Danny Botkin of Franklin County, Maryland is not just any organic farmer. He and his family are committed to a bigger picture: Laughing Dog Farm is “an ongoing quest for community and connection, as we have sought to incorporate some of that legacy of tribe, family, land stewardship, social activism and co-creative inter-dependence. That’s always been the ulterior goal, the idealistic Bigger Picture, per se. However, like everybody else, we’re practitioners, working, growing and learning daily — imperfectly attempting to do it better each time.” Wow.
This video is a quick, easy lesson in getting seeds from tomatoes. Have you ever wondered how? It’s easy. You cut open the tomato and squeeze out the pulp (seeds and gel) into a glass or ceramic dish. You add some pure water to create a slurry and leave this on a warm window sill.
In ten or twelve days a thick scum will have formed. The gel will have fermented away from the seeds. Now rinse the seeds in a sieve until they are clean and leave them for about two weeks in a warm place to dry. When you wrap them, or double wrap them, or place them in jars, make sure they are totally dry or they will rot. Store them in the freezer or another cool place until the planting season.