Tomato seed saving

I’m going visual for this one: with very little text. Just sneaking onto a leisurely website instead of doing my mad deadline film project feels naughty.

Episode one of a tv script due next week and I still haven’t wrestled all the research to the ground.  So forgive the brevity. I may even throw in a shot of Artur to distract you all from the lack of news.

Let’s start with that.

And now back to the tomatoes.  The crop is coming to an end.

So before I munch my way through the very last one, it’s save seed time.

You have to get the germination inhibiting goo off the seeds inside the tomatoes. And after years of experimenting (that’s an exaggeration) I found that if you just put them in a jar and leave them for a while they separate into seed and compost material of a very whiffy nature.

I could do it quickly in the sun with gauze or muslin over the lid to let air in but keep grubs out. But just going a bit more slowly with a not quite closed lid works too.

Leave it a few weeks, strain and then dry the seeds on a plate for a few more days and then keep, labelled, in an envelope until Spring.

I don’t quite know why I’m keeping the orange one: it’s the blandest tomato I have ever grown.  But it’s prolific, fruits earlier than all the rest. And looks very fetching in a bowl.

And let’s face it; you can always smother it in good olive oil and home-made elderberry vinegar and you won’t really notice.

Add some pungent buffalo mozzarella and its worthy of a magazine cover. (And don’t write in and tell me you have seen this shot before. You have. I’m recycling.)  Bad blogger. Now back to my books.