Seed saving - PEP BB gardening.straw.seedsaving

How to Certify That Your BB is Completed

- A picture of each of your four species with seeds before being harvested (such as seed pods or sliced open with seeds showing) and some seeds removed
- A picture of each of your four species in its labeled container
- A brief description on how you are storing the seeds (in jars, seed packets, etc.)

I saved my favorite heirloom green beans, a variety known as "Strike."
I also saved red onions, Georgia collards, and my son's favorite marigolds.

Well I just learned about PEP etc tonight. And since I have just been sorting my seeds for the first time, I thought I may as well throw my hat in the ring and begin the challenge of this achievement (badge collecting) 'journey' . Although it sort of makes me feel like I am back in Brownies / Girl Guides again. LOL.

I realise I may not even get this badge because I am merely submitting seeds I have already harvested in Summer or years previous, and it is Winter now so no proof.  But here goes.

(I'm including/ed a pic of what I have collected over time but only ?ten days ago collated all in one container (with containers in containers until I find the best organisational and storage method for moi.)

1) Onions - I let them go to seed that year. And I intend to plant some to see how viable they are, although it want be enough for my daily use for a year since they will be planted out in a pot potentially, as I am (re) designing my yard.

2) Broccoli - I enjoy broccoli, but I still have not learned how to grow it well. I see many gardens on line with marvellous heads, and many heads. Whereas mine are poorly eg only has one main head and then they seem to bolt. But in letting them go to seed, they seed bountifully.  What is exciting though, I noticed just yesterday in the raised bed where I grew my broccoli last year, and I have grown a variety of veggies across the year, that something new is growing e.g self seeded and it looks like its the broccoli seedlings appearing, which is what I was hoping for as well as collecting the seeds. The volunteer seedlings that has appeared so far are thankfully scattered wide enough apart from each other so I don't have to risk relocating them.  I am looking forward to this generation of broccoli and hoping it might be more acclimatised and ''flourish'' well, in due time.

3) Marigolds - I harvested a variety of marigold seeds from the garden a few years ago. I have not seem to reach the same amount of harvest from the seeds since.  Which makes me think I need to source some seeds from guaranteed NGM /heirloom outlets. I have well forgotten the names of the varieties i have in storage, and I am new to keeping seeds and the exact labelling and dating etc, but learning that each time I collect any seeds, I must follow an orderly record keeping process on commencement of drying, and storage.

4) Apples - I have a Tropical Red Apple, which is lovely. In the same bed is a (green) Granny Smith, and it is more dominant, and then the possums loved the leaves of both and the red apples. So I have struggled for some years to manage this. But last Summer's end, I decided to cover both of them with netting (I will make a post elsewhere about my How To of nesting fruit trees that works for me and may be helpful for others). The logic in netting these two apple trees late Summer, was to let them resprout without any more possum abuse, and hopefully there will be enough growth for a reasonable hope of blossoms and fruit, and I will keep it covered all through the season too, and hopefully enjoy a harvest instead of the possums.

5) Sweet peas - variety as usual.

6) Mandarin - Ive not had a mandarin tree ever. So this is so fun to get more and more each year, although it has remained in a large pot for a few years, awaiting a permanent home in the ground hopefully in the next 12months. I collected the seeds in case something happened to the tree and I could replace it without financial expense but the expense of time until it matures. I did not collect the seeds for more m.trees, as I dont have the yard space to accommodate, and once it is established I think it will be more than enough for my solo use.

7) Nasturtiums - these are my main stay, instead of weeds. I use the leaves regularly in cooking, and flowers in salads or a nibble in the garden occasionally. And they do what they do in the soil with they odour, and they are good filtering means of hot sun on the roots of other plants. Then their long 'branches' or runners can be dried off for tying (I've even used it to tie gifts), or for chopping mulching around the beds.

8) Nurse plant / Acacia / Wattle - This is a common native small tree with abundant seed pods per branch, and a great nitrogen fixer/ releaser. I keep several of these trees, only because they just volunteer to grow, but I will be more strategic with those that I have removed into pots, so I can plant them when I plant out in my new designed yard/garden. They are also known as pioneer trees, because they only have a short life expectancy which makes way for a tree with expected longevity, so planting them near the fruit trees I intend to grow as per the proposed garden design, they fruit tree will benefit from the pruning/ releasing of the nitrogen.


Final pic.... my 'to be organised' seed collection for storage that has only recently been collated for the first time - well over due.

PS - apologies to any and all who may be questioning why I am using what some folk in the US call 'baggies' / plastic bags.
As mentioned I am for the first time organising my seed collection and other seeds. I used to keep them in old envelopes but they got tattered over the years. So in the interim, since I had baggies on hand, I chose to use them since they have a seal on them and the seeds are already well dried, so no risk of mildew /sweating etc.  
Any suggestion for organisation of seeds are welcomed. I have not looked on this website yet for seed organisation.

Corn saving.

Nasturtian plant from where the seeds came from last seaon.
(see the baggies in right bottom of pics above)

Nurse tree - reseeding this year.

The seed in the centre of the pic above is the pod of previous harvests of seeds.