saving’seeds’from’brassicas’and’lettuces’ by#melissadesa# ·...
TRANSCRIPT
Saving Seeds from Brassicas and Lettuces By Melissa DeSa
An important long-‐term goal of the Grow Gainesville Seed Library is to foster an appreciation and knowledge for the art of saving garden seeds. As the daylight hours and temperature begins to rise now in the spring, you will notice many of your greens bolting, or going to seed. Some can easily be saved with a little background knowledge on the specific plants and some helpful techniques. Most of what I’ve written about here comes from a fantastic book called Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. I’ll talk about basic seed saving techniques for brassicas and lettuces since they tend to be the most common in our fading fall/winter gardens. Family Brassiceae This is a diverse family containing many garden favorites like broccoli, mustard, kale, rutabaga, broccoli, cabbage, kohlrabi, turnips, arugula and more. Some can actually be challenging to save; they require insect pollination from one plant to another (i.e. one broccoli plant to another broccoli plant), and have a high potential for cross-‐pollination among species. The trick? Many garden favorites growing at the same time are the same species, thus pure seed is unlikely! Seriously, did you know that Brassica oleracea is all of the following: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale and kohlrabi? If these are all flowering at the same time in the garden, you may not be able to save viable seed. Save only if flowering times are staggered, to avoid cross pollination by insects. Or only plan to grow one from which you wish to save seed. This requires a bit of pre-‐planting planning before the season. If saving is an option, seedpods must fully develop while still growing on the plant. They’re ready for harvest when they turn light brown and become dry and crumbly. Continue drying the stalks or seeds in a paper bag out of the sun and in a dry place. You can break up the pods by hand or a seed thresher. As with all plants you save from, choose seeds from more than one plant, and only from healthy ones. Plants suffering any insect or disease damage, or otherwise growing poorly should not be providing seeds for your next generation of seeds. Brassicas will stay viable for about 4 to 5 years when stored properly.
Flowering arugula with green, unripe seed pods. When these turn brown and brittle, they can be harvested carefully from the plant. From one arugula plant alone, you may obtain hundreds of seeds! Share with Grow Gainesville’s Seed Library!
Family Compositae: “The Salad Family” These are inbreeding plants, meaning that they self-‐pollinate to produce seed. Different varieties however may cross-‐pollinate. Some varieties have flowers that are only open for 30 minutes up to several hours, so if flowering is staggered among varieties, you may avoid cross-‐pollination. Heading varieties of lettuce may have trouble getting the stalk to push through the heads. The gardener can assist by slitting the top of head or twisting it to promote emergence of the stalk. Leaf varieties do not have this problem. Lettuce seeds will ripen irregularly and are ready 12-‐24 days after flowering, when brown and dry similar to brassicas. Harvest daily by shaking seed heads into a paper bag. The entire plant can also be cut when most of the seedpods you desire are ready. Most of what you collect will be white fluff and chaff, hiding tiny seeds. Many home gardeners may choose to live with the chaff in their seed packets, but you can attempt to clean them with a fine mesh screen. Lettuce seeds are viable for three years when stored in a cool, dry, dark location.
Lettuce seeds forming on a fully bolted plant. You can already see the white fluffy chaff that you may chose to sort through. Post Harvest Storage and Organization Be sure to label your seed envelopes with information necessary for the next growing season, or the next person who receives your seeds. Some important details are: crop common name and scientific name, date saved, variety, and any planting notes. Proper seed storage is essential to maintain viability and shelf life. Once inside an envelope, you can place packets into plastic Ziploc bags, or sealed glass containers in the refrigerator. In our home refrigerator, the bottom shelf in the door is dedicated to seeds only, so they stay organized. If you have saved more seed than you know what to do with, consider donating to the Seed Library. Check out our recommended methods for donation on our website.