plants will result in the same plant whereas a hybrid one could result in one of the parent plants.

We are fermenting the seeds by saving the seeds in a container with approximately 1/4 c. of water. We'll separate the seeds and dry them on a paper plate next week.

The students have planted heirloom seeds from Monticello in their Jeffersonian Garden. We are following practices that have been used by gardeners there and elsewhere to duplicate plants that the like.

Some students also planted radish and kale seeds in the Jeffersonian Garden.