Small Changes Can Make a Big Impact in Reducing Food Waste

Master Gardener Katryna Barber and WSU Extension’s Diane Smith discuss food waste and how we can help the planet by managing it better.

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By Katryna Barber, Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener and Diane Smith, WSU Extension faculty member

The Rising Cost of Food Waste
Food prices are changing, impacting how we plan and use food. This isn’t a brand-new phenomenon. Food costs are constantly fluctuating. Cooks must adapt and find a way to feed people with what they have. Sometimes, it leads to some very tasty creations. Food prices these days are just one aspect of a larger situation that is getting more attention: Food Waste and what to do about it.

The average US family of four discards approximately $1,600 worth of produce annually. This waste isn’t limited to lost money paid for food at the grocery store. It also includes the wasted resources used to produce and distribute the food and the negative environmental impact that occurs when food is thrown away.

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In our country, 1 in 6 people is food-security challenged, a fancy term for not having enough food. Happily, there is something we can do about it: eat more of the food we buy and not wasting it.

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Cooking with scraps isn’t a new idea, but it has been refreshed and replated. What we can create with food “scraps” is incredible. This is a movement towards eating as much as possible of what we buy so it doesn’t get thrown away. For example, do you eat the leaves of radishes or carrots? They are edible. Do you use the liquid left in the can of garbanzo beans? How about corn cobs?

When food is wasted, so is all the energy, time, and resources it takes to produce it. Those resources could have been saved. Our hard-earned money could have been saved. © Adobe Stock

Learn new ways of reducing food waste
at these FREE events

Celebrate at MoNA
Sculpting Sustainability:
Solutions for Skagit Food Waste
Saturday, April 12 ~ 1 pm

at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Connor
This event is free, but registration is required at:
Register here

Know & Grow:
Preventing Food Waste
Tuesday, April 15 ~ 1 pm

at NWREC Sakuma Auditorium, 16650 SR 536,  Mount Vernon
Free, no registration required.
From Waste to Wisdom
As a professor of Food & Consumer Sciences, Diane Smith has spent more than 30 years exploring and teaching about food and nutrition. She is passionate about helping people use food more mindfully.

Smith’s focus on food waste prevention began a couple of years ago when she took a sabbatical to study the connection between climate and diet. She traveled to Denmark, Italy, and NYC to explore food waste prevention activities that are happening elsewhere. The answer became clear when studying how our food choices affect the climate and what we can do to reduce that impact: keep food out of our landfills. We can do that by using the food we buy and not letting it go to waste. The expense is the most obvious reason people should care about their food waste.

When we waste food, we waste everything that goes into producing it. This includes the hidden costs, as well as our money. Ask a child where milk comes from, and many will say, “The grocery store.” They don’t realize how many resources are used to grow and get the food to our kitchens or restaurants: water, manual labor (planting, tending, harvesting), transportation, mechanical labor, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, electricity, packaging, and storage. When food is wasted, so is all the energy, time, and resources it takes to produce it. Those resources could have been saved. Our hard-earned money could have been saved.

In the end, we pay to throw our trash away. But there is no “away.” Our landfills are filling up and creating greenhouse gases that are contributing to climate change. Organic material sent to a landfill is buried and decomposes without air, a process called anaerobic digestion. The bacteria living in this anaerobic environment exhale carbon dioxide and methane gas. Humans can deal with small amounts of these gases but not in larger quantities or for long periods of time. Human exposure to these gasses, often referred to as “greenhouse gases,” increases damage to the body’s systems. The cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, central nervous, immune, and digestive systems can be affected. The good news is that we can reduce the health risks by changing our habits and behaviors.

Find uses for food scraps before composting
Surprisingly, composting is not the first and best option for dealing with food waste, such as banana peels and coffee grounds. The new EPA chart suggests feeding livestock or pets first, then composting, and then, as a last resort, send it to the landfill.

In this chart, you can see the hierarchy of the best ways to deal with food waste. The main goal is to keep food out of landfills. Some studies suggest that 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from landfills. The most significant contributor to this problem is food waste. Washington State Department of Ecology has been focusing on reducing food waste and is committed to lowering landfill-disposed organic material by 75% by 2030. Right now, Washingtonians place 1.2 million tons of food waste into landfills per year. This waste is food from restaurants, institutional food services, and households. About 35% of this food is edible. Of that edible food waste, 37% of it is generated by households; 60% is from the commercial sector.

Smith employed the notion of cooking with scraps when invited to discuss the topic of food waste; she wanted to make it more fun, hands-on, and practical. When talking about concepts of edible and nonedible food waste, she wanted to give options to her audience to have them reimagine how to use what Americans consider nonedible food parts. Just because a part of the food is culturally nonedible does not mean it is trash. While not a new concept, cooking with ends and stems has been reimagined for modern kitchens as a creative and sustainable approach to cooking. Different cultures, customs, and culinary uses of food parts make cooking adventurous and fun. It’s about transforming what might typically be discarded into delicious, nutritious additions to your meals.

