You Can Save Seeds The From The Vegetables Or Fruits That You Buy At The Grocery Store, Then Grow Them In Your Garden, And Here’s How

Emily Chan |

Mar 6, 2023

juliasudnitskaya - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

Gardening can be expensive, especially if you’re just starting out. To cut down on costs, you need to be innovative with your gardening techniques.

A great way to garden on a budget is by saving the seeds from your vegetables to grow instead of buying starts.

Kimi (@therealkimilove) is demonstrating on TikTok how to collect seeds from produce and how to tell which seeds won’t germinate.

It’s actually so much easier than it sounds!

The produce you’ll likely have the most success growing are peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, jalapeños, citrus fruits, and strawberries.

So if you’re cooking peppers for dinner tonight, make sure to set those seeds aside. All you need to do is take the pepper’s core left over from your dinner prep, pull out the little seeds, and separate them into a cup. You can also save the veggie scraps for compost or freeze them to make vegetable broth.

An easy way to separate the seeds is by adding water to the cup and swirling your finger around to disrupt the clumps of seeds.

Additionally, you can determine which seeds are not viable by seeing if they float. Floating seeds will not sprout or grow, so you can toss them out.

Place the leftover seeds in a colander and rinse them out. Then lay them on a paper towel to dry. Next, pick out any of the brown seeds and the ones that look too small.

juliasudnitskaya – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

Don’t forget to label the paper towel to avoid mixing up your seeds if you have multiple types. Once they’re fully dry, stick them into a small bag or envelope, label them, and prepare to plant!

Several TikTok users are confirming that this method works, while others are sharing some of their gardening strategies.

“I just cut off the top half of the bell pepper with the seed and stick the whole thing in the ground, and I get a nice plant every time,” commented one user.

“I’ve grown an entire garden by saving seeds from produce I’ve bought from the grocery store,” shared another.

“This is the only way I have ever grown peppers! One pepper cost less than the pack of seeds!” exclaimed a third.

@therealkimilove

Seed Saving from veggies & fruits you already have is a great way to garden on a budget! #gardenproject #gardendiy #gardenonabudget #gardeningonabudget #seedsaving #seedsavingtips #budgetfriendlygarden #gardeningforbeginners #gardenig101 #gardentips #gardenhack #growyourownfood #howtosaveseeds #howtogarden #moneysavinghack #sustainablegardening #cottagecore #homesteading #gardening #savingpepperseeds

? original sound – Kimi || ? mom & creative