Help collect native seed on your property!
Help contribute to the thousands of plants grown for local watershed restoration projects by collecting native seed on your property! With the help of community members like you, we can increase the genetic diversity and quantity of seeds collected throughout the Mad River Watershed.
All seeds will be cleaned and processed by Friends of the Mad River staff and volunteers, and then grown at our native plant nursery for use in watershed restoration projects. Local, genetically-diverse native seeds enhance ecological restoration success since they are better adapted to local environmental conditions, ensuring better survival and long-term resilience. These seeds will grow into healthy plants that will increase biodiversity, protect water quality, stabilize the soil, improve fish and wildlife habitat, provide important food and nectar sources for birds and pollinators, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
All seeds will be cleaned and processed by Friends of the Mad River staff and volunteers, and then grown at our native plant nursery for use in watershed restoration projects. Local, genetically-diverse native seeds enhance ecological restoration success since they are better adapted to local environmental conditions, ensuring better survival and long-term resilience. These seeds will grow into healthy plants that will increase biodiversity, protect water quality, stabilize the soil, improve fish and wildlife habitat, provide important food and nectar sources for birds and pollinators, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
Priority Species for Collection
Click on image to enlarge. More information on how to ID a species can be found on the Native Plant Trust's Go Botany website. You can also ask the community for plant ID confirmation through iNaturalist.
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Invite FMR staff to Collect Seeds on your Property
If you would prefer not to collect your own seeds, please let us know what species you have on your property and fill out this form to give Friends permission to collect them.
Black and Green Ash - A Critical Year to Collect Seeds
There is currently a statewide effort underway to collect black and green ash seeds and preserve them — preserving the future of these ecologically and culturally vital species as emerald ash borer spreads throughout Vermont. Read the Ash Protection Collaboration Across Waponahkik (APCAW) guide to learn how to identify black and green ash trees, and then report if you have ash on your property. Seed collected by this initiative will be sent to federally recognized tribal nations, research projects, and long-term storage at a federal facility.
Watch this video on how to identify black and green ash trees, and determine if you have female trees.
If you are interested in collecting seeds from plants other than the priority species listed above, please contact Nursery Coordinator Michelle Krieg at [email protected] to ask if they are needed.
If you would prefer not to collect your own seeds, please let us know what species you have on your property and fill out this form to give Friends permission to collect them.
Black and Green Ash - A Critical Year to Collect Seeds
There is currently a statewide effort underway to collect black and green ash seeds and preserve them — preserving the future of these ecologically and culturally vital species as emerald ash borer spreads throughout Vermont. Read the Ash Protection Collaboration Across Waponahkik (APCAW) guide to learn how to identify black and green ash trees, and then report if you have ash on your property. Seed collected by this initiative will be sent to federally recognized tribal nations, research projects, and long-term storage at a federal facility.
Watch this video on how to identify black and green ash trees, and determine if you have female trees.
If you are interested in collecting seeds from plants other than the priority species listed above, please contact Nursery Coordinator Michelle Krieg at [email protected] to ask if they are needed.
Seed Collection Best Practices
Below are a few seed collection tips to ensure you are sustaining wild populations, preserving regional genetics, and obtaining genetic variability within a population:
Seeds are often viable once they have turned brown and papery. Berries are often viable when they have fully darkened in color and the interior seed is no longer green. If it's easy to remove seeds from a plant without force, they are likely ready to collect. It's recommended to not collect seeds off of the ground, but instead directly off of a plant or tree, to ensure the greatest viability and germination success.
Always ensure you have permission to collect seed if you are not on your own property.
Learn more seed collection tips from the Northeast Seed Network Seed Collection Protocols.
- Ensure the plants you are collecting from are native to the area (not planted or a native hybrid/varietal). Local genetic traits support wildlife and ensure greater adaptability and plant survival.
- Collect no more than 5% of a population.
- Collect several times throughout the viable season to account for genetic variability in phenology.
- Collect a variety of different shapes, sizes, and habits of plants to account for genetic variability in physical attributes.
Seeds are often viable once they have turned brown and papery. Berries are often viable when they have fully darkened in color and the interior seed is no longer green. If it's easy to remove seeds from a plant without force, they are likely ready to collect. It's recommended to not collect seeds off of the ground, but instead directly off of a plant or tree, to ensure the greatest viability and germination success.
Always ensure you have permission to collect seed if you are not on your own property.
Learn more seed collection tips from the Northeast Seed Network Seed Collection Protocols.
What will I need to collect seed?
- Buckets (2 or 3.5 gal) or plastic Ziploc bags for berries
- Paper envelopes or paper bags for dry seed
- Sharpie and pencil for labeling bags
- Ladders and pole pruners if collecting seed from tall trees
How to Label & Drop off your Seeds
Please put berries in clean Ziploc bags, and dry seeds in clean paper bags or paper envelopes secured with paperclips. Pulp can be left on berries as long as they are dropped off as soon as possible for Friends staff and volunteers to clean (otherwise they will get moldy). Store seeds in the refrigerator (not freezer) after collection to extend their viability.
Label each bag with the following information:
Please drop off your seeds at the Friends of the Mad River office at the General Wait House (4061 Main Street) in Waitsfield. Seed bags can be left in the box on the table right inside the front door.
Thank you for contributing to the restoration of our watershed!
Label each bag with the following information:
- Name of plant (and how confident you are in your ID!)
- Date(s) collected - harvesting on different dates throughout the ripe period ensures greater genetic variability
- Location collected (closest address if applicable) - please place seeds collected from different locations in different bags
- Sub-watershed location and closest waterway, if known (see map below)
- Your name and contact info
Please drop off your seeds at the Friends of the Mad River office at the General Wait House (4061 Main Street) in Waitsfield. Seed bags can be left in the box on the table right inside the front door.
Thank you for contributing to the restoration of our watershed!
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Public Seed Hikes
If you are interested in joining a public seed collection hike in the Mad River Watershed to help collect bulk seed, check our Volunteer Calendar for upcoming opportunities!
