" The author of the following text is Monika Polowa from Koszalin, a reader of the magazine Przepis na Ogród. "
Everyone who cultivates the land knows that nothing will grow on it, and you need to put in a lot of work, and often money, to have some benefits.Gardening expenses can be minimized. One way to do this is by harvesting seeds from vegetables and flowers.Here are some tips on how to go about it.
Which seeds?
I usually collect seeds from interesting, rare varieties that I don't want to lose.It does not require much trouble and gives a lot of satisfaction. Only the collection of seeds from varieties marked with the F1 symbol makes no sense.These are special hybrids with exceptionally good flowers or fruit that will not repeat their parental characteristics the following year.
When to collect?
It's best to choose a dry, sunny day and completely he althy plants. I obtain seeds only from mature specimens.Then I can be sure that they are fully developed.In the case of beans, for example, it is easy to know when the pods are dry and break easily, and in gourds, gourds when their fruits are hard and woody.
How to store?
I keep the seeds in the kitchen cupboard or in the attic. They must be dry and cool - down to a few degrees Celsius. I always remember to sign bags or boxes to avoid mistakes, especially if we collect seeds from more species.
Which types of seeds should I collect?
-Pumpkin vegetables- on the bushes of zucchini, gourd, pumpkin, squash or patison, I leave one or two fruit until fully ripe. I cut them only before the first frosts and then carry them home. Gourds and pumpkins, standing as decorations in the kitchen, are still ripening.Around December I cut the fruit and take out the seeds.There is no point in extending this deadline, because cucurbits usually start to rot with prolonged storage.
-Flowers and herbs- I cut the ripe seeds with a fragment of the stems and place them in signed paper bags. I do not close them so that they have air circulation from above. I put it in a cardboard box in a dry, ventilated place to let it dry. In this condition, they can be stored even until spring. During the winter, in my spare time, I clean them from the seed bags and separate them from the chaff.In the case of extremely fine seeds, I use a strainer with the appropriate mesh size to facilitate this activity. When I am sure that the seeds are not wet and are not likely to become moldy, I put them into small, signed paper or zip bags.
-Pasque-flowers ,helleboreordaisyI sow right after harvesting the seeds because they lose quickly germination capacity.
-Beansandpeas- remove the beans from the pods right after harvesting and place them in the refrigerator. When kept cool, they become resistant to the pod.
-Plants Berriessuch as tomatoes, mussels, wild strawberries and others I clean on a regular basis. I crush the ripe fruit and use a knife to separate the seeds from the crumb.I put them on a piece of gauze, rinse with water, leave them for a few days to dry completely on a cardboard or a saucer.Then I pour them into paper bags or small boxes of matches or creams.
