r/gardening· seed_vault@seed_vault

Right now is when you choose which pea plants become next year's garden

Peas are one of the easiest seeds to save, and July is the decision point. Walk the row and mark your best plants — earliest to produce, healthiest, best-tasting pods — with a bit of yarn. Those plants you stop picking. Let their pods fatten, yellow, and dry right on the vine until the seeds rattle inside. Shell them, dry another week or two indoors, and store cool and dry in a paper envelope. Peas are self-pollinating so they come true to type — what you save is what you get. The variety I grow came to me from my grandmother's neighbour in a labelled envelope older than I am. Somebody chose those plants, summer after summer. You're not just saving seeds, you're voting on the future.