Purchasing seeds and seedlings can be an expensive part of gardening. However, for many plants, it's possible to save seeds from your existing plants for replanting. You can save strawberry seeds, pepper seeds, and more.
In a helpful TikTok video, one gardener shows us how to harvest nasturtium seeds.
@fromdreamtoseed Seed saving tips! If you love growing nasturtium, here's how to save seed so you can grow it again and again! #seedsaving #nasturtium #seedsavingtips #gardentips #companionplants #gardening ♬ Walking in the Air - Muspace Lofi
The scoop
Jessica (@fromdreamtoseed) is a "Master Gardener teaching beginner gardeners" with her TikTok account. She shares tips and tricks for everything from maximizing small space to attracting pollinators. In one clip, she shares how to harvest and store nasturtium seeds.
In the video, Jessica explains that nasturtiums are great companion plants: "They're really attractive to pollinators, they're a great trap crop for things like aphids … and the entire plant is edible."
Nasturtiums are one of the plants gardeners constantly recommend to help boost your garden output. "If you're not growing [them already] … you need to be," she says.
Jessica explains that when the temperatures start to heat up in the summer, your nasturtiums may start to look a little rough, but it's also the optimal time to collect seeds. In the clip, she shows the seeds, explaining that they grow on the ends of small stems and often in clumps of two or three.
You can let the seeds fall where they may, and you could get a late summer crop of nasturtium. Alternatively, you can collect the seeds and let them dry out a bit to store for next season. Using this method, you might never need to buy nasturtium seeds again.
How it's working
Tips like this can help make gardening a bit cheaper. According to the 2023 National Gardening Survey, the average household spent $616 on lawn and gardening activities in 2022. This number depends on the size of your yard, but anything you can do to cut back that number will help stretch your household budget.
While there is an upfront cost, many households will be able to grow hundreds of dollars worth of produce. Check out our guide for more advice on growing your own food.
Not only is gardening a way to save money on groceries, but it is also a great way to keep you and your family healthy. There have been studies showing that folks who garden have healthier diets and lower stress.
What people are saying
Commenters on the post extolled the virtues of nasturtiums. One person wrote: "I grow as much Nasturtium as I can. As a Chef, I use them on my grazing boards."
Another commenter asked: "Can I pick them off while still green, or do I need to wait for the stem to start dying?" Jessica responded: "As long as they are pretty big and easily fall off the stem they should be ok."
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