Seeds of plants however small and seemingly insignificant, are by far more advanced than the tiniest microchip of human design. Formed by the fusion of the male sexual cells contained within pollen grains with female sexual cells in the ovule of the flower, the resulting seed (zygote) will contain the entire blueprint (full set of chromosomes) for a complete plant body including its fruits and flowers.
A dormant seed only needs the energy from the sun and moisture to trigger its germination. Collecting seeds from the garden can be a fun and rewarding hobby and save you lots of money. Here follow many interesting facts about seeds that may crack some of the myths that make you spend more and produce less.
* Most flowering plants are self seeding. This means that by leaving crops after flowering to complete their life cycle by producing seeds, you will never have to sow them again.
* Leave some mature plants and observe where and how they disperse their own seeds and realise that we are basically not needed for this process!
* When flowering plants are completely dried out and their seed capsules wide open, cut at ground level and shake the entire bunch out directly over the area you would like the seeds to germinate in.
* Keep in mind that germination happens sporadically and in harmony with the seasonal and planetary cycles, so you may spare yourself from counting the days to allow for that element of surprise!
* Alternatively a few plants can be kept especially for seed harvesting, you will not harvest the flowers or fruit but leave them to form seeds for harvesting especially.
* Some seeds are a valuable source of nutrients for the health enthusiast: Sunflower, Sesame, Tobacco (seed only!), Evening Primrose and Hemp to name a few. All these can be added to cereals.
* Viable Poppy and Linseeds can be bought in bulk from your health store. It’s important to get to know the plants and flowers that produce them.
* Take the time to notice the individual capsules drying and opening when seeds are ready for harvest. If you wait too long rain may cause fungus and rot in pods and dry weather may lead certain types of seed pods to automatically disperse their seeds.
* Bend the stems of seeding plants downwards carefully turning ripe capsules upside down over a container. You may want to do this at least once a week in dry weather.
* Alternatively when seedpods turn in colour from green to shades of yellow or brown, plants can by cut in bunches and hanged up side down to dry out over a clean sheet of material of some sort, to be collected more easily.
* Seeds from peppers, chillies, watermelons, melons, pumpkins and various other fruits and vegetables, bought from the supermarket can be kept, dried and sown again to create offspring with fruits true to the ones it came from. Keep in mind that green peppers are not entirely ripened and its seeds may still be immature. Appleseed can be germinated to create identical offspring. Try to germinate the exotic avocado or mango!
* Squeeze the juice and seeds from your favoured tomato out on a used envelope or sheet of paper to dry. Remember to mark the date and description or variety.
* Store seeds in a cool dry space and make sure they are dry if you want to store them in air tight glass containers (preferably of a dark glass variety). Metal tins may also work.
* It is important to catalogue your entire collection and make sure each container is marked clearly with a name, description and date of harvest.
* Add a few cloves to each container to ensure you are not harbouring seed consuming insect larvas that will devour your seeds in order to turn into tiny beetles.