Innovative chefs and food writers around the country have created excellent guides to help you master the art of waste-free cooking. Check the internet for no-waste cooking, keeping food out of the garbage, a zero-waste diet, using peels, cores, rinds, and stems in meals, etc. The ideas are amazing! Cooking with Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals by Lindsay-Jean Hard is a comprehensive guide that transforms traditional food scraps into sophisticated cuisine. Waste Not: How to Get the Most from Your Food by the James Beard Foundation features recipes and tips from renowned chefs. Root to Stem: A Seasonal Guide to Natural Recipes and Remedies for Everyday Life by Alex Laird focuses on using whole ingredients for both culinary and medicinal purposes. The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for Whole Plant Cooking by Linda Ly specifically addresses how to use every part of your vegetables. IKEA’s Scraps Book is a creative digital cookbook featuring recipes from prominent chefs focusing on recipes using ordinary kitchen scraps. Download here >

Discover how items we often discard-such as broccoli stems, citrus peels, and herb stems-can become the stars of our next meal. This can save money while reducing waste. From turning stale bread into creative croutons to transforming vegetable scraps into flavorful broths, the possibilities are endless. When we keep this awareness of what it takes for food to get to us in the front of our consciousness, we can more easily make mindful choices when buying our food and remember to use food well.

We need to be more mindful, or conscious, about using food well, creating little waste, and remembering that food is a finite resource. Being mindful means enjoying the food we prepare and serve, considering the miles the food has traveled. It means appreciating the personal effort spent nourishing ourselves, our family, and our friends. If we purchased a basket of strawberries, would we intentionally let it rot? Being mindful means using the food we buy to its highest purpose. Planning what to buy, storing the food for its longest shelf life, and using food to feed ourselves and family are ways of being mindful about and honoring our food.

We all have busy, full lives. How does one get started? Is it hard?

Smith suggests several approachable ways to reduce food waste:

 Be Practical–Start Small  

• Create meal plans: Consider the cycle of the food you buy for different opportunities to reduce food waste.
• Inventory existing supplies: Know what you have already and what needs to be consumed. Educate yourself about expiration and use-by dates and safe storage techniques.
• Shop with a list and eat before shopping (this helps avoid impulse buys).
• Buy the amount of food you need for the meals you plan to serve; this reduces leftovers.

Planned Leftovers
As you consider what to prepare for a meal, consider leftovers so you can plan to use all that you cook. Once a week, enjoy a Leftover Day (think Taco Tuesday followed by Waste-Free Wednesdays). Use visual reminders like the “Eat Me First” sign to gobble up those leftovers instead of tossing them.
Use Everything
Cook with vegetable scraps (like radish leaves and carrot tops). Save aquafaba (chickpea liquid) for baking, use corn cobs for stock, and repurpose celery ends and leaves. Freeze, can, or dry scraps for later. Feed livestock. Look for new creative ways to use leftovers and scraps.

Admittedly, a change in habits takes some effort. It has been very easy to throw food away in this country. Try considering why you prepare food the way you do. For example, take a rib of celery to put into soup. How much of either end of the rib do you cut off? Are those ends really inedible? Could they actually be used now or in another dish?

Check the websites in the references below for quick ideas on using dabs of leftovers, peelings, pits, and tidbits: freeze-drying, fruit leathers, baking, and soup stocks. We think you’ll be surprised and inspired. 

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Other benefits of using food more mindfully include gathering food before it gets composted and distributing it to people in need as gleaners and food banks do.

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If you are entrepreneurial, consider how to use a waste product and squeeze the last drop from the garbage. Here are examples of what is already being done.

• A juice company uses unwanted watermelon rinds to make flavored water.
• A pickle company in Denver reuses water that was used to make pickles. The water’s second act is in a Bloody Mary mix.
• A Danish distillery offers apple farmers a bottle of cider in exchange for their unwanted apples.
• In 2022, the local gleaners’ group diverted 1.4 million pounds of food from entering the landfill

Every household, even people living alone, can make a difference.
After completing her studies, Smith wondered how much of a difference one person or even one household could make. She did a food inventory and waste audit and was surprised at the amount being wasted. This type of inventory and audit can teach anyone where to start. Taking charge of how we cook and eat is one way to generate hope for the planet. Use the example of The Butterfly Effect: This proverb illustrates that seemingly inconsequential events can set off a chain of unpredictable consequences. Tossing out just one slice of bread into the landfill might not change anything. Still, if every household tosses bread into the landfill, it contributes to climate warming and indirectly results in climate change. The reverse is also true. Eat the slice of bread.

