This is my second year as a gardener and though this year's garden is well underway, I would like to know how to harvest seeds from this year's crop to use next year instead of buying more seeds.

Can I just save seeds from say, the cantalopes or tomatoes I'm growing after I've eaten the fruit and plant them next year, or do I need to leave some fruit on the vines to rot so the seeds will mature. I read that someplace, but I'm really not sure.

I would also like to try growing basket strawberries and cherries, if possible, or should I try gooseberries since I've been told they can be grown in a basket. I'm also looking for anyone who has extra seedlings or plants of whatever they might have they would like to pass along, I'm near Clinton, NJ, Hunterdon County.

Thanks.