The seeds must not dry out! Alternatively, the seeds can be placed directly into the bag, adding water each week.Īt the end of the four weeks, the seeds should be placed outside in the pots (after removing the bags!).

Every few days, you will need to remove the pot and water it. This can then be placed somewhere warm (about 20 degrees celsius). Each pot can be placed inside a plastic bag, which is tied loosely.

If these seeds are to grow the following spring, they will greatly benefit from a four week period of warmth. Place the seed/sand mixture on top of this and cover this with 2-3cm sand. Select a pot that has enough room for this seed/sand mixture (and a bit more) and put a layer of stones in the bottom. For each handful of seeds add two or three handfuls of mixture. Use 50% leafmould or peat-free compost and 50% horticultural sand. The extracted seed should be mixed with equal parts horticultural sand or a sand/compost mixture (for these seeds the addition of compost to the mixture can help break dormancy). For a more complete description click here. The berries are mashed and the waste and seed separated through the sieve. You need a bucket or two, a flat-bottomed pole (for example, an old sawn-off spade handle), a sieve or collander and access to a hosepipe or water supply. Picking blackthorn berries or “sloes” Extraction and storageīerries can be stored in buckets or bread baskets for a week or two provided they are kept in a cool, dry place.īlackthorn can be extracted quite easily if the fruit is ripe and soft. It might be time consuming to collect a large number. In this way, no damage is caused to the parts of the tree that will continue to grow. Collect them directly from the tree by gripping the branch below and pulling. If you pick them too early, you risk the seeds being immature.

The berries or ‘sloes’ can be picked from the end of September onwards. Nomber_key:000745How to identify Blackthorn Download your free seed harvest handbook Picking

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