This past year, the staff at the Skagit Extension office decided to “walk the talk.” The Food Waste Prevention team advocated for office changes, including using leftovers discarded from lunches and food demos to feed the worms in the new worm bin. (Exceptions include onions, garlic, citrus, hot peppers, meat, dairy, etc.) The staff contacted the Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners, and champions Herta Kurp, Claire Cotnoir, and Hank Davies to design and build a state-of-the-art worm bin. Fondly referred to as the Worm Chalet, it is just outside the Extension office front door. The composting area signage teaches about the foods that worms can eat, including which lunch scraps go in, and which scraps cannot be eaten. Since August, the office staff has fed the worms over 200 lbs. of scraps. The rich worm castings are created as the worms process the food and are used to enrich garden beds. The effort also included diverting paper towels to the green bin rather than the trash. Since the start, the office has filled and diverted 90 bags of paper towels to green waste recycling.

Efforts to reduce food waste are gaining momentum at state, national, and international levels. Check out these examples of government agencies working to reduce food waste and greenhouse gases:

• In Washington, the Department of Ecology supports a state-wide effort with the Use Food Well campaign and provides consumer resources to help reduce food waste.
• The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a roadmap for addressing food waste on a global scale. Specifically, SDG 12.3 aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030. This goal underscores the interconnectedness of food waste reduction with broader sustainability efforts, including poverty alleviation (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), and climate action (SDG 13).
• In the US, the EPA’s 2030 Food Loss and Waste Reduction Goal aims to cut food waste in half by 2030, while initiatives like the US Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions program engage businesses in this mission (EPA, 2023).

 Mark Your Calendar: Always the Saturday Before Mother’s Day
We’re growing 3,500 tomato plants, and over 3,000 flower and vegetable starts along with edible and ornamental perennials for you to bring home and plant your garden this season.

How can people become more involved in combating food waste?
This coming fall, WSU will be offering a Climate Steward Certificate program in Skagit and Island counties. The purpose of the six-week hybrid course starting in mid-September is to improve people’s literacy and understanding of climate change. The Climate Steward program explores how policy supports or hinders climate change. The goal is to create a cadre of climate stewards trained to be liaisons for the community. Keep an eye on the Extension website: https://extension.wsu.edu/skagit/ or call 360-428-4270 for more information.

Here locally, on Saturday, April 12, 2025 (1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.), the Skagit Food Waste Prevention Coalition is hosting a day of learning “Sculpting Sustainability: Solutions for Skagit Food Waste” at the Museum of Northwest Art (MoNA).The fun, family-friendly event includes activities for kids and a panel discussion featuring local culinary experts giving an overview of the Skagit food landscape. They will provide ideas and outline solutions already in play! The cost is free, but an RSVP is required. Learn more at: https://www.monamuseum.org/events/foodwasteprevention

Join the movement to reduce food waste! Get started by doing your own food inventory and audit. Discover new recipes, learn how to cook with scraps, save money, help the environment, and positively impact our local community.

RESOURCES:

Websites discussing the connection between climate and diet:

climatechicago.fieldmuseum.org
nationalfoodmuseum.org

Skagit County WSU Extension: Food Waste Prevention Program. https://extension.wsu.edu/skagit/fam/

Washington State Department of Ecology: Use Food Well Program. https://ecology.wa.gov/waste-toxics/reducing-recycling-waste/organics-and-food-waste/sustainable-food-center/use-food-well-washington-plan

Resources for recipes and learning to cook with scraps:

James Beard Foundation (2018) Waste Not: How to Get the Most from Your Food. Rizzoli Press

Laird, A.(2019) Root to Stem: A Seasonal Guide to Natural Recipes and Remedies for Everyday Life. Penguin Life Press

Ly, L. (2020) The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook: Recipes and Techniques for Whole Plant Cooking. Harvard Common Press

IKEA’s Scraps Book. Free download at: https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/files/pdf/58/9f/589f2b5d/the-scrapsbook.pdf

Hard, L. (2018) Cooking with Scraps. Workman Publishing Company

Project Drawdown for information:  www.drawdown.org

www.Niehs.nih.gov National Institute of Environmental Sciences, Health and Education

Naiyer, S. (2022) Effect of Greenhouse Gases on Human Health. Springer Nature Link. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-16-4482-5_5

Eat this first sign download at: https://stopfoodwaste.org/resource/sign-for-inside-your-fridge

 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Katryna Barber is a Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener, Class of 2019. She has completed the Skagit County Solid Waste Division Master Composter Recycler Training. Katryna currently helps maintain the compost area at the Discovery Garden on Memorial Highway West of Mount Vernon.

Diane Smith, RD, MA, is a Professor, Food & Consumer Sciences, Food Access & Health Promotion, WSU Extension Youth and Family, Skagit County. Her research and publications include food access/food security, direct-to-consumer marketing, and program implementation.

