It's Seed Season!

Now that autumn will be here in just a matter of days, my mind is turning to seed collecting.. I've been letting some of the annual flowers, herbs and veggies go to seed in recent weeks and have just started to collect some of the ripened seeds.. Nasturtiums, calendula, poppies, dill and marigolds are drying and will soon be ready to store for winter.

Here is a seed pod from a calendula seed - the curled, rough seeds are already dried and every day when I roam the garden there are more to be picked. I alternate between filling my pockets and tossing the seeds into the garden to lay dormant until next year.. the problem is that I usually forget that I have a pocketful of seeds until I pull the jeans out of the dryer a day or two later.. oops!

Since we grow arugula pretty much year round, there are almost always some arugula flowers in the garden.. so pretty! I love the pale petals with the deep coloured veins - a nice contrast. Once the flowers are done, the seed pods will follow and when they are dry and brown, you can split them open and collect the small brown seeds.

On another note, I just picked a few purple kohlrabi.. they LOVE the cool weather of early autumn and can even be planted in a cold frame. I still have another few crops to come and should be able to start picking those in 2 weeks.. It's nice to have a continual harvest.. things don't always work out, but sometimes they do!

Happy Gardening!