Augie's a curious fellow. He's always asking me what I'm doing, even if I'm doing nothing. This morning, he was out playing in his sandbox while I was in the garage. When he realized I was in the garage, he had to know what was more important than playing in the sandbox. So I told him I was harvesting seeds. Earlier this week, I deadheaded the marigolds growing around the mailbox. Instead of throwing them away, I put them in the garage to dry out.
It seemed so wasteful to throw away all the seeds those flowers produced. After you pull off the old petals, it's just this easy to find the seeds. Even a kid can do it.
Augie and I piled up the seeds to dry out. If there was one thing I learned last year, it was to make sure your seeds are completely dry before you store them away for the winter or they will mold.
This is a good chunk of the pile we went through today. Each head produces about 50 to 60 seeds, so...
... we have a lot of seeds. Probably a good 10,000 by my count. Gretchen asked what I planned to do with so many seeds. Well, we'll probably use a couple dozen of them to decorate around the mailbox again. But the rest of them ... I'm not sure yet. I have an idea, but we'll see.
In the meantime, if you, or someone you know, wants a few thousands marigold seeds for next spring, let me know. They grow like weeds and produce flowers all summer long (until the first hard frost). They are a full-sun flower, and are very low maintenance. And when they die, be sure to keep a few of the seeds to plant the next year.
Comments
Post a Comment