In all the years I've gardened, it honestly never occurred to me to use leftover vegetable seeds as a ground cover! What a great idea! And you can also use them later for chicken feed.
You could consider this seed saving basics or seed saving for beginning gardeners or even experts. I used to be meticulous about saving every darn seed in my harvests then started to be more casual when I realized how much seed I really needed for planting with so much left over. So I transitioned to saving every darn seed but scattering the extras after planting the deliberate ones. Now I'm more relaxed and do much as you do here with the idea that at least birds can help themselves to the remaining seeds over the winter if they don't fall and germinate. This method you have shown also often leads to healthier and happier "volunteers" that have been given a little deliberate guidance on location. Win win for people AND ecosystem.
Another advantage of your method of future seed saving by placing the lettuce tops where you want them to grow in the future is you'll also be fertilizing the soil by putting organic matter on the dirt. I've also seen that by leaving bolted cilantro in place in a raised bed, eventually the seeds planted themselves and new baby cilantro grew under the remnants of the old dried up cilantro plant. So if you have enough space ( and don't need to plant something else there), theoretically you only need to plant many your annual food crops just one time. As long as you leave some in the garden to drop their seeds, they will continue to plant, germinate and mature on their own producing more food without you having to do any seed starting, transplanting and babying of the plants.
That is what happened to me this past year. I let my camomile go to seed last year and literally had millions of plants all over the garden. Now the whole garden smells sweet.
In theory this can work really well... You'd need to be deliberate and thorough in weeding other plants early on to have very clean beds, but if you can get there then your thoughts on this could quite possibly map out to working!
This was so helpful with the visuals. Some seed saving resources talk about different kinds but never show an actual picture of what the seed looks like. Thank you very kindly!
I've been trying to save onion seeds. Planted some of last years stored onion bulbs that had sprouted - that worked well, most of them grew and bolted, the bees loved the flowers. The flowers turned into little green 'seed balls', so that worked well. Some of the seed stalks folded over, so I staked up the rest of them, tying them up with strips of old bed sheets, so that worked well. I even had some strips from multi-colored sheets, which I made nice bows with, so that worked well. Birds, mostly nuthatches, are finding the seeds as they mature and turn black are very tasty, so that worked out well for them, not so well for me. Oh well.
I'm not sure if I have onions, scallions or something else. They're in bunches and a bit stout. I cut them off an inch or two above the ground as needed and they grow back every year. I love stuff like that! They grow several feet tall and bolt into tops that form small bulbs with their own leaves sticking out. I'm thinking about snipping the bulby tops and trying to plant them out, maybe under my bigger pine trees where there's lots of space.
@@PeytonWind I believe those are Egyptian walking onions. I grow a lot of then. The bulbuls on the tops can be re-planted to grow spring onions. There are a few youtube videos about them.
@@kensimmons9960 Thanks! Someone else mentioned this to me, also. A gentleman I used to work with gave me a number of bulbs that looked like little seed pouches or something. He said, "You're gonna hate me. You'll never get rid of them and they'll spread!" Haha, that's OK because food that returns every year is a good thing.
Seeds want to grow. Have been doing this kind of seed gathering for a while now and if I get organized enough in the fall, I winter sow them into the beds where I want them to grow next spring or even scatter them now for a fall harvest. If you have a lot of volunteers in your garden, then you know how easy it is to actually grow stuff, at least some stuff. It's kind of crazy not to let a few things go to seed and collect it - free seeds, what's not to like.
Something I consider to be one of the most important parts of growing food and often over complicated in most videos on the subject; we used to have a saying in the military “keep it simple stupid” excellent video as always. ❤
I use old pillowcases to collect seed from plants with long stalks such as lettuce, kale and chard. You can hang them somewhere dry for awhile and all the seed will be in the bottom of the case ready to scoop out.
