How to save money and get an early start with seed collection in Autumn: Gardening with Brendan

I found that out during a public talk by Irish environmentalist Éanna Ní Lamhna in Inishowen last week.

There’s a lot of things that can surprise you about the natural world and the bit of earth around your house, and there is always something new to learn.

Over recent weeks, I’ve begun the process of collecting seeds and seedheads from the garden as the flowers begin to die back and the flowerheads transform into birthing pods for the next generation of seedlings. It’s an interesting process to witness, death and rebirth, the cycle of life, and for a gardener it’s also worthwhile as it can save you quite a bit of money and also give you a head start for next year.

So why bother?

Well, did you ever spot a plant in someone’s garden or on the roadside and think, I’d like that for the garden? If so, now is a time to check if those flowers have gone to seed and you can always ask someone if you can take some seedheads or if it’s in the wild just go and gather them. Make sure you know what it is you are collecting first though, and that it is safe to handle as some plants, wild and in gardens, can be toxic and can cause blisters. Some are also invasive and a pain to try and get rid of.

The good thing about collecting seeds yourself is that you know the plant you are getting them from. You know how it behaves, when it flowers, what it looks like and if you grew it yourself and it survived when other seedlings didn’t, that it is strong stock. You also know that your seeds are fresh and therefore much more likely to germinate over the following months. It’s often hard to tell when purchased package seeds were harvested as many only display the use by date.

Buying in seeds can add up financially too, especially for rarer varieties of your favourite crop or flower. A few quid here and there might not seem like a lot, but if you tally it all up over a season, it can be a hefty enough bill.

Another benefit is that you can start sowing often and early, and the more seeds you collect the more you can succession sow every few weeks to ensure you get the most from your vegetable or fruit crop or flowers through spring and into summer.

When do you know when they are ready?

As a general rule, if a flower seedhead looks dead, dry and brittle and comes away easily in your hand, it’s probably a good time to harvest. Dry days are best for gathering seeds. Different plants have different shaped seeds and different seed scattering habits. Some of the easiest to pick are calendula as their large seeds look like dried, curled up little caterpillars, cornflower, sweet pea, marigolds, lupin and poppies, with a bulbous seed heads filled with hundreds or thousands of tiny seeds which you can empty onto a page after flicking off the top cap.

What do you do with them once collected?

For the next stage you will need some sheets of dry paper. Anything would do really, but normal white A4 sheets like printer paper are ideal as it is easy to see the seeds. Once collected just empty the seeds onto the pages and leave them for a few days, maybe a week depending on how damp the weather has been. It’s important to do this to make you are not sealing them in with moisture as they will spoil and go putrid. Once fully dry you can then bag up in airtight paper packets, envelopes or ziplock minibags. Keep them somewhere cool and dry like a cupboard until ready to use. I always leave the empty bag with the name of the seed written on it beside the drying seeds so I don’t get confused. And that’s basically it.

When to plant the seeds

This will vary depending on the type of seeds you are collecting. With most annuals you are best waiting until the spring, but some annuals and many perennials and biennials are hardy and will survive the winter either in the ground or pots outdoors or in a greenhouse or with coverings on frosty nights. It differs from plant to plant and even varieties of the same plant have different levels of hardiness so it’s always worth looking up the type you have. If you don’t know the particular name, err on the side of caution and sow indoors in February and March and don’t plant out until after the last frost date which here in the north of Ireland tends to be around mid-May. Some perennial and biennial seeds will need to be cold stratified in the fridge or freezer before sowing to mimic the winter conditions needed to wake them up.

So far I’ve collected thousands of seeds and it’s only early September so I expect I’ll be collecting thousands more over the coming weeks. I’ll not need them all. At the moment I have too many calendula, French marigold and oriental poppy seeds, so if you’d like some of any or each of these seeds send on a stamped addressed envelope I’ll post some out for free with instructions for sowing, stocks permitting. Send the stamped addressed envelope to: Brendan McDaid, Derry Journal, Catalyst, Fort George, Bay Road, Derry BT48 7TG.