With my most recent order, the free packet of seeds was a package of Lemon Queen Sunflower Seeds. I'll plant those as soon as the torrential rains stop. My order last year contained a packet of Red Romaine Lettuce Seeds. We love fresh garden salads with a mixture of several varieties of lettuce and this seemed like a neat thing to try to add some red color to our garden (and salad bowl), so I planted a row of them. Here is a photo of some mature red romaine lettuce I took back toward the end of February:
Red Romaine Lettuce |
Red Romaine getting ready to flower |
We allow the plant to completely flower and begin to dry up. You will see white, dandelion-type, feathery things sticking out of the dried flower buds. Just like a dandelion, the "wings" have an individual seed attached to the base and as it catches the wind, it will break off from the flower bud and fly across the landscape on its 'wings' or parachute until it lands, depositing its seed where it will grow next year.
The flowers of the red romaine |
Except with our red romaine lettuce, we won't let it do that. We want to interrupt that process and capture the seeds before they take flight. I take each flower in my hand and using my fingernails, I pinch the wings and pull up.
Dried flower ready to yield seeds |
When you pull, the flowers have a single, tiny seed attached to each wing. I suppose you could break off the seed from the wing, but that is far too tedious of a job for me for right now.
Seeds of promise |
I stored the seeds in an airtight container like an old ibuprofen bottle, ensuring that the seeds stay dry, cool, and out of sunlight. I'll make sure to label the bottle. This fall I'll pull out the bottle and after I work up a row, I'll pinch some of the seeds between my thumb and index finger and sprinkle into the furrow. The red romaine will spring up from the ground and yield more healthy salads for the family.
Seed Saving |
When I finished up with just the seeds that I had gathered, I had roughly the same amount of seeds saved that I started with when I got the free packet of seeds from Baker Creek. That's what I call the gift that keeps on giving!!
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