What a number of awesome, helpful ideas! I am so looking forward to being able to utilize them next year. We do have a chicken run right now that's pretty barren. Our birds don't get outside and have done a good job of digging it up. However, I've begun utilizing some of your suggestions for temporary plant covers and sprouting grains and sunflower seeds to forage. Once they have sprouted in jars I take them out and plant them under hardware cloth circle barriers to let them get bigger. When they are a fair size but not too big I move the barrier and let the girls have at it. Still experimenting to see how much area we need of that before they'll stop decimating the plants altogether and allow some to remain and regrow. In the meantime they are looking at the different cloches and very anxious to get at the plants inside. Drool on, birds, drool on! I so appreciate what you've done in your chicken area and am learning how to copy your methods. It has certainly led to healthy, happy hens and healthy, happy plants! Thanks so much for all you've done and recorded. You've answered so many questions through your methods nobody else has and your methods work!
i like to put seed harvests through an appropriately sized sieve prior to winnowing. it's a quick and easy way to remove a lot of the larger debris if super clean seed is your thing
"and if it fails miserably you threw something on the ground and it didn't turn into plants" -Sean 2023 As always giving me just what advice I needed. I may not have gotten blueberries but at least I fertilized that little strip by the back fence. The weeds seem to be liking it. There's a spiky plant out front (I think it's a spiky lettuce) I can't bring myself to cut it because it's in bloom, like the white clover in the rest of my yard. I'm helping the pollinators if nothing else.
So glad it lands in a helpful way to share this video... Yeah, we try, some things work, some don't, but we move things in better directions if the intention is good
@@edibleacres I actually planted turnips this way a couple weeks ago, I was afraid the stalks and seeds would mold from the rain the stalks got from drying so i scratched some dirt rubbed some pods over it and dropped the stalks on top. The baby plants have true leaves and I'll try to be better saving the bolt next time, for seeds for next year. I hope I was clear.
Been saving seed for years....not a complicated process like folks think......and because the plant this seed came from grew in our climate it has already changed some to our climate.......
I have found that if you want to select a single plant for seed, (maybe it's different or special from the rest) and you work to get the maximum amount of seeds, you will most likely have more then enough seed for next year. I'm not sure, but I think I let mine dry out a tiny bit more then you. It's really hard to tell with my phone. I like to say that I pick my weeds. My main weed is sweet potatoes. I don't eat them but one of my daughters and her family love them. I plant them in the walkways and edges of my beds. I also use lettuce, peppers, and many the loose seed from my garden. Watermelon is going to play a much bigger roll in the weed department next year. Sometimes I'll replant some of my "weeds" into one of my beds. It is magically transformed into a vegetable. Nevertheless a rose by any other name is still a weed, if it's not where I want it, lol.
I'll try some of this as Im making another hugelmound. It will need something to grow in it. This new one is in partial shade on border ( next to abandoned property), so what do you suggest would grow in it? Do flower seeds germinate in partial shade? That would be nice. I've been collecting and tossing flower seeds as I can find, ie columbine, grape hyacinth and tossing where I'd like them to grow. Not sure if that has happened though. I'm limited to space and Sun. Sun is next to thieving neighbor who outwardly taken some of my best perenials including raspberry and blueberry. So I guess I have to utilize the shadier part of my property! Ugh
So, when the little kale come up like that (been there) do you thin them by eating or chicken? Mine were bitter? Maybe too summerish? Need cooler weather?
My chickens are a little over a year old and have been going through a big molt for a long time and still don't look like the new feathers are coming in, is there anything I should be worried about?
I think a molt can sometimes take quite a bit of time. Focus on making sure they have really great food available so they can rebuild fully. Lots of protein, lots of minerals, etc., lots of veggies and they should be able to fill out well
@@edibleacres will try to make some stratificatiom box and put it in the basement. I have a lot of seeds that I want to save for more then one year, so atleast one time they need to experience cool temperatures in my zone 5B - 6B. Pretty close weather to yours only we have shorter and hoter summer and earlier first frost in outumn and later last frost.
In all the years I've gardened, it honestly never occurred to me to use leftover vegetable seeds as a ground cover! What a great idea! And you can also use them later for chicken feed.
Really glad that idea landed as valuable and novel to you!
Thanks for reminding me to go outside and harvest lettuce seed!
Enjoy!
You could consider this seed saving basics or seed saving for beginning gardeners or even experts. I used to be meticulous about saving every darn seed in my harvests then started to be more casual when I realized how much seed I really needed for planting with so much left over. So I transitioned to saving every darn seed but scattering the extras after planting the deliberate ones. Now I'm more relaxed and do much as you do here with the idea that at least birds can help themselves to the remaining seeds over the winter if they don't fall and germinate. This method you have shown also often leads to healthier and happier "volunteers" that have been given a little deliberate guidance on location. Win win for people AND ecosystem.
Absolutely! Thank you for sharing this
I love how you guys respond to natural processes, see the possibilities, and expand the abundance with your interaction! Blessings Abound
Thank you!
