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A small group of gardening enthusiasts gathered Saturday morning at the Rock County Library to teach participants how to save various grain, vegetable and flower seeds for next year’s gardening season.
The second of three free “seed soirees” featured proper seed drying and packaging. The hands-on session also allowed participants to shuck and clean next year’s seeds.
The session was led by volunteer Berty Stearns, who collected mature plants from Prairie Ally, the Project Food Forest in Luverne, as well as from local area gardens before this fall’s freezing temperatures set in.
Seeds for popcorn, beans, radishes, basil, asters, cosmos and cucumber seeds were prepared during the morning session.
Stearns demonstrated the various shucking techniques — stomping dried pods to more easily gather the seeds, blowing and tossing in baskets to remove chaff, or the washing and drying of seeds before packaging into small paper envelopes.
Kim Rockman with Prairie Ally explained that plants grown at the Food Forest are “not only for food, but for decoration and seed.”
Seeds prepared at Saturday’s event were offered to those participating and will also be available this spring in the library’s seed exchange.
The first session introduced participants to the theory behind seed saving, language used and proper labeling.
A third session is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, at the library. It will focus on garden design — where certain plants should be located to prevent cross pollination for genetically strong and diverse seed production.