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Questions about home gardening or becoming a master gardener may be directed to Skagit County WSU Extension Office, 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233; by phone: 360-428-4270; or via the website: www.skagit.wsu.edu/mg

Washington State University Extension helps people develop leadership skills and use research-based knowledge to improve economic status and quality of life. Cooperating agencies: Washington State University, US Department of Agriculture, and Skagit County. Extension programs and policies are available to all without discrimination. To request disability accommodations contact us at least ten days in advance.

Tap into Great Gardening Advice at a Master Gardener Plant Clinic

An amazing depth of knowledge and resources are available for home gardeners through Master Gardener Plant Clinics and Info Booths throughout Skagit County.

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By: Ginny Bode and Anne Hays, Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners

Problem with your roses? Does your fruit tree have a virus or a fungus? Is something attacking your pepper starts? Need help identifying plants in your new-to-you garden? Perhaps you have been out and about admiring your garden and noticed that all is not well.

Rather than depending on your neighbor or an online group’s collective input (which may or may not be accurate), visit a plant clinic and get answers to your questions from WSU Extension-trained experts. Master gardeners are an arm of the Skagit County WSU Extension office. They are rigorously trained in scientific gardening methods based on research conducted by leading agricultural institutions.

You’ll find answers to your questions and thousands of other issues faced by home gardeners in Skagit County at a Master Gardener Plant Clinic. Drop in at one of the locations throughout the county, all free of charge, spring through fall.

Master gardeners are taught how to search the many publications that document plant issues faced by Pacific Northwest gardeners and the recommended solutions. © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners

The plant clinic in Burlington has a large resource library with books on insects, flowers, trees, shrubs, weeds and diseases. © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners
What does science-based gardening information mean?
Master gardeners stand on the shoulders of agricultural research powerhouses such as Washington State University and Oregon State University. These land grant universities support the agricultural industry through research, which includes testing soils, finding solutions for diseases, and identifying the best cultivars for specific climates.

All master gardeners sign a commitment to only offer solutions proven in a university research setting. That means we won’t recommend a solution that isn’t proven reliable and safe. The extensive training includes integrated pest management or IPM. These solutions aim to “reduce human health risks, minimize adverse environmental impacts, and maximize economic returns and sustainability.” Clinic volunteers will help you find a solution that best meets your gardening goals. We’ll give you options if you don’t want to use pesticides. If you do want to use strong chemicals, master gardeners will outline the options and safety measures. Sometimes, the plant is in the wrong place, or a disease is in the soil, and the plant will never be successful. Then, clinic volunteers will recommend removing the plant and starting a new one with a disease-resistant cultivar rather than fighting an ongoing issue for years.

Plant disease diagnoses are a regular part of the plant clinic team’s day. Here a Camellia shows signs of both cottony camellia scale (Pulvinaria floccifera) and sooty mold. © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners

When plant clinic volunteers aren’t busy working on client problems, they are refreshing their knowledge base by identifying insects, weeds, or diseases. © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners

Who are the plant clinic experts?
You will be astounded at the scientific backgrounds found among the master gardeners who work at the plant clinics. Trained through the Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener Program, many core volunteers are retired from bioscience, forestry, and geology careers. Through years of diagnostic study and training, others have become experts in fruit tree diseases or insects. At a plant clinic, master gardeners work as a team to identify the problems and regularly cross-check diagnoses. Any master gardener will tell you that clinic experts are rarely stumped. If they are, they won’t stop until they find the answer.

Master Gardener Allison Hitchcock remembers one of the more unique plant identification challenges: “A client came in and wanted us to identify one of many large pits found piled on her property (likely dumped). I was having lunch at the time and just finishing my mango and easily identified the discarded pits with the one in my hand.”

During a recent plant clinic session, master gardeners worked through the identification process for an ant. © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners

Proper identification is critical to recommending a solution with the least risk or harm to the environment and surrounding living beings. © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners

Master Gardener Gail Messett remembers an Anacortes clinic visitor who was a fellow master gardener from North Carolina: “She was so glad to see us. She was visiting her son stationed at Whidbey, who had recently purchased a house in Anacortes. She wanted to help him reclaim his mature garden and needed help identifying existing plants and what plants work in the Pacific Northwest. She went back to his house and returned with pictures of plants for us to identify. And, of course, we could suggest native and other plants that would work well in our climate.”

