First up in our Seed Saving series is Heirloom Basil. In case you missed it, you might want to start with Seed Saving Basics to help you get started.
Basil seeds are pretty easy to collect so I thought this would be the perfect plant to start with. Just a few flowering basil plants can produce hundreds of seeds.
From seed to harvest, basil leaves are ready to eat in as few as 45 days. To collect basil seeds will take a bit longer.
When a basil plant gets too hot or older, the plant starts to "bolt" producing flowers. If you want to keep the plant producing leaves, pinch off those flowers. Otherwise, the plant will expend energy growing those flowers and producing seeds instead of leaves.
For seed saving, allow those flowers to continue growing. When they start to look a little dried out, it's time to harvest seeds.
Bring a basket, box or large container out to the garden with a pair of scissors. Gently snip off the entire flower stalk. Inside of those flowers are tiny seeds. When you are done collecting flowers it's time to collect seeds.
I use a large bowl for seed collecting. Use your fingers to gently roll those flowers over the bowl and the seeds should fall out. Some people use a colander in the bowl to easily separate plant material and seeds. The tiny seeds should slip through the holes in the colander leaving just plant material in the colander when you remove it from the bowl.
Basil varieties can cross pollinate. Basil plants are pollinated by small flying insects. The different varieties will cross pollinate, so it is important to isolate a favorite cultivar by at least 150 feet.
There are several ways to grow multiple varieties of basil and avoid cross pollination.
The first is to stagger planting, which doesn't always work because the plants can still bolt at the same time.
The next option is to pinch off flowers from varieties you are not saving seeds from and collect seeds from one variety at a time.
Another option is to plant your basil varieties at least 150 feet apart. Cluster your planting of each variety and plant other crops in between. If you have a front yard garden and a backyard garden this can be an easy task.
Once you have collected your basil seeds, it is important to ensure that they are dry before storing them. Leave the collected seeds on a plate or drying screen for several days in a cool, dry spot away from direct sun.
Remember to label your seeds when you store them.
Stay tuned for more specific seed saving techniques and seed varieties. -Mary
If you have additional questions, please feel free to ask!
I have so much basil! I am making pesto today and am trimming my basil every few weeks to keep them bushy and to keep them producing leaves.. most basil is from your basil combo pack!
These were fast to mature and really tasty. I am new to gardening and didn’t thin my seedlings well enough so many of them did not produce much of a root but that’s okay because we definitely got to use the greens! Photos are of the turnips from the garden to my kitchen and the dish we made with them. Some turnips in the photo are not the purple top variety but overall I think the purple top got larger than the others I planted.
This was the first time I have grown greens of any kind and it was a success! The plants are beautiful with the purple veins. I over crowded my raised bed with these accidentally but they still did really well. I started seeds indoors and had a hard time germinating (due to my own fault being new to seed starting) but still planted what I had outside when the time came. I was surprised when I saw the seeds that didn’t germinate indoors started coming up shortly after being outdoors. That’s how I ended up overcrowding my raised bed but on the plus side I now have a ton of healthy great tasting food in my backyard. Photos are of the greens from my garden to my kitchen.
This is my favorite plant in my garden right now. I started my seeds last winter (2022) and planted in spring 2023. My mullein survived the insane high temperatures over summer and was a refreshing pop of green all winter. I am eagerly awaiting the flower!
These are so much fun. They sell out fast and I try to get at least 1 every year. Last year I was lucky enough to grab 2. I love trying new things and these are a mixture of flower, herbs, and vegetable. One of my favorite carrots came from here. It’s one of three that I grow every year because it’s fun!
When I bought these I had the intention of testing Mary’s seed Garlic with the sprouting store bought garlic from my fridge. I will be doing another review later after I harvest and I’ll post a picture then. So planted these in raised beds. Both in full sun and planted in different beds. I did the exact same thing to both. My store bought sprouted garlic all died. My Mary’s is still alive and forming it’s bulbs. This was just too good not share!
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Inga montalvo on
I have so much basil! I am making pesto today and am trimming my basil every few weeks to keep them bushy and to keep them producing leaves.. most basil is from your basil combo pack!