How To Save Seeds and Free Printable Seed Packages

How To Save seeds and Free Printable Seed Packages To Store Them: save the seeds of your favourite plants to grow again next year.

Discover how to save seeds from plants so you can grow them again.  Easy step by step.  Plus create your own adorable free printable seed packages that will keep them dry, dark and safe.  Perfect for gift giving too.

Today I spent a little time out in the garden harvesting seeds.  I love my beautiful flowers, and saving seeds is the perfect way to enjoy even annuals year after year.  It’s really easy to do too.

Collecting Seeds

This year we made-over our little veggie garden in our underused side yard.  We added raised beds, a garden shed, and pea gravel paths to create our portager garden.  You can read all about the whole progress of making the portager garden here.

And this fall I did a little update and shared some of the things we were harvesting and fall garden ideas here.

A portager garden is a French term used to describe a garden that combines vegetables, herbs and flowers.  We had two raised beds where we grew flowers from seed.  This fall I thought it would be fun to collect some of the seeds from the annuals so we could plant them again next year.

Collecting The Seeds

These cosmos were so pretty, and it’s really easy to save the seeds.  Just pick the bloom after it goes brown and dies back.  This time of year, everything is going to seed for winter.

I also collected some sweet peas that had gone to seed.  You just pick the pea pod for these ones.

Zinnias are another favourite around here.  Once the flower head goes brown like this one, you pick it.

Drying the Seeds

I collected different seeds in little bowls and brought them into the house to dry out.  Some of them were already dried out, but others like the sweet peas were still green.

Some of them need a little more space, so that they weren’t touching and won’t rot. So I spaced them out on a small plate and left them to dry out for about the week.  You’ll know when they’re ready because they will be brown, and dry, and opened up.

Free Printable Seed Packages

The best way to keep your seeds over the winter is in a dry, dark environment.  Save your ziplock bag for the kitchen.  Seeds prefer paper so they can breath.  Any paper envelope will do, but I designed these beautiful ones.

They’re available for subscribers as a free printable in our free printable library. Subscribe below and have instant access.

You can print these on your home computer, cut them out, and use a glue stick to put them together.  Be sure to add your seeds name and the year they’re from for future reference.

Perfect For Holiday Gift Giving

Do you have a fellow gardener on your Christmas list?  These would be perfect for gift giving.  Bundle them up together with a little twine and watch the delight on the recipients face as they open these little beauties.

With favourite seeds collected and saved for spring and free printable seed packages, life really is a party.

Subscribe here for access to our Free Printable Seed Packages.

You might also like our  Tin Can Herb Garden post here.

Also check out our Teacup Fairy Village Gardens post here.

You might also enjoy our DIY Cement Garden Markers here.