Common Plant Clinic Questions:

• Plant disease diagnosis and treatment suggestions
• Insect identification (and control options, if necessary)
• Plant selection ideas
• General gardening advice, such as pruning techniques, weed control, and pesticide/herbicide application tips
• Gardening resources guidance: We can put you in touch with soil-test sources, native plant societies, mushroom identification sources, and much more

Two Locations in Skagit County
The clinics in Burlington and Anacortes have a library, print materials, access to online resources, and microscopes for plant identification and disease diagnosis. The Anacortes plant clinic is open during the Farmers Market and often attracts visiting tourists or those new to the area and interested in local plants.
Bring Your Suspicious-Looking Plant Materials
Plant clinic volunteers are eager to hear your questions and diagnose plant issues. The questions brought to the clinic also help identify trends throughout the county. Live samples are preferred, either in a baggie or jar, but the team can also work with suitable photos and, often, verbal descriptions. For plant ID, you should include a small branch and any flowers or fruits. Insect and disease samples should include both healthy and affected tissue/branches. Photos should consist of both close-up and landscape shots.

With the information you bring, the plant clinic team will ask questions, use microscopes, and research a comprehensive library of reference materials. Drawing on science-based training and years of experience diagnosing local garden issues, plant clinic master gardeners will track down the source of the problem and offer advice on the least invasive methods to set you on the right course for recovery.

The plant clinic in Burlington is home to Dr. Lloyd Eighme’s (1927 – 2021) extensive insect collection which can be viewed during clinic hours. https://www.skagitmg.org/home/publications/insects/ © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners

Dr. Eighme’s insect collection is maintained and enhanced by Skagit County Master Gardeners and is used to educate the public and to build and share knowledge about insects in our region. © Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners
WSU Extension Master Gardener Plant Clinic Locations and Hours:
Burlington:
Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April through October
WSU Skagit County Extension Office, 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A (near Skagit Airport), Burlington
Anacortes:
Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  (Open Saturday, May 18 through Saturday, October 12)
In the Depot Building at 7th St & R Ave., the Farmers Market, Anacortes
Farmers Market Info Booths:
Master gardeners are available at info booths at the Farmers Markets in Mount Vernon, Sedro-Woolley, and Concrete. Though these info-stations aren’t equipped with microscopes and an entire resource library, the master gardener volunteers at the Farmers Market info-stations can answer many of your gardening questions and connect you with the resources you need to be a successful home gardener. Check day and time with local directories.

• Mount Vernon Farmers Market
• Sedro-Woolley Farmers Market
• http://concretesaturdaymarket.com

Visit a Master Gardener Plant Clinic while attending one of these annual events:

Free Admission & Parking
May 11, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Skagit County Fairgrounds
Learn More >
Plant Clinic at the Discovery Garden / Display Garden Open House
Saturday, June 29, 2024 – 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Discovery Garden, 16650 State Route 536 (Memorial Hwy), Mount Vernon, WA  98273
Learn More >
Plant Clinic at the Skagit County Fair
Bring your plant questions to the master gardener booth at Skagit County Fair, August 8 – 11, 2024

If you can’t visit during plant clinic hours, you can submit your question:

• Online: https://www.skagitmg.org/home/plant-clinic-submission/
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone message: 360-395-2368

Alternatively, you can drop samples off at the WSU Skagit County Extension Office between 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Information on preparing your samples for mailing or dropping off is online at https://extension.wsu.edu/skagit/mg/clinics/

Please provide:

• your garden location
• a detailed description of the problem, plant, or insect
• send digital photos if possible
• phone number and email if we have more questions

During the off-season, plant clinic staff meets every other week to answer emails and work on problems, so there may be a short delay in receiving your answer.

Remember, there are many reasons your plant may not be thriving. Perhaps it is a tender specimen homesick for warmer climates, or it might prefer a sunnier or shadier location in your yard. It might perk right up with some soil amendment and a different watering regimen. Stressed plants are more susceptible to insect attack and disease. A virus or a fungus might have settled in, or tiny insects might be emerging to feast. The solution could be as simple as picking off the damaged leaves, instituting good winter cleanup practices, or using a handheld sprinkler to wash insects off leaves. A visit to a Master Gardener Plant Clinic will help you solve your gardening challenges and decide what to plant next.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:
Sanchez, N. Key strategies for integrated pest management. Oregon State University.(Aug. 2019) Retrieved from: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/pests-weeds-diseases/ipm/key-strategies-integrated-pest-management

ABOUT THE AUTHORS :
Ginny Bode and Anne Hays are Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners, Class of 2022. They are co-editors of the Ask a Master Gardener blog and are always interested in hearing from readers about future topics of interest.

Questions about home gardening or becoming a Master Gardener may be directed to: Skagit County WSU Extension Office, 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233; by phone: 360-428-4270; or via the website: www.skagit.wsu.edu/mg

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A Second Act for Your Square 1-Gallon Pots at the Discovery Garden!

Bring your leftover square 1-gallon pots to the Discovery Garden (16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon). The bin for recycling the square 1-gal pots is located in the parking lot, just north (to the right) of the main entrance.
We only need square 1-gallon pots like the ones pictured below (bottom right). The recycling bin will be available now through fall. Simply put your pots into the bin, and we take care of the rest!

