Saving Seeds

Saving seeds seems to be a lost art. I have certainly only entertained the idea playfully in my mind until recently. This year I allowed an over-wintered brussels sprouts plant to go to flower in the hope of saving the seeds but on seeing that the plant had been infected by a blast of spring aphids, I pulled it up and threw it in the compost heap.

Turning my mind from vegetables, today I noticed that the wild flowers 'Honesty' I had enjoyed last season were looking prime for seed harvesting. Even though they had finished blooming their pink flowers months ago, I rather liked the appearance of the papery seed packets that remained so I left them to stand until now.

It only dawned on me today that the dried flowers were my ticket to the elusive practice of seed saving. Peeling open the seed shells was a very satisfying feeling and you could feel that the pods were ready to burst apart at the lightest touch. Inside were two layers of three seeds, six in all. 

All the sunshine we have had for the last few months proved to be the perfect natural dryer and the seeds felt ready for storage. I thought about how to package them and finally decided to pop them back into the box of mixed wildflower seeds that their parents had come from.