Sci Fri: Seed Saving
Zinna Petals & Seed Base
Dry, label, store.
Though it's slightly more complicated with fruits like tomatoes, there are some great tips to help hard-core seed savers (squeezing onto paper to dry.)
It's trickier still with leafy produce as you need to collect bolting blooms, dry and shake out seeds.
Miss O made a discovery this week when she was studying her wilting zinna flowers. She started pulling petals and realized that the seeds were placed at the base.
Immediately, she started collecting for next years sowing season.
Later, when I was collecting calendula petals, I noticed the drying season has already started in the garden.
There were valleys of calendula seeds blown in the soil.
The best part....the number of seeds produced as a result of your blooms, is literally a hundred times greater than the package you started with (our original package had approx 25 seeds.)
Below are the masses of seeds after calendula petals have been harvested; plenty for next season and an excess to share.
Simply dry well, place in a paper envelope, label and save.
