This lettuce has bolted or gone to seed.

Saving seeds from this year’s garden is relatively easy and requires basic supplies that you probably already have.

Vegetable seeds all originate from the plant’s flower, but their final vessel varies from pod, to flower head, to fleshy fruit. Part 1 of this series focused on saving seeds from pods such as beans and peas.

This article will explain how to save seeds from plants with flower heads such as lettuce, spinach, arugula, dill, etc.

1.    Cut off the flower just before all the seeds are dry. If you allow them to dry on the plant, the wind will likely carry them off before you can get your hands on them.

2.    Dry the flower head, and thus the seeds. You can do this by placing it upside down in a paper bag, or by wrapping the flower head in a piece of nylon from old panty hose, in a flour sack towel, or anything that will allow for air to pass through it to dry the seeds thoroughly.

3.    Once the flower head and seeds are dried, remove the seeds by gently shaking the seeds onto a piece of white paper, or gently rub them off with your fingers.

4.    Once the seeds are off the flower head, fold the paper and pour the loose seeds into a prelabeled paper envelope. Try these templates to make your own seed-size envelopes.  Make sure to include the year, so you know how old your seeds are if you have leftovers to save for more than one year.

For more on saving seeds

Gardening 101: Saving vegetable seeds, part 1

Gardening 101: Saving vegetable seeds, part 3