We have been doing a lot of seed-saving lately, now that our collection of various vegetables is in full swing.
Here, my son is saving lettuce seeds:
If allowed to bloom, lettuces make small yellow flowers that pollinate, then dry into puffs reminiscent of dandelion seed heads, though much smaller.
Each lettuce plant makes many hundreds – perhaps thousands – of seeds.
You just have to roll the little dried heads between your fingers and let the seeds fall into your other hand. It’s best to save lettuce seed on a dry day so the seeds are also dry. Once you have a nice collection of seeds, put them in a baggie or a sealed jar and store them in your fridge until you are ready to plant.
Right now we are waiting for the rainy season to return – it’s too hot for lettuces!
7 comments
Thank you for this. I actually have lettuce that is flowering in my bed right now
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Just A Suggestion: Perhaps now that certain states have made the purchase of seeds ‘non-essential,’ and at least one state (Michigan) has made it illegal to garden (and fish), saving seeds may be essential to survive whatever is coming. Now might be a good time to write that book on seed saving.
Yeah, you may be right. The best one I have read is “Seed to Seed,” which I cannot improve upon. https://amzn.to/2zxtuRr
“I seed,” said the blind man.
I decided to harvest my lettuce seeds this year also. And I noticed something. When they fluff up, they are very sticky…which I thought was a very clever design thank to The Creator! The stickiness caught a lot of insects…haha…can’t steal those seeds. The wind could not steal those seeds! My fingers were extremely sticky and that was a little tricky to wash off. Then I noticed something even MORE amazing.l,if I waited another week or so, the fluff would become enclosed in a little brown seed pod. It wasn’t nearly so sticky either, and the seeds were tucked in there safe and sound, making it much easier to pluck. Just thought I would share my observations.
That is wonderful. You are seeing the design.