Gardening: How To Harvest Seeds?

Harvesting seeds directly from plants is a great way to garden without breaking the bank. However, for this trick to work, you need to harvest at the right time and in the right way! We will explain how to collect seeds from the flowers and vegetables in your garden.

1- Why harvest your own seeds?

Our grandparents used to harvest seeds from flowers and vegetables in their garden mainly for economic reasons.

Even though each packet of seeds is not very expensive, the overall budget that a gardener has to allocate ends up representing a considerable amount. A good tip for gardening on a budget is to collect seeds from plants that cost you nothing.

This ancestral gesture is also very satisfying for both beginner and experienced gardeners because it allows them to reproduce certain particularly vigorous and productive plants and varieties. But be careful, this tip works exclusively with non-hybrid varieties! Only so-called “fixed” varieties can be reproduced identically.

2- When to harvest seeds in the garden?

The main difficulty in harvesting seeds in your garden is deciding when to proceed with the harvest. Generally, it is towards the end of summer, in August and September, that most seeds reach maturity.

There is no specific date or period for doing this because it all depends on the variety of flowers or vegetables you want to reproduce. For each variety, you need to observe the plant carefully. Certain signs, such as the drying of flowers or pods, indicate that it is time to collect the seeds.

For sunflowers, for example, harvesting is done in autumn when the seeds are ripe. The husk that surrounds them, or tegument, changes color at maturity and becomes cream beige, sometimes streaked with black.

Keep an eye out to harvest at the right moment! On one hand, you need to wait until the seeds are mature and dry. But, on the other hand, you must not delay too long, otherwise, the wind or the plant itself will disperse the precious seeds before you have had a chance to collect them!

3- How to harvest seeds from flowers and vegetables?

Before proceeding with seed harvesting, it is important to observe the plant and, if necessary, research online because each species has different reproductive organs. You must identify in advance the part of the plant that contains the seeds.

Sweet peas, for example, produce pods filled with large seeds, while poppy flowers turn into dry capsules full of tiny seeds... In the large family of vegetable plants, some vegetables like broad beans and green beans produce pods, while others like tomatoes and peppers contain their seeds inside the fruit.

In any case, you must leave the pods or fruits on the plant until they are very ripe, dry, wrinkled, or even wilted, before opening them to collect the seeds.

4- How to recover the seeds without losing any?

If you have ever tried to harvest seeds from certain flowers or aromatic herbs like basil, you have surely noticed that the small seeds are not so easy to collect!

While harvesting poses no problem for beans or large flowers like sunflowers, it is more delicate when the seed is small and light or when the capsule containing them explodes at the slightest touch...

In this case, a trick to avoid losing the seeds is to beat the dried plant directly into a paper bag. You can do this with the faded flower spikes of basil or with umbel plants like parsley, chervil, coriander, or perennial fennel.

For some fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes and melons, it is necessary to rinse the seeds and let them dry before storing them.

5- How to store seeds after harvesting?

Now that you know how to harvest seeds in your garden, you may be wondering how to store and preserve them until the following year...

To avoid mold, it is better not to use overly airtight containers, such as glass jars or plastic tubes. It is preferable to slip the seeds into small paper bags or envelopes.

To store your seeds under optimal preservation conditions, always remember to:
• write the full name of the plant on the envelope, including the species and variety.
• indicate the harvest date, as seeds gathered by yourself do not keep for more than a year.
• gather all the envelopes in a large airtight box, like a Tupperware.
• store the box away from moisture and light.