Enjoy seasonally appropriate youth-oriented activities that emphasize sustainable choices like recycling, growing your own food, and more!

SEPTEMBER ACTIVITY
SEED SAVING
It’s that time of the year again – everything’s bolting in the garden, the zucchinis are going crazy, and you can’t decide whether to tear out these plants or your hair! Before you do either, take a deep breath, and have your family help you do the following:





BASIC SEED SAVING STEPS
• Identify plants that produced well, tasted or looked great, and you’d like to grow again.
• Flag these plants so you can remember them.
• Print out a few copies of this seed packet template (compliments of Seattle Tilth). Click here to download template.
• Let those plants bolt, and set seed. Harvest seeds when pods or seed heads have dried. You can tell because they’ll be light (low moisture content is key to seeds not rotting in storage), and may even rattle in pods. Note: plants with internally produced seeds (tomatoes, squash, peppers, etc. must be processed differently. See link below for more information.
• Harvest small seeds by holding seed packet opening up close to plant & shaking plant inside packet. Harvest larger seeds by removing pods, then remove seeds individually from pods, and store in seed packets.
• Mark packets clearly, so you can identify seeds next spring. Store in a cool, dry and dark location.
• Come to MUD and take a look at, or check out, a top-notch seed saving reference book: Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth.
• Look at MUD’s online resources for additional information about seed saving.

And remember, MUD has the tools and workshops to help you! Join MUD today to access gardening, home improvement tools and more, or take a workshop on how to sew a grocery bag, keep chickens, and a wide variety of other backyard sustainability topics.

LINKS:
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