Saving Seeds
Thanks to Sarah Briton for this weeks info.
If you are new to gardening then you may not yet have experienced the joys of seed saving, and even if you’ve been gardening for a while you may not even have contemplated seed saving … but once upon a time it was just something we just did!
Why Bother? Collecting your own seeds makes sense in many ways.
you don’t have to buy seed each year so can save money,
you can swap seeds with friends and neighbours,
you can select seeds from plants that thrive in your garden and every time you do you are slowly creating plants ever more perfectly suited to you, your soil and your gardening style.
you avoid all the embodied energy in bought seeds: the transportation, the printing of catalogues and seed packaging and all of those little silver foil packs that can’t be recycled!
If you still want to be convinced then listen to the short film from London’s Seed Savers that you can find on the wonderful Gaia Foundation website here:
Jane Sweetman, who is responsible for all things seedy at Plotgate Community Farm gives the following advice for those starting to collect and save seed:
1 - Pick from healthy, vigorous plants that did not come from F1 seed
Plants grown from F1 and F2 hybrid seeds will not reproduce themselves identically. Their seeds can also be sterile or produce plants with unpredictable characteristics. By technically blocking their varieties, the seed multinationals can prevent gardeners from reproducing their own seeds and thereby keep their monopoly on the market.
2 - Only pick seeds and pods when they are ripe; shake seeds free, do not crush
3 - Only collect ‘good’ seeds - REJECT seeds of unusual shape/colour/size from the average
4 - Clean, sieve/winnow any plant material so that only seeds are left
5 - Allow to dry naturally in OPEN boxes.
Then pack seeds in airtight containers and store in a cool, dark, dry place.
For the short term you can keep the seeds in small dark glass bottles, paper bag/envelopes.
To overwinter, a fridge will be fine but for longer term storage use a freezer, letting the seeds thaw out before opening the storage container.
Don't forget to label your seeds. This can be as simple as 'tomato seeds' or you can write the variety, when you planted them, harvested them and what made them worth saving
That’s all you need to get started, and it’s not too late to do that today!
You can save seeds from vegetables (french beans, tomatoes and runner beans are among my favourites).
If you want information about DIY seeds check out this comprehensive resource
You can save seed from flowers too (bring on those nasturtiums and why isn’t the world awash with nigella and poppies?)
And don’t forget herbs - borage, parsley and dill are favourites.
If you want information about DIY seeds check out this comprehensive resource
And if you want to know more about plant life in general well, Jane is running a course in November called 'How Plants Work'.
It’s on Thursdays from 2nd November to 23rd November 10am-12.30pm at Plotgate Community Farm. She will introduce plant structure, how they feed and grow to reproduce themselves. So simple plant science for gardeners, growers and all who care about and for the natural world. It’s a Somerset Skills and Learning course that you can find here:
www.sslcourses.co.uk/courses/course/how-plants-work-developer/