How do I extract/handle seeds from vegetables (such as Pumpkins, Carrots, Peas)?

[JFK]

Can anyone tell me, or point me to a website, that tells me how to extract seeds from vegetables, and how to handle them so I can plant them the following year instead of having to by seeds from the store?

[Kay Lancaster]

Offhand, the best book I know is this one: Seed to Seed

that you have to have fruits to have seeds... carrots, for instance, are a root crop, and a biennial at that, so you have to have blossoming carrot plants to be able to get seed-- the part you eat is sterile. Also, much of the seed offered commercially is hybrid, so next year's plants are unlikely to be much like this years. If you want things to "come true from seed", you'll want to look for open pollinated cultivars and you'll have to figure out how to isolate them genetically from pollen from other cultivars.

Kay