Seed Collection for Restoration and Home Gardening

Join us for a hands-on workshop where you'll learn techniques for collecting seeds from a variety of native, herbaceous plants. Discover sustainable growing strategies to enhance climate resilience and cultivate a garden that supports local ecosystems. We will discuss and demonstrate techniques for identifying some of the best pollinator plants native to our area, how to responsibly collect seeds, and how to clean and store seeds before you sow. Attendees will leave with a selection of native plant seeds to start in their own gardens or hold onto until our winter sowing workshop.Please dress for the weather and be prepared to walk outside in a field. Helpful items to bring include a kitchen sieve if you have one, a pen or pencil to make notes with, and a metal bowl.Topics we will cover:Identifying plants in seed vs. flower in the wild and in the gardenEthical seed collection and protocols for maximizing biodiversityHow to identify ripe seed—and what part of all that plant material is actually the seed!How clean is clean enough for home-scale seed storage, and what bugs to look out forBasics of proper seed storage and what is sufficient for short-term storageIf you've attended this workshop in the past, the core content and techniques will be the same, so much of the material will be familiar. You're more than welcome to join again, though—it's a great opportunity to refresh your skills, build confidence identifying ripe seed, and practice ethical seed collection alongside others.This workshop is made possible with the support of the One Hive Foundation.