Ulog 138: Harvesting Barbarella Italian Eggplant Seeds

Last week while watching some YouTube videos, I came across a title of one that struck my immediate interest and I clicked on play to see what it was all about.

The title was Make Money from Seeds by Living Traditions Homestead; a YT channel I have followed for about two years now. They have a plethora of gardening and homesteading tips and I thoroughly enjoy watching many of their videos. Kevin, the husband, does some GREAT recipe videos and Sarah, the wife, shares some awesome canning and gardening videos. If you haven't checked them out yet, you really should!

Apparently they were asked by the Baker Heirloom Seed Company to grow two vegetable plants then harvest the seeds to send back to the company. So if you were ever curious as to how some seed companies stock their seed banks, this is one way.

So I watched the twenty-something minute video and learned SO much!

See all those wonderful seeds? But how to get them out!

This year I had planted the last of my Italian Eggplant seeds and was contemplating as to harvesting some seeds for next year; so I didn't have to buy anymore. But when I attempted harvesting the seeds last year... it was a complete failure!

But thanks to Living Traditions Homestead... I learned all my errors and the other morning I set to harvesting a smaller eggplant that I still had on the vine.

First up... grate the pulp of the eggplant.
In the video, Kevin and Sarah used a small potato peeler grater, but mentioned they wished they had used their food processor. So that's what I did! Made the shredding process so fast and easy. I also peeled the purple skin off; as Kevin had mentioned this was something they would do in the future to make the rinsing process simpler.

In a large bowl or container, dump the grated eggplant and add water covering up the eggplant pulp and seeds. Let it settle for a moment, then with your hand start agitating the pulp and seeds. This helps loosen seeds that may be clinging to the pulp.

After a few minutes of washing, let the water settle down and you'll start to see the seeds (which are heavier) start to sink down, while the pulp floats up to the top.

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Skim off the pulp as much as you can then strain the seeds and remaining pulp through a small colander. Repeat the washing process until most, if not all, of the pulp, is removed from the seeds. Strain the seeds and place in a ceramic pan. DO NOT use paper towel as the seeds will stick to the paper fibers; ruining the drying process This was one HUGE mistake I made last year.

Allow the seeds to completely dry. Every day make sure to swish the seeds around so they all get air circulation

So now not only do I have PLENTY of Barbarella Italian Eggplant seeds for my own garden, but I can add these to my Etsy and eBay stores to sell next spring.