The first of the plants to set seeds in my garden are the early spring leafy greens including various leaf lettuces and spinaches. When the weather gets warm these leafy greens bolt, meaning they send up a flower stalk with the intent of reseeding themselves. I do not have any pictures of my early greens but they follow the same lifecycle and their seeds can be saved in the same way as the dill and cilantro. Chives and onion seeds can also be saved as described in this post.
As you may have noticed, most plants produce a flower at some point in their lifecycle. These flowers may, after pollination, produce a fruit in (or in the case of strawberries on) which the plant's seeds are found or instead the flowers may go straight to seed without producing a fruit.
As a side note, have you ever wondered about the real difference between a fruit and a vegetable? If the part of the plant you eat grew from the plant's flower, then it is a fruit. If you eat the plant's leaf, root, stalk, flower, or other part that didn't grow from the plant's flower then it is a vegetable. So that makes tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, beans, avocados and many others fruit. Somewhere I read that "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit but wisdom is knowing NOT to put it in a fruit salad."
It makes sense that the first plants in the garden to have seeds that can be harvested and saved for future growing seasons are vegetables (and herbs) since fruits take much longer to develop.
In general for vegetable and herb seeds, you can simply collect the seeds from the plant when the seeds are full sized but before they have completely dried out or started to drop from the plant. The harvested seeds of this type are best collected in paper bags (lunch sized works for most) then allowed to dry in the house in a cool dry location.
One day many years ago I planted one, just one dill plant. I haven't planted one since. But I get dozens of plants every year. Why? Because one dill plant can produce a bazillion seeds (ok maybe more like several hundred). And those seeds can stay in the ground lurking for years until just the right environment exists to germinate. And with each passing crop of dill, I am incapable of collecting all the dill seeds so the problem is perpetuated from season to season.
Well I guess I could yank out all the dill plants, but I like them so I let them grow. I do collect and save dill seed each year. For me, the dill seed is for pickling and cooking rather than starting new plants. Once the seeds are ready for long term storage (meaning they have fully dried out) I keep my dill seeds in a jar in the spice cabinet. My garden sufficiently produces enough new dill plants each year I never need to plant a dill seed on purpose.
Dill flowers |
Dill seeds ripening, ready to be taken inside and dried |
Dill seed a few days away from reseeding the garden |
Dill seed ready to cook with or plant |
Cilantro has a similar life cycle to dill and is harvested the same way. Below is a nice cilantro flower. These flowers hang around for a few days then start to fade as seeds form.
Cilantro Flowers |
Cilantro seeds on the plant, some dried (the darker brown near the top right corner), and some in process, ready to be picked and dried inside (center) |
Coriander, also known as cilantro seeds |
Volunteer Cilantro |
In the picture above these pods are obviously dried out. I just pluck them off the vine and pop the pod and all into a paper bag. You can shell the dried seed peas out of their pods after they are fully dry. I recommend shelling the peas after they have dried for a couple of weeks rather than leaving the peas in the pods until next year.
Sometimes I wait until the entire pea vine has died back to harvest the seed peas. Peas on a vine that looks like this are almost completely dry and usually only need a few extra days of drying inside.
Again just label your bags then keep them in a cool dry place while the seeds finish drying. Please note that this method is not the right method for dealing with wet seeds like those of tomatoes, cucumbers, or peppers. More on those later.
Once your seed are fully dry, you can move them into the Seed Packages you made earlier.
Don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest.
Shared with:
Creative Home and Garden Hop; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; More the Merrier Monday; On Display Monday; Inspire Me Tuesday; Tutorial Tuesday; Home{work} Wednesday; Wow Us Wednesday; Raising Homemakers; Wildcrafting Wednesday; Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways; Home and Garden Thursday; Treasure Hunt Thursday; The HomeAcre Hop; ;From the Farm Blog Hop; The Blog Strut Peacock Style; Peek Into My Paradise; Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop
Great tips. I love how you have dried and stored them. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I planted dill this Spring and wasn't sure how to harvest it :)
ReplyDeletecass-eats.blogspot.com
Great post! Saving Seeds is very important. Thanks so much for sharing at Tuesdays with a Twist.
ReplyDeleteHappy Tuesday! Come on over and share your latest posts.
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/2013/09/tuesdays-with-twist-23.html
Terrific information on seeds - I'll have to share this with my daughter for her cilantro. I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
ReplyDeleteKathy