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Seed Saving and Sharing

Open the door to learning about plants in a whole new way.

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By Sheri Rylaarsdam, Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener

Want to see an adult in an eight-foot-tall sunflower costume? Let your vegetables grow into monsters? Save some cold hard cash? Save an heirloom plant or design a new one?

These are all possibilities once one starts down the road of seed saving. You can begin almost accidentally by not pulling all the radishes in the garden. Several weeks later you’ll notice they have grown six feet tall with multiple branches and hundreds of seedpods. The original radish is an unrecognizable nob at the bottom of the magnificent plant.

Radish plants gone to seed in the author’s garden. © Photo by Sheri Rylaarsdam

Radish seed pods can be collected when they turn brown and look dried out. Interestingly, they are also edible. © Photo by Sheri Rylaarsdam

Now you know getting started is easy enough. So next you may be asking “What other vegetables produce harvestable seeds when left to grow?”

First, always save seeds from open-pollinated plants, not hybrids. Open-pollinated seeds are plants pollinated openly by wind, rain, or flying critters. Heirloom seeds are included in this category, named so because the saved seeds have produced ‘true to type’ plants for fifty years or more. The seeds collected from hybrid plants are sterile because they are a manually-produced cross between two varieties and will not grow true to form.

It is easiest to save inbred or self-pollinated seeds. These are seeds of plants whose pollen is transferred within the same flower or from one flower to the other within the same plant. Peas, beans, lettuce, and most tomatoes are examples of plants with inbred or self-pollinating seeds.

Beet plants grow tall when left to seed. © Photo by Sheri Rylaarsdam

Cobra green pole beans going to seed. © Photo by Sheri Rylaarsdam

Harvesting Self-Pollinating Seeds
Let beans and peas dry on the plant, then pick the pods to shell. Thresh the pods by hand. The chaff can be winnowed by tossing the pods in the wind and catching the seeds in a basin.

Lettuce seeds send up a seed stalk, ripening two to three weeks after flowering. Harvest daily by shaking the seeds into a paper bag. The lettuce feathers and chaff can then be separated from the seeds using a fine mesh screen.

To save seeds from tomatoes, choose fully ripe tomatoes. Cut across the equator of the tomato and scrape out the gel and seeds. Let the seeds ferment for a couple of days until a black or white mold forms on top. This helps remove any pathogens on the seed surface and also removes the natural germination inhibitor that coats the seed. Strain off the mold and rinse the seeds slowly and carefully. Drain in a fine mesh strainer and dry thoroughly on a saucer. Be sure to label the saved seeds with the name of the variety and the date they were saved. Since the viability of seeds is most affected by fluctuating temperature and moisture levels, it is important to store them in a cool, dry place-ideally in a tightly closed glass jar in the refrigerator.

Harvesting Wind-Pollinated Seeds
Varieties of wind-pollinated plants need to be separated by distance or mature at different times in order not to cross. Wind-pollinated plants include beets, chard, spinach, and corn. Corn pollen is light and can be carried long distances by the wind. A distance of two miles is the recommended isolation distance. A minimum of two hundred plants is needed to have enough genetic diversity.
Harvesting Seeds Pollinated by Bees
Bee-pollinated plants include many ornamental flowers and these vegetable families: Apiaceae (carrots, dill, parsley, cilantro, parsnip, chervil, caraway), Amaryllidaceae (onion, garlic, shallots, scallions, chives, leeks), Brassicaceae (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, turnips, kale) and Cucurbitaceae (squash, pumpkins, gourds). If vegetables have the same Latin name they can cross. Avoid cross-pollination by allowing just one type of vegetable from each family to go to seed. For example, if one lets leeks go to seed, do not let onions, garlic, shallots, scallions, or chives go to seed at the same time. The seed-producing vegetable also needs to be isolated from other seed-producing vegetables in its family by one-half mile. Cucurbitaceae are often hand-pollinated. Professional seed savers often use a system of cages to avoid cross-pollination.

Carrots, cabbages, beets, and onions are examples of biennials. These should be left in the ground or stored over the winter and replanted in spring to produce seed in the second year.

Start with something easy. Choose a variety of beans, peas, lettuce, or tomato that is delicious, grows vigorously, is a good producer, and is resistant to pests and diseases. Once you’ve started saving seeds, collect all the seeds you can. Then you’ll have plenty to plant next year, some to share, some to donate to a seed library or take to a seed swap.

Sharing seeds by donating to a seed library can make it easy for new gardeners to get started. Supplying seeds and information encourages gardeners to be out in nature, eat healthy food, and save money. Seed swaps are an excellent way to get seeds for the garden for the whole next year. Seed swap events usually have music, food, classes, and sometimes adults dressed up like sunflowers!

