Save your herb seeds for cooking, pickling and making vinegars

Harvesting herb and spice seeds requires a certain amount of judgment. While it’s best to keep them on the plant as long as possible in order to ripen, if left too long, the seed pods will burst open and the seeds will scatter. Seed heads can usually be collected from midsummer to autumn when they change from yellow-green to brown. Snip off a seed head with a good amount of stem and place it in a paper bag. Hang the bag in a warm, airy room out of direct sunlight and allow the seeds to dry completely. You may have to shake out the remaining seeds by hand. Seeds that can be harvested for cooking include anise, caraway, cardamom, celery, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, mustard, nigella and poppy.