Saving Seeds for the Future
A Novel Use of a Trampoline.
Thanks Emma for filming this short clip. It starts off with me clipping the root ends of some ripe seed plants which have been previously pulled up and left to dry.Removing the root ends takes care of the mud and dust which would otherwise take a lot of time to clean out of the seeds.
Towards the end of the video ,all the seeds were accidentally spilled back on to the trampoline. which gave me an opportunity to demonstrate a "bounce "method of winnowing. (effective to a point).
Despite this accident I was able to save the seeds quite well. This year I was able to save good amounts of Swede, Brussel Sprout, Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Sorrel seeds. Plenty enough for next years planting, giving away to gardening friends,and for use in sprouting and growing micro greens.Incidentally Elephant Garlic is fast becoming a firm favourite.Not only does it produce humongous garlic bulbs it also produces beautiful flower heads which are very attractive to bees and other pollinators,and work well in flower arranging,At the same time as this it produces small bulb-lets which can be used to grow next years new plants.