Finally we’re seeing some sunshine and this means one thing - ripening tomatoes!

Growing your own tomatoes is one of the most rewarding things for the home gardener.

After weeks of tending, nurturing and pruning you are rewarded with the most delicious, versatile summer bounty. There is no other taste quite like a homegrown tomato. Tomatoes are really easy to save seed from, read on to fnd out how.

How to save your own tomato seeds

Tomato seeds are easy to save. However the gel coating around the seed contains a germination-inhibiting enzyme which we need to get rid of. This is done by fermenting the seeds, and then 'water-winnowing' them. The steps are as follows:

1. Harvest ripe tomatoes
2. Cut along the 'equator' and squeeze the seeds, juice and pulp into a jar (passata jars are perfect!)
3. Leave the mixture to ferment for 2-3 days in a warm place (22C is good) - stirring once per day. The good seeds will sink to the bottom after this time.
4. Top up the jar with fresh water and give it a good shake
5. Pour off the pulp making sure not to pour the seeds out too
6. Top up with fresh water again, and repeat this process until the water is really clean - this is called water-winnowing (click here to see a video of Ronja demonstrating this process)
7. Tip the seeds out into a sieve and then spread them out to dry in a single layer on a plate
8. Leave to dry for a couple of weeks in an airy place and then break up the disk that will have formed
9. Store in a paper bag in a cool dry place

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August seed sowing tips

In terms of seed sowing, August is the perfect time to sow many autumn and winter crops.

Towards the end of the month many hardy annual flowers can be sown too. To see the full list of seeds that can be sown in August CLICK HERE.

• ​Winter lettuce sown in August will have a good amount of growth before the onset of winter (it can be sown in September for a Spring harvest)
• According to no-dig gardening expert Charles Dowding (and we strongly agree), the first half of August is the ideal sowing time for winter spinach​
• ​Spring onions sown in August should give you good growth for harvesting in the winter
• ​Asian greens sown in August will grow extremely fast and give you a bumper crop of autumn salad leaves

These crops and many more which are suitable for sowing now can be found in our Second Spring seed collection, which will only be available for a couple more weeks now. Click below to pick one up :)

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Happy sowing and growing :)

Fred, and the rest of the team

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