Saving Biennial Seeds
by John Yazo
Biennial vegetable flowers are a very interesting site to see. If you are from areas of colder climates they are rare. Most places that raise biennials for seed are in the warmer climates because of the care needed to have them survive the winters of the north.
Seed saving from biennials is a little more work than annuals. Depending on the climate where you live plants have to be mulched heavy in the garden or dug up and stored in a root cellar to be replanted the following spring in the colder climates.
A root cellar is the ideal place to store biennials for there second season. They keep a fairly constant temperature all winter. If you don't have a root cellar like most people you can create a smaller version. Dig a hole before the ground freezes about three feet deep by about two to three feet wide and about four feet long. Put a good heavy layer of leaves on the bottom and then place your crops like cabbage, turnips, beets and or any other biennials in and cover them with another layer of leaves. This will help insulate them from the cold winter temperatures. Then cover the leaves with some old boards before filling the hole with the dirt you dug out. The boards are there to prevent damage of your crops from the shovel hen you dig them up in the early spring. After you fill the hole in with dirt pile leaves on top of the fill. The more leaves the better. I put about a pile about two feet thick on top. This helps to stop the frost from setting in to deep.
Early spring is the time to replant your biennials. Dig them up and replant them in pots and leave them in a shady spot until they sprout. Then replant them in the garden.
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