In late summer, Nature has a way of reproducing each plant and all you have to do is take notice of how it’s done naturally. The seeds! Here is a simple seed saving system I use.
Take a good look at your flowers and vegetable plants and notice that their seeds are developing. The seed pods start to swell and dry when the plant has achieved its goal of producing seeds for reproduction. The seed pods turn papery and brown. For complete maturity, you want to make sure the seeds are dried naturally as much as possible on the plant. For example, the stems of a Columbine dry about one inch below the seed pod when they are ready to harvest.
‘Gone to Seed’ is a good thing!
Snip off the dry seed heads with scissors, carefully, making sure the very seeds you want, don’t fall to the ground. Mother Nature has made it easy for the seeds to spread and if you pull them off sometimes you get a shower of seeds around you! Pinch Poppy seed pods tightly to keep them from popping apart before your eyes!
Collect the seeds pods in a plastic container. Here is where you sort the seed from the rest of the pod, called the chaff. You can collect an assortment of seeds in separate containers on an old cookie sheet or tray.
Next look for the actual seed and shake and sort it from the chaff. If you have trouble figuring out which is the actual seed, check out this neat seed ID website, The Seed Site. It shows the seed and the seedling for a huge number of plants.
Throw the chaff out to an area of the garden where you may want more
To store many envelopes, fold down the sides of a paper grocery bag or use a shoe box and keep iyour new seed file in a cool place. Some people have room in their refrigerators. You can reuse these materials over and over.
Seed saving is easy, economical and interesting. It’s fun to do with a child. You can also select those plants that have the most desirable characteristics and only save those seeds. In this way you become a plant scientist!
Resources
Here are some interesting websites about seed saving:
Really Cool Links
Many people in California know and love Renee’s seeds for the variety and quality.
Grow, Grow, Grow, Your Boat... These boat gardens are beautiful, colorful, and well grown. It looks like a lot of… Read More
'Paint' Your Garden with Blue... Is your garden is singing the blues? Mix recycled containers and crafts with blue flowers… Read More
See this hilarious and sometimes poignant list of lost items in the garden Question.......what was the last thing you lost… Read More
Designing a charming garden baker's rack When I first saw Jeanne’s well-arranged and simply delightful Baker’s rack, I thought, ‘Somebody… Read More
Choosing a color from 'Over the Rainbow Garden' Billie Hayman's garden is full of color and she shows how one… Read More
Alliums are drama queens in the garden! Whether real flowers, grown from bulbs or the crafted faux flowers modeled after… Read More
View Comments
Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog jump out. Please let me know where you got your design. Thanks