Poppy Okotcha enjoys her harvest and starts saving seed

NOW IS THE TIME TO HARVEST AND PREP FOR THE FUTURE – POPPY OKOTCHA’S SEED-SAVING ADVICE WILL SET YOU UP NICELY FOR NEXT YEAR “As I gather the last of crops, like tomatoes, I keep some aside for seed rather than eating”

The 22 September marks the autumn equinox – the moment in the northern hemisphere when day and night are equal. Since the shortest night of summer solstice (20-21 June), nights have been lengthening and days shortening. From now on the balance has tipped to night as we move towards the winter solstice, the longest night, in December.

The full moon closest to the autumn equinox is known as the harvest moon (this year on 1 October). It gets its name from the harvest season. I’m gathering crops like squashes and corn, sown in spring and ripened through the long hot days of summer. As the sun is setting earlier, the full moon of the autumn equinox steps in to lengthen the harvest days with moonlight – growers take advantage and bring in their crop under the harvest moon. In my garden I don’t have enough harvest to warrant reliance on moonlight to work, but it’s lovely to sit outside with a home-grown camomile tea and watch it rise anyway.

Something I have come to love harvesting, processing and saving more recently is seed. Each year I save seed from plants to sow the following year and to share with loved ones. It’s very easy and the sheer quantity that comes from one plant is incredible. As I gather the last of crops, like tomatoes, I keep some aside for seed rather than eating. I cut the tomatoes open, scoop out the insides and slop them into a cup of water and forget about them for four days – this rots the slime on the seeds that can impede germination. Next I throw the mess into a sieve and rinse till the seeds are clean, then turn them out onto a piece of muslin on a plate to dry off. I then tuck them up in brown paper bags and squirrel them away in my cool, dark seed box to sow next spring.

I love the magic of experiencing the plant run through its full life cycle, starting as a seed and ending once again as a seed full of potential. Growing the descendants of a particular plant year after year is like entering a long-term relationship with the plant. I have foxgloves whose ancestor I saved seed from on the deck of my boat one summer in London about five years ago!

Long-term relationships aside, saving seed is very cost effective (it’s free!) and ensures accountability through the plant’s life cycle. Large UK seed sellers often cultivate seed abroad (racking up air miles) using chemical, industrial agriculture and poor human rights observation. A limited number of varieties are available (seed for gardeners is often bred for yield rather than nutrient density, flavour or resilience) so in the last 100 years 90% of UK veg varieties have been lost. Saving seed is an empowering way to combat this.