Seed Harvesting - Brussels Sprouts

I let a couple of my Brussels Sprouts grow to seed this Spring, and this past week the seed pods were ready to go into storage.  Harvesting seeds from the particular plant is pretty easy.

To let the plants go to seed, you simply need to let them grow.  When it gets warm in the late spring, the plants will bolt (increase in height quickly) and start to send out yellow flowers.  Eventually, the flower stems will develop into pods similar to those shown at the left.

More after the jump.











The pods shown in this picture have dried out on the plant - this will happen naturally with time.  Once the pods reach this stage, you can trim them off the plant



 

 Each pod holds about 10-20 seeds, so you don't need a ton of pods to yield a lot of seeds.  The handful shown at the right will provide more than enough seeds for me to plant this coming fall.

To separate the seeds from the pods, simply roll the crush the seed pods in your hands over a plate.  The seeds will fall from the pods and land in the plate.

Add the pod husks to your compost bin, and put the seeds in a plastic bag for saving.

Harvesting seeds only takes a few minutes, and can save you a couple bucks at the garden center.