Seeds 101: Intro to Collecting, Saving, and Growing Seeds

Learn how to collect and save seeds for your garden or share with friends and family. This course will cover the basics of how to collect, process, and store seeds from common vegetables, fruit, annuals, and perennials. This will include how to tell when a seed is ready to harvest, what information to record, how to ethically harvest as to not do harm to the plant or ecosystem, and laws that you need to know before harvesting any seeds. We will also cover various methods used to properly store seeds for short and long periods of time. You’ll also learn several ways to prepare some seeds before planting them to give them the best chance of growing.

Following the lesson, we will have a hands-on activity harvesting seeds from plants for you to take home, to put your new-found knowledge to use!

Pricing:
Members: $35
Non-Members: $60

Interested in becoming a Garden Member? Click here!

About Your Instructor:

Katrina Mitchell is Huntsville Botanical Garden’s Conservation Horticulturalist. She has a Master’s of Science Degree in Biology where her studies and research focused on conservation and ecology. She currently specializes in propagating and growing native plants, especially those of conservation concern (rare, threatened, and endangered species) in the southeast. Her work here includes collecting and saving seeds for our garden and in collaboration with other institutions to save native plant species.

She has a passion for backyard conservation: how one can use conservation practices on their own property in a way that benefits local plants, wildlife, and people. For years she has grown edible, ornamental, and native plants in her own backyard, for the plant nursery industry, and now for our garden! She frequently collects and saves seeds from her favorite flowers and vegetables in her backyard garden to grow year-after-year and to share with friends and family and at seed swaps. She has quite the personal seed collection to show for it!