Long summer days means one thing - rows of gleaming red jewels ripening on towering leafy vines...the most versatile of our summer crops, the glorious tomato.

Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding crops to grow at home, unprecedented in their variety, flavour and uses compared to what you can find in the supermarkets. After weeks of tending, nuturing and pruning, the tomato harvest is one of our most anticipated of the year.

Why not have a go at saving your own tomato seeds this season? Read on to find 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 needs to be removed. 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 (22 degrees celcius 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 (watch a video of Ronja doing it here)
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.

What is seed sovereignty and why does it matter?

Seed sovereignty is the freedom for farmers to save, use, swap and sell their own seeds. It enables farmers to choose which seeds they want to sow and select what grows best in their conditions.

Seed sovereignty is the lifeblood of Vital Seeds. If you’ve ever saved your own seeds you will have experienced the thrill and excitement of that first harvest. When we see the abundance of seeds that plants provide for us, we know instinctively that seeds have always meant to be shared.

For the entirety of human history we have coevolved with food crops. People grew crops, selected traits that they most desired and saved the seeds for future harvests. Each community would grow and share seeds within their region, creating a patchwork of varieties suited to each microclimate and local palates.This built a genetically diverse, resilient and culturally significant food system.

We began in 2018 in response to the lack of availability of UK-grown organic and open-pollinated seed. Much of the seed planted in the UK is actually produced miles away in much drier countries with cheaper labour, resulting in varieties less able to adapt to our specific climatic conditions over time. Not having control over this vital element of our food system is one reason it feels so insecure.

In the last 100 years we have seen a huge shift in our food and seed systems. 75% of the world’s crop diversity has been lost. Industrialization has seen the age-old practices of seed saving and swapping diminished by the widespread use of F1 hybrid varieties and the commercialisation of seed on an unprecedented scale. Now just four corporations own 60% of the world's seed.

Our work joins a growing movement to return power back into the hands of the people. Community seed groups and hubs are springing up across the UK, sharing seed saving skills and creating networks for sharing genetically diverse food crops. As this movement grows our local food systems become more resilient to climate change, economic shocks, pests and diseases as well as being more adapted to local people, cultures and soils.

Wondering what to sow in August?

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

By the end of the month you could also start sowing some hardy annual flowers like calendula, nigella, poppy, cornflowers and viola that will start flowering early in the following spring.

• ​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 onion 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

Happy sowing and growing :)

Chloe and the rest of the team

P.S. Fancy a ready made selection of veg you can sow now? Why not try our Second Spring collection.​