Newbie seed saver question about fermentation

[nybb]

Hi All! This year was my first attempt at gardening and happy to say I'm officially hooked and already looking forward to next season! It's been a ton of work and I'm both extremely pleased with the overall results but flat out exhausted and still feeling overwhelmed by it all. I know I've learned a ton, but still feel pretty clueless overall.

So I am keen on saving my own seeds but think I made a major mistake and only now realizing it at the end of the growing season.

When I was fermenting my tomato seeds, I placed them in a glass container, added a little water, and then COVERED the jar with the lid, leaving them to sit for 3-5 days. I did see mold growth, it smelled funky when I took the lid off and had good amounts of slime and whatnot, but I am just realizing I should have left the lid off and allowed air to get in there!

So I am wondering if I'm likely SOL, or if there is something I can do at this point to try to have better success for germination?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

The other question I have is regarding planting tomatoes next year, since as I understand it, I should not plant in the same spot for 4 years or so? I have limited sunny space and wondering what my plan for next year should be. FWIW, I am growing in raised beds (SFG) and also have 2 Earthboxes (1 we used for tomatoes and the other for peppers). I saved seeds from my various pepper plants as well, and since everything is growing in tight quarters, I was wondering if I'll have any issues with cross pollination next year? We started our tomatoes and peppers from transplants this year, things were crowded but everything that grew seemed to do just fine, but I was hoping to try my luck starting from seed next year and still not sure what I'm in for.

Again, any advice is greatly appreciated in advance. If anyone has any sources they can point me towards to help me get a better grasp on things, I'm all ears.

Anyway, thanks for such a great resource, this site has been a great help to me!!

Cheers