One can support biodiversity by supporting seed banks, buying from seed companies that increase biodiversity, and contributing to seed libraries and local seed guilds. The U.S. has lost a large percentage of its food plant biodiversity in the last 100 years. By saving seeds, you are doing your part to preserve the genetic diversity which is vital for the future of our food supply.

Seed stewards work to increase, not decrease, biodiversity. By saving and growing open-pollinated varieties of vegetables in the same area for many years and selecting for taste, disease resistance, and productivity, one can develop an improved vegetable. The selected variety will have the characteristics necessary to withstand unfavorable local conditions such as drought or heavy soil.

Seed saving is a gateway to learning about vegetables and flowers in a whole new way, witnessing their whole life cycle and how they interact with other plants. It has led to a new appreciation for nature’s abundance. Through seed sharing, I’ve contributed to altruistic causes that make a difference in the daily lives of people in our community. And I’ve met interesting people that make me smile-such as the fellow seed sharer wearing an eight-foot-tall sunflower costume.

 

REFERENCES:

Ashworth, Suzanne, 2002, Seed to Seed, Seed Savers Exchange

Gardening for Everyone: Seed Saving/WSU Lewis County Extension/ s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2057/2022/02/Seed-Saving-Handout.pdf

Op-ed: Saving Heirloom Seeds Can Protect Crop Diversity/civil eats/civileats.com/2022/01/27

Community Horticultural Fact Sheet #17/ WSU Jefferson County Extension/ extension.wsu.edu/jefferson/master-gardener-seed-library

Hubbard, Kristina K. January 11, 2019
https://civileats.com/2019/01/11/the-sobering-details-behind-the-latest-seed-monopoly-chart/

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sheri Rylaarsdam is a Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener, Class of 2019. She is an avid seed saver and vegetable grower.

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Questions about home gardening or becoming a Master Gardener, may be directed to: Skagit County WSU Extension Office, 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233; by phone: 360-428-4270; or via the website: https://extension.wsu.edu/skagit/mg/

Statewide WSU Extension Master Gardener Program Celebrates 50 Years

Cultivating Plants, People, and Communities Since 1973

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By Deborah Smeltzer, Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener

2023 marks the 50^th Anniversary of the WSU Extension Master Gardener (EMG) Program in Washington state, the first in the United States. The program began in 1973 in Pierce and King counties with the first class of more than 300 Master Gardener students. Snohomish and Spokane counties followed with their first classes in 1974. Skagit County had its first WSU Extension Master Gardener volunteer in 1977. Now 50 years later in 2023, the Extension Master Gardener Program in Washington has more than 4,000 volunteers and the U.S. has more than 100,000 volunteers. The program has also spread to eight provinces in Canada.

The WSU Extension Master Gardener Program originated as a result of the green revolution that exploded in the U.S. in the 1970s. Extension agents at land grant colleges, those charged with the mission of supporting farmers with research about agricultural practices and production needs, were overwhelmed with the influx of questions from home gardeners about plants and plant problems. Two extension agents in King and Pierce counties, David Gibby and Bill Scheer, assigned to support both home gardeners and commercial horticulture producers, came up with the idea to train volunteers to support home gardeners via plant clinics and educational activities. They would teach the volunteers to be community educators to help home gardeners with their questions about plants, cultural practices, and problems from pests and diseases.

Gibby and Scheer organized the first plant clinic at the Tacoma Mall in 1972 and dubbed the project the “Master Gardener Program,” named in recognition of the highly trained horticulturists called “Gartenmeisters” that Gibby had encountered in Germany. Also in 1972, Steve Lorton, then editor at Sunset Magazine, wrote an article to help recruit volunteers to be trained as plant diagnosticians. The rest is history (see https://mastergardener.wsu.edu/who-we-are/50-years/ ).

Local news media interview King and Pearce County extension agents David Gibby and Bill Scheer about their new program to train volunteers, who would then extend that knowledge to the public.

Sunset Magazine (1972) ran an article recruiting Master Gardeners for the WSU Extension program

Extension staff answering questions at 1973 plant clinic at the Tacoma Mall.

Under the leadership of WSU EMG Statewide Program Leader Jennifer Marquis, plans for the 50^th Anniversary Celebration (see: https://mastergardener.wsu.edu/who-we-are/50-years/) have been underway since July 2021. A group of five Master Gardeners from across the state have guided the planning for four regional events and a commemorative magazine. In Skagit County, Master Gardeners Deborah Smeltzer and Lin Hoisington have worked extensively on the state-wide project.

The communications team of WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS) developed an extensive media toolkit for volunteer use along with three videos (past, present, and future of the program) that have been rolled out this spring and summer.

The videos have great drone video coverage of the Skagit County Discovery Garden (located at WSU NWREC in Mount Vernon) and Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners at work. A fourth composite 50^th Anniversary video will be presented at the annual Master Gardeners’ Advanced Education Conference in September.

