Tips on Saving Your Own Seeds_1501

7/28/2019 Tips on Saving Your Own Seeds_1501

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tips-on-saving-your-own-seeds1501 1/5

Tips on Saving Your Own SeedsSaving your own seed from your school garden is entirely possible and can be a fun activity at thestart of the autumn term when you return to school. Lettuces, spinach and Swiss chard may have‘gone to seed’ - this means the usually leafy vegetables have formed flowers on the end of a longstalk and then these flowers have formed seeds. It is possible for the children to collect these seedsand save them to sow next year. Children can collect the seed, dry them, sort them and then designand make their own seed packets to give or sell to parents. See template at end of this document.

Peas and beans that were not harvested in time for the end of term may have dried well on the plantand are ready to harvest for seed. The ‘Borlotti’ type of French bean can be dried to be eaten insoups and casseroles.

If you have space, leave one leek plant, an onion plant and maybe even a carrot and parsnip plant toover winter. The next year they will flower and you can save their seeds. The children will see theflowers of these vegetables and recognise similarities within the family groups. Some vegetables areeasily cross pollinated by insects, so if you grow 2 varieties of the same vegetable at the same timethey are likely to cross pollinate. Broad beans are an example, so the resulting seed would be amixture of both these bean varieties. This could lead to some interesting results. Courgettes,pumpkins will cross pollinate and their offspring will often produce misshapen fruits!

Vegetables that self pollinate will most likely produce seed that is the same as its parent.

Easy and worth while Vegetable seeds to save

RHS TopCrop

Seed Viability*( years)

Save ownSeed

Broad Beans 2 Yes if grown inisolation

French Beans 2 Yes selfpollinate

Leeks 3 Yes self

pollinateLettuce 3 Yes selfpollinate

Peas 2 Yes selfpollinate

Spinach 4 YesSwiss Chard 3 YesTomato 3 Yes self

pollinate

*Seed viability - life expectancy of stored seed.



Saving seeds from herbsCoriander, dill, parsley, basil, and chives can all be grown from saved seed. Basil is easily crosspollinated, so if growing two varieties together only let one variety flower and seed.

Saving seeds from FlowersAutumn is a great time to collect the seeds from annuals in the school garden. Hardy annuals such ascornflowers and marigolds can be sown in September and will flower earlier in the summer term thanspring sown seeds. Hardy annuals attract beneficial insects in to your school garden which is good forpest control and pollination

Easy ‘hardy’annuals

English Marigold (Calendulaofficinalis)

Californian poppies(Eschscholtzia californica)

Cornflower (Centaureacyanus)

Love-in the mist (Nigelladamascena)

Nasturtium spp.best - sown inspring term

Poached egg plant(Limnanthes douglasii)i

Sunflowers (Helianthus annus)best sown in spring

Sweet peas (Lathyrusodoratus) sow in Octoberprotect until spring term

Important points to remember for seed savingSeed from F1 hybrids will not be the same as parent plant.Save seed from healthy looking plantsCollect seed when seed heads appear to be ripening. Unripe pods will not ripen once picked.Collect on a dry day to avoid fungal rot on seedsLabel with name and date to avoid confusion laterCollect seeds directly from the plant into paper bags or into trays lined with newspaper.Dry capsules and pods in a warm dry place until seeds are released.Fleshy seeds such as tomatoes and cucumbers - ferment the seed for 3 days to remove the jelly likecoating. Rinse in water then dry in a warm place.

Separating seeds from the chaff – the remains of the seed capsule. Use a tea strainer for smallseeds, or garden sieves for larger seeds, blowing away the chaff.



Care and storage of seedsSeeds can be stored in paper envelopes or bags. It is important to store packets of seeds in a coolplace. It is essential that it is not kept in a centrally heated classroom or dormancy may beinduced Use a large plastic lidded box to keep moisture away. Add sachets of silica to absorb anymoisture.

Once seeds have been opened, carefully re-seal any remaining seeds in their packet.Look at the date on the seed packet to see if the seeds will keep for another year.

Testing for ViabilitySeeds can fail because they were not fertile or fully developed, they may defective. They may have

been stored too long or damaged by fungal or insect attack. To avoid sowing dead seeds you canperform this simple test.

Put medium to large seeds in a jar of water. Viable seeds sink, dead seeds float. Sow only the viableseeds at once.

Curriculum LinksNational Curriculum Key stage 1 and 2 Science Sc2 Life Processes and Living things Green plantsQCA 2BPlants and animals in their local environment 4BHabitiats 5B Life Cycles.Literacy Key stage 1 and 2

References and further reading

Royal Horticultural Society Growing from Seed Alan ToogoodReal Seed Catalogue Basic Seedsaving information for beginners www.realseeds.co.uk Back Garden Seedsaving by Sue SticklandSeed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth

http://www.realseeds.co.uk/





G

LU

E

H

E

R

E

G

LU

E

H

E

R

E

Fold under

and press

against glued

flaps to form

back of packet

Write growinginstructions

on back

Fold alongdotted

lines and

glue flaps

ONLY GLUE ONCE SEEDS INSIDE

Front of

packet –

write

name of

seed and

draw

picture

Cut out template

along bold lines



G

LU

E

H

E

R

E

G

LU

E

H

E

R

E

Fold under

and press

against glued

flaps to form

back of packet

Write growinginstructions

on back

Fold alongdotted

lines and

glue flaps

ONLY GLUE ONCE SEEDS INSIDE

Front of

packet –

write

name of

seed and

draw

picture

Cut out template

along bold lines

Name

Picture

When to Sow

Where to Sow

What to do next

Example

of what to

write

Documents

Tips on Saving Your Own Seeds_1501