Another advantage of your method of future seed saving by placing the lettuce tops where you want them to grow in the future is you'll also be fertilizing the soil by putting organic matter on the dirt. I've also seen that by leaving bolted cilantro in place in a raised bed, eventually the seeds planted themselves and new baby cilantro grew under the remnants of the old dried up cilantro plant. So if you have enough space ( and don't need to plant something else there), theoretically you only need to plant many your annual food crops just one time. As long as you leave some in the garden to drop their seeds, they will continue to plant, germinate and mature on their own producing more food without you having to do any seed starting, transplanting and babying of the plants.
That is what happened to me this past year. I let my camomile go to seed last year and literally had millions of plants all over the garden. Now the whole garden smells sweet.
In theory this can work really well... You'd need to be deliberate and thorough in weeding other plants early on to have very clean beds, but if you can get there then your thoughts on this could quite possibly map out to working!
I love the simplicity and practicality of the seed saving/mulching Sean. Always inspiring. Thanks so much.
This was so helpful with the visuals. Some seed saving resources talk about different kinds but never show an actual picture of what the seed looks like. Thank you very kindly!
Consider this a very very basic intro to the idea, and maybe good enough to do what you need.
Thank you Sasha for recording toward the end of the video.
Glad you found that useful!
I've been seed saving for years, but never thought of using the stalks this way. Thanks so much for sharing!
For sure
I've been trying to save onion seeds. Planted some of last years stored onion bulbs that had sprouted - that worked well, most of them grew and bolted, the bees loved the flowers. The flowers turned into little green 'seed balls', so that worked well. Some of the seed stalks folded over, so I staked up the rest of them, tying them up with strips of old bed sheets, so that worked well. I even had some strips from multi-colored sheets, which I made nice bows with, so that worked well. Birds, mostly nuthatches, are finding the seeds as they mature and turn black are very tasty, so that worked out well for them, not so well for me. Oh well.
I'm not sure if I have onions, scallions or something else. They're in bunches and a bit stout. I cut them off an inch or two above the ground as needed and they grow back every year. I love stuff like that! They grow several feet tall and bolt into tops that form small bulbs with their own leaves sticking out. I'm thinking about snipping the bulby tops and trying to plant them out, maybe under my bigger pine trees where there's lots of space.
@@PeytonWind I believe those are Egyptian walking onions. I grow a lot of then. The bulbuls on the tops can be re-planted to grow spring onions. There are a few youtube videos about them.
oh well! I bet some will still be around for ya when it's all said and done, and it should work well :)
@@kensimmons9960 Thanks! Someone else mentioned this to me, also. A gentleman I used to work with gave me a number of bulbs that looked like little seed pouches or something. He said, "You're gonna hate me. You'll never get rid of them and they'll spread!" Haha, that's OK because food that returns every year is a good thing.
Gathered some peas, arugula, cilantro, bloody dock and chive seed today. Mustard is drying, lettuce is flowering.
Awesome!
Seeds want to grow. Have been doing this kind of seed gathering for a while now and if I get organized enough in the fall, I winter sow them into the beds where I want them to grow next spring or even scatter them now for a fall harvest. If you have a lot of volunteers in your garden, then you know how easy it is to actually grow stuff, at least some stuff. It's kind of crazy not to let a few things go to seed and collect it - free seeds, what's not to like.
Exactly!
Thanks for the helpful info!❤
Of course
Something I consider to be one of the most important parts of growing food and often over complicated in most videos on the subject; we used to have a saying in the military “keep it simple stupid” excellent video as always. ❤
Thanks kindly!
I do the same thing, Shawn. Kale, rapini, mustards, bok choi. Plus dill, wild lettuce, marigolds, feverfew, calendula...lots of others.
Wonderful!
I use old pillowcases to collect seed from plants with long stalks such as lettuce, kale and chard. You can hang them somewhere dry for awhile and all the seed will be in the bottom of the case ready to scoop out.
Great idea, thank you for sharing!
What a number of awesome, helpful ideas! I am so looking forward to being able to utilize them next year. We do have a chicken run right now that's pretty barren. Our birds don't get outside and have done a good job of digging it up. However, I've begun utilizing some of your suggestions for temporary plant covers and sprouting grains and sunflower seeds to forage. Once they have sprouted in jars I take them out and plant them under hardware cloth circle barriers to let them get bigger. When they are a fair size but not too big I move the barrier and let the girls have at it. Still experimenting to see how much area we need of that before they'll stop decimating the plants altogether and allow some to remain and regrow. In the meantime they are looking at the different cloches and very anxious to get at the plants inside. Drool on, birds, drool on! I so appreciate what you've done in your chicken area and am learning how to copy your methods. It has certainly led to healthy, happy hens and healthy, happy plants! Thanks so much for all you've done and recorded. You've answered so many questions through your methods nobody else has and your methods work!
