Save your own vegetable seed to save money and to buy a great sense of satisfaction. Now is the time to save the seed of tomato, watermelon, cucumber, eggplant, basil, rocket, capsicum and chilli. Here’s how:

Step 1: Pick your vegetable: we’ve chosen to save the seeds of a very tasty tomato. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds and flesh into a clean cup or container. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to the seeds. Cover the container with a piece of plastic-wrap and then make a small hole in it – this is to allow for air-transpiration.

Step 2: Place the container of seeds in a warm location such as a sunny windowsill. The seed and water mixture will ferment. This takes about two or three days. Each night, remove the plastic-wrap, stir the seed and water mixture, and then replace the plastic-wrap. The top of the liquid will look dirty when the fermentation process has separated the flesh from the seeds. It also helps destroy many of the possible diseases that can be harboured by seeds.

Step 3: Take the container of fermented seeds to the sink and with a spoon carefully remove the dirty surface. Then pour the container's contents into a fine kitchen sieve and rinse the seeds with water several times, stir them while they're in the sieve to ensure they are thoroughly rinsed.

Step 4: Line a plate with a piece of waxed paper. Place the rinsed seeds onto the paper and spread them about so they are in a single layer. Place the plate in a safe location where the seeds can dry for a few days. Stir the seeds a few times during the drying process to ensure that all their surfaces are evenly dry. How do you know if the seeds are completely dry? Dried seeds move quickly and easily across a plate and do not stick to each other.

Step 5: Store seeds in paper bags. If you know the seed variety name, write it onto the packet. If not, jot down a detailed description. Also add the current year to the packet description. Don’t forget to germinate the seeds in early spring.