Nov 052012
You have landed on Day 5 in this 6-day series of videos depicting the fine art of collecting/processing/storing pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!
First some pumpkin pics:
Day 1 = flowers
Day 2 = vine
Day 3 = new fruit
Day 4 = green manure
Today = seed saving
Day 6 = seed planting
THEN a video re “Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds”. 6 videos (1/day) for the series!
Seed Saving
- Cold Storage Pumpkin. These pumpkin have been stored a few months since harvested last fall. Each pumpkin has seeds, so if the fruit does not look edible, perhaps it will provide good seed in a month. That fresh, viable seed can be dried, then planted. Note how the pumpkins were stored in an apple box; its pocket-hole liner allowed good ventilation UNDER the fruit.
- Dandelion seed in bowl. A high-sided bowl was used to dry this light, easy-to-blow-away seed.
- Drying Tomato Seed. A lot of moisture here; to protect the bookshelf (tray of seeds will be stored above to dry) a plastic cafeteria tray, newspaper, and office paper are used to soak up the tomato’s juices. Note the use of the fruit labels for easy labeling.
- Sunflower drying over winter. A corner of this room is used to dry the sunflower because A LOT of debris will fall to the ground. A dropcloth under the drying stalks makes cleanup/harvesting fallen seed easier.
- Sunflower head, dried, ready to have its seeds harvested.
- Harvesting Sunflower Seed. I like to also harvest the dry pulp from the head and mix it in with the seed before planting. Benefit unknown re mixing in the pulp, but my gut likes the idea.
- Harvesting Callendula Seed in a bucket. The still-alive and well plant is leaned into the bucket so that those seeds that are ready to fall will will not scatter and be lost (unharvested).
Yes, seed collecting is fun. And, don’t forget partly why we do it — to increase food producion and increase biodiversity. So what happens to those critters that get captured during our seed harvesting? Start by giving them a break!
- Allowing critters to escape from seed harvesting might be as easy as providing them access out. In this example, the bucket was rested on its side to allow critters to crawl out. Note the tucked-up-against-the-bucket hose bib. Nice to give the critters a chance to escape, but would be a bummer to have a breeze roll the bucket and dump all the seed — Nature’s way of saying, “These seeds belong HERE!” Note the escaping Thompson Jumper spider on the right.
- Weevils Trapped In Holyhock Seed Bag. The pruners are being used to keep the trapped weevils from having to spend months in a plastic bag. Besides clearing my conscious (one of the weevils could be Grandpa Tony!), I also want to free these glorious ambassadors of biodiversity because they pollinated the holyhock in the first place.
- Hey gang! I found it — this is the way out.
Saving Happy Halloween Pumpkin Carving Seeds — 6 of 6
Happy seed saving and see you tomorrow.
Tony