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Film # 11 – How to Save Seeds: Part One (8 mins)

Spring abundance – so many flowers, so many bees, so many seeds. Here’s how I collect my own seeds and make origami seed packets.
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In my permaculture garden, now I am collecting brassica seeds and letting others fall to self-seed later.  In my new short film I follow the mustard spinach from flowering to seed collection. 
Also, did you know:
  • Brassica vegetable flowers are edible.
  • Brassica flower stalks are edible.
  • Brassica seedpods (immature ones) are edible.
  • Brassica seeds are edible – mustard spinach seeds can be used to make seeded mustard.
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Mustard spinach seedpods –  almost ready to harvest. Nice and plump, just need to brown off.
Brassicas are such diverse, multifunctional and bountiful plants in the garden. Watch my new film to see how I collect brassica seeds and see my daughter Maia demonstrate how to make origami seed packets for storing and sharing seeds.
Click here to watch the 8 minute film:
When it comes to seeds, here are my tips:
  • Use non-hybrid seeds so you can save from year to year.
  • Allow vegetables to go to seed for abundance (one lettuce = 10,000 seeds!)
  • Encourage self-seeding vegetables to flourish and adapt to your garden.
  • Let your garden soil be your seed bank too.
  • Collect and exchange seeds.

 Other things going to seed in my garden right now include perennial welsh onion, rocket, lettuce, snow peas

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Native and honey bees visiting my flowering perennial welsh onion today. 
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Flowering lettuce – from the daisy family. 
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Lettuce seeds – once the flowers have finished and dried, you can collect the seeds before they fly away.

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Edible coriander/cilantro flowers.

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My citrus is back in flower – the bees are all over them.

Origami Seed Packets

To make your own collection of origami seed packets, watch Maia’s instructions in this short film and check out a previous post I have written with clear step-by-step photo instructions. You can use anything – newspaper, scrap paper … http://our-permaculture-life.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/make-origami-seed-envelopes.html
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Maia’s origami seed packets.

One Response

  1. B Mills
    B Mills at |

    Great tips and thank you so much for the origami lesson Maia, I will be teaching this to our Preschool Seed Savers, no more sticky tape!