Jennifer Marquis presenting at Puyallup 50th Anniversary event on April 8, 2023
Photo by Deborah Smeltzer

50th Anniversary Commemorative Magazines will be on sale during the Open House

A special initiative of the 50^th Anniversary planning has been the launch of a 5-year campaign to raise $1.5 million to support the establishment of the first-ever, fully dedicated WSU Extension Master Gardener Program Endowed Faculty Chair. The WSU College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences development team is leading the fundraising effort. The endowed chair campaign was a key focus of the one-day CougsGive fundraiser in April 2023. By early June, more than $71,000 had been contributed to the campaign. The Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State (MGFWS) has also committed funds to this campaign.

 

The four regional events are showcased on the statewide program webpage, highlight different themes, and are a prelude to the 2023 Advanced Education Conference (AEC) to be held in Tacoma: April 8, 2023 – Puyallup at WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center May 20, 2023 – Prosser at Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center (IAREC) June 10, 2023 – Wenatchee at Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center (TFREC) July 13, 2023 – Mount Vernon at Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center (NWREC) Sep 27-30, 2023 – Tacoma, 2023 Advance Education Conference hosted by the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State Learn more at: https://mglearns.mastergardenerfoundation.org/

The second regional celebration was held on May 20^th in Prosser. At this event, Jennifer Marquis announced a challenge match of $15,000 provided by Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener Deborah Smeltzer and her husband, David Kingsbury. Deborah and David are matching dollar-for-dollar up to $15,000 any contributions to the endowed Master Gardener chair campaign in the form of cash or pledge donations through September 2023. They strongly support the mission of the endowed Master Gardener faculty chair to:

• Teach Master Gardeners cutting-edge horticulture and environmental stewardship in perpetuity
• Create tools that support volunteer outreach such as publications and fact sheets
• Partner and collaborate with like-minded organizations to leverage program strengths
• Build robust curricula that addresses difficult societal challenges

This endowment will be a game changer to provide key resources to Master Gardeners in perpetuity and to help home gardeners benefit from plant clinics, lectures, demonstration gardens, and many other educational activities in horticulture and environmental stewardship that Master Gardeners provide. Donations to this campaign by both Master Gardeners and home gardeners will help demonstrate the value of a dedicated Master Gardener faculty chair to Skagit County and the entire state of Washington. Please consider joining Deborah and David to help support the campaign during this important 50^th Anniversary year. It would be a great accomplishment to push the WSU EMG Program endowed faculty chair campaign beyond $100,000 before the state-wide Advanced Education Conference to be held in September.

Join us for the regional 50th Anniversary Celebration
Thursday, July 13, 2023
WSU Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center
16650 State Route 536, Mount Vernon

Watch this website to register for the regional 50^th Anniversary Celebration held in Mount Vernon at the WSU Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Co-hosted by Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardeners and WSU NWREC, event registration is open to the public. Master Gardeners in neighboring Clallam, Island, Jefferson, King, San Juan, and Whatcom Counties are all invited to participate. Beginning at 10 a.m. in the Sakuma Auditorium, the free event will include a short program featuring special guests including WSU Associate Dean and Director of Extension Vicki McCracken.

The event continues through noon with an open house at WSU NWREC and the three onsite demonstration gardens. Each participating county as well as the statewide Extension Master Gardener program and the endowment team will have tables/canopies set-up to share their work. Commemorative Magazines celebrating the 50^th anniversary will be sold at the event.

A key part of the celebration is the opportunity to visit the three gardens adjacent to WSU NWREC; the Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener Discovery Garden, the Salal Native Plant Society (NPS) Garden, and the Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation (NW Fruit) Garden. These three gardens are a vivid and moving display of both native and climate appropriate plants providing new and experienced gardeners inspiration and evolving ideas about sustainable gardening practices.

The theme of this 50^th Anniversary celebration is partnering between WSU Extension Master Gardeners, WSU faculty and staff, and community partners. Together we can support Healthy People and a Healthy Planet. Please come help us celebrate!

RESOURCES:

WSU Extension Master Gardener 50^th Anniversary Edition (commemorative magazine, published April 2023)

WSU EMG Program Statewide website – https://mastergardener.wsu.edu/

Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation website – https://www.skagitmg.org/

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Deborah Smeltzer has been a Skagit County WSU Extension Master Gardener (EMG) since 2012. She currently serves as president-elect of the Skagit County Master Gardener Foundation board and as chair of the Skagit County WSU EMG Program Training Team. In 2020, Deborah was named Washington State Master Gardener of the Year by the Master Gardener Foundation of Washington State.

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Questions about home gardening or becoming a Master Gardener may be directed to: Skagit County WSU Extension Office, 11768 Westar Lane, Suite A, Burlington, WA 98233; by phone: 360-428-4270; or via the website: www.skagit.wsu.edu/mg