Really great how much you are experimenting and learning. Kudos!
We're really happy to be a small part of your deepening of all this!
i like to put seed harvests through an appropriately sized sieve prior to winnowing. it's a quick and easy way to remove a lot of the larger debris if super clean seed is your thing
Nice idea, yep, makes sense!
"and if it fails miserably you threw something on the ground and it didn't turn into plants" -Sean 2023
As always giving me just what advice I needed. I may not have gotten blueberries but at least I fertilized that little strip by the back fence. The weeds seem to be liking it. There's a spiky plant out front (I think it's a spiky lettuce) I can't bring myself to cut it because it's in bloom, like the white clover in the rest of my yard. I'm helping the pollinators if nothing else.
So glad it lands in a helpful way to share this video... Yeah, we try, some things work, some don't, but we move things in better directions if the intention is good
@@edibleacres I actually planted turnips this way a couple weeks ago, I was afraid the stalks and seeds would mold from the rain the stalks got from drying so i scratched some dirt rubbed some pods over it and dropped the stalks on top. The baby plants have true leaves and I'll try to be better saving the bolt next time, for seeds for next year. I hope I was clear.
Great video
Thanks!
❤❤❤
Been saving seed for years....not a complicated process like folks think......and because the plant this seed came from grew in our climate it has already changed some to our climate.......
Each year we save seed we get plants better and better adapted to where we are
@@edibleacres absolutely ☺️
I have found that if you want to select a single plant for seed, (maybe it's different or special from the rest) and you work to get the maximum amount of seeds, you will most likely have more then enough seed for next year. I'm not sure, but I think I let mine dry out a tiny bit more then you. It's really hard to tell with my phone.
I like to say that I pick my weeds. My main weed is sweet potatoes. I don't eat them but one of my daughters and her family love them. I plant them in the walkways and edges of my beds. I also use lettuce, peppers, and many the loose seed from my garden. Watermelon is going to play a much bigger roll in the weed department next year. Sometimes I'll replant some of my "weeds" into one of my beds. It is magically transformed into a vegetable. Nevertheless a rose by any other name is still a weed, if it's not where I want it, lol.
Yes!
I'll try some of this as Im making another hugelmound. It will need something to grow in it. This new one is in partial shade on border ( next to abandoned property), so what do you suggest would grow in it? Do flower seeds germinate in partial shade? That would be nice. I've been collecting and tossing flower seeds as I can find, ie columbine, grape hyacinth and tossing where I'd like them to grow. Not sure if that has happened though. I'm limited to space and Sun. Sun is next to thieving neighbor who outwardly taken some of my best perenials including raspberry and blueberry. So I guess I have to utilize the shadier part of my property! Ugh
pfaf.org has a lot of nice search engine options to see which plants might be best for certain contexts. May be worth exploring
So, when the little kale come up like that (been there) do you thin them by eating or chicken? Mine were bitter? Maybe too summerish? Need cooler weather?
Summerish can bitterize things :)
We can thin and send a bunch to chickens, that may be an easy solution for an overabundance
My chickens are a little over a year old and have been going through a big molt for a long time and still don't look like the new feathers are coming in, is there anything I should be worried about?
I think a molt can sometimes take quite a bit of time. Focus on making sure they have really great food available so they can rebuild fully. Lots of protein, lots of minerals, etc., lots of veggies and they should be able to fill out well
Interesting. I've not let any go to seed.
Always an opportunity to start :)
Hi.
How do you stratify collected seeds?
You can simply sow them in the fall and let winter do the work if you want an easy answer...
@@edibleacres will try to make some stratificatiom box and put it in the basement. I have a lot of seeds that I want to save for more then one year, so atleast one time they need to experience cool temperatures in my zone 5B - 6B.
Pretty close weather to yours only we have shorter and hoter summer and earlier first frost in outumn and later last frost.
so you are fairly confident these things are not cross pollinating like crazy and then your seed will come true?
I'm not super confident of that, but it's OK if they do :)
@@edibleacres fair enough, I suppose, as long as it grows something edible. Thanks