Buying seeds and seedlings can be an expensive part of gardening, but for many plants it is possible to save seeds from existing plants and replant them. You can save strawberry seeds, pepper seeds, etc.
In a helpful TikTok video, a gardener shows you how to harvest nasturtium seeds.
@fromdreamtoseed Seed Saving Tips! If you love growing nasturtiums, here's how you can save the seeds so you can grow them again and again. #seedsaving #nasturtium #seedsavingtips #gardentips #companionplants #gardening ♬ Walking in the Air – Muspace Lofi
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Jessica (@fromdreamtoseed) is a “master gardener mentoring beginner gardeners” on her TikTok account. She shares tips and tricks on everything from making the most of small spaces to attracting pollinators. In one clip, she shows how to harvest and store nasturtium seeds.
In the video, Jessica explains that nasturtiums are great companion plants: “They're really attractive to pollinators, and they're also a great crop for catching aphids and stuff… and you can eat the whole plant.”
Nasturtiums are one of the plants that gardeners always recommend to increase the yield of your garden. [them already] … We need to do that,” she says.
Jessica explains that as summer temperatures start to rise, nasturtiums may start to get a little rough, but it's also the perfect time to collect seeds. Showing off a seed, she explains in the video that they grow at the end of a small stem and often grow in clusters of two or three.
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You may be able to leave the seeds where they fell and have a harvest of nasturtiums in late summer, or you can collect the seeds, let them dry out a bit, and store them for next season. This way, you may never have to buy nasturtium seeds again.
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These tips can help you make gardening a little less expensive. According to the 2023 National Gardening Survey, the average household spent $616 on lawn and gardening activities in 2022. This amount varies depending on the size of your yard, but anything you can do to cut this amount will help save money.
Although there are start-up costs, many families can grow hundreds of dollars' worth of produce. For more advice on how to grow your own food, check out our guide.
Not only will gardening help you save money on groceries, it's also great for keeping you and your family healthy — studies have shown that people who garden tend to eat healthier diets and have less stress.
What people are saying
Commenters on the post raved about the benefits of nasturtiums, with one person writing: “I grow nasturtiums whenever I can. As a chef, I use them on my glazing boards.”
Another commenter asked, “Can I pick them while they're still green or do I have to wait until the stem starts to die back?” to which Jessica replied, “As long as they're pretty large and fall off the stem easily they should be fine.”
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