Ms. Eudora’s Garden Tool Blog

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Have you ever wondered how to harvest seeds from your favorite plants?

Having an ample supply of seeds for your garden can be invaluable when you start your garden the following year.  Harvesting seeds from your plants will guarantee you seeds for years to come.  The only things required are a little time, some small sharp scissors and  some paper bags or envelopes.

Begin by harvesting  the seeds in the mid morning or early afternoon after the morning dew has dried.  If the plant produces small seeds you will want to use an old stainless steel strainer with small holes to sift.  Crush the seed pods and shake the strainer to release the small seeds into a paper bag or container.

The strainer will also hold any mud clumps, debris and small spiders, things you don’t wish to collect. If the plant produces large hard pods which contain the seeds you will need to break the pod open before removing the seed ( if they are hard to remove, use an old pair of tweezers ).

After removing all the seeds you want you must store them properly.  Label your envelopes or paper bags as you harvest the seeds to reduce confusion, many seeds seem the same.  Make sure your seeds are completely dry before you store them (wet seeds will rot).  Keep your seeds in a cool dry place for a few days before you package them in the envelopes or bags.

Store smaller seeds in an envelope then store them inside a container that is NOT air tight, but will allow enough air to circulate to prevent the seeds from severely drying out.  DO NOT store your seeds wet and always allow ripe seed (still green) pods to dry out sufficiently before packaging.  When you are all done harvesting and packaging the seeds in their individual containers, you will have a ready supply for the beginning of the new planting season come spring.

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