Lemongrass and coriander have to be one of my favourite things that can come out of the garden.
I had recently let some of my coriander plants go to seed in the veggie patch.
My plan is to develop a coriander plant that has adapted to my local micro-climate and not bolt to seed as quickly in the warm weather. I had gotten the idea from the Milkwood Permaculture page and thought this makes sense. Collecting seed from a plant that has been growing in your garden conditions then growing plants from this seed and continuing this cycle – over time you will end up with a plant that likes those conditions.
It was time to collect those seed!
An enjoyable morning was spent sitting in the shady veggie patch plucking coriander seed, putting the seed in a jar, handing the jar to my little ones, getting them to put the seed on the kitchen bench. That task of the running from the patch to the kitchen kept them busy.
When there was an extended delay in this process, I popped in to the kitchen to check out what was going on. I had to laugh when my little one, who had dropped coriander seeds everywhere was frantically trying to pick them up and put them back on a plate that she keep tilting over – creating a never-ending task of trying to gather coriander seed off the floor!
I had also hung up some big bunches of coriander to air dry that were still a bit green. Once these become completely dry I will also collect the seed from these plants.
The coriander seed that I have saved will also be used in my cooking – I usually buy ground coriander from the shops, but when I was collecting the seeds my little one asked me ‘Will you use this in cooking?’ and I thought ‘What a perfect idea’
A friend has also asked me to save her some coriander seed as she is a mad keen coriander fan! So I will also pass some onto her – her partner just recently gave me some corn and spaghetti squash seeds – sharing of seeds and plants between gardens another reason why I love growing food.
Lemongrass has been lacking in my garden for years.
We used to have some in our garden and I cannot remember the reason to why we pulled it up. It must have been a good reason because I love using lemongrass in my cooking! Anyway, when I saw some at a local farmers market – I knew that lemongrass was going to make a comeback in my garden.
For almost three weeks, I watched as the lemongrass stalks that I had placed into a jar of water develop roots. This jar was placed on my window sill so I could watch this process. I loved seeing the little root tendrils slowly grow until they curled around the bottom of the jar. Although, I think I left them in the jar for longer than necessary as I was so entranced by the process, – nature never ceases to amaze me!
When it was time for the lemongrass stalks to be potted up, I chopped their greenage off to allow the lemongrass’ energy to be put into further developing their roots into the pot. Fast forward a month later and they are growing strong. Now I have to find a spot for them in the garden!
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I am a mad keen seed saver from anything that grows in my garden! No matter whether it’s flowers or vegies, I just can’t bear wasting seeds and love sharing them with fellow gardeners. Many of my veg are self sown or random plants that spring up in the chicken run, always such hardy plants! I have an abundance of Lemongrass in my garden, it started as one stick sent to me by a friend in Victoria 2 yrs ago. It grows so rapidly and I’ve split it and replanted to use as decorative foliage in other parts of the garden.
Hi there dirtgirl, the random plants are the toughest hey!
Funny you mention lemongrass – I’m about to pop some in the garden – love using it in chicken soup!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Parsley, basil and dill are simple ones to collect, but they will self sow very easily anyway in a warm climate.
Hi Dorothy, thanks for sharing!
I have loads of self sown basil in my garden…I call it my random basil 🙂