Self-sowing plants

Right after perennial vegetables , self-sowing plants are at the very top of my list of low-maintenance and reliable plants. The main advantage of both is that you usually only need to get seeds or plants once and then have them in your garden for years. My focus is on edible and/or medicinal plants. I have collected my favorites in this article.

overview

annual vegetables
annual herbs
biennual vegetables
biennual herbs
More self-sowing plants

annual self-sowing plants

They often begin to flower as soon as it gets a little warmer. You can extend the season by harvesting leaves continuously. But make sure the plants get enough time for the seeds to form and mature. Sometimes there will be another harvest in the autumn. I like to collect some of the seeds both to avoid massive spreading and for food/sprouts in the winter.

• Cornsalad
  tolerates some frost, low-growing lettuce, well suited as an edible ground cover.
• Miner's lettuce
  tolerates some frost, tasty ground cover in the greenhouse before tomatoes etc.
• Arugula/rocket
  I usually collect the seeds and pre-cultivate arugula. I do that mostly because I love it and don't want to wait any longer, but also to avoid it growing where it shouldn't.
• Asiasalad
  different types of salad with a sharp arugula taste
• Radish (pods)
  after I had discovered that the radish pods are crunchy and good with a taste reminiscent of turnips and sugar peas, I stopped growing radishes for the sake of the root. The choice was between a small radish and dozens of lovely pods. Never regretted it and the freezer is full of lovely snacks.
• Spinach
  mine has gone right to flowering here every single year without forming any leaves that would be worth harvesting. Will try again this year with a different variety.
• White goosefoot
  many see it as a weed, read more about why I disagree here. The plant is closely related to quinoa and the seeds are prepared in the same way.

annual self-sowing herbs

Annual herbs that self-sow tend to become almost a weed. Last year I didn't have the heart to get rid of them when they were small and had underestimated how big they would grow. That led to a jungle of them. For this year, I have fixed a small bed that I will use for excess flowers and herbs from the vegetable garden. Then they are not in the way and can be a pleasure for me and the insects.

• Chamomile
  it quickly becomes a lot of chamomile if you're not being careful. But the young plants are very easy to recognize and to remove.
• Borage
  it can become a bit troublesome as it gets quite large and it is unpleasant to touch the plant. But it tastes good and the bumblebees love it, so feel free to keep some plants if you have the opportunity.
• Calendula
  I have been very eager to pick the flowers so there have not been very many seeds. Will try this year.
• Dill
  it self-sows here only when it thrives, so it's a good idea to keep/collect some seeds as a backup.
• Fennel
  same as dill. Actually perennial but does not overwinter well in Norway.
• Cress
  Did you know that cress becomes huge when it is allowed to grow? I didn't. It also produces hundreds, perhaps thousands, of seeds and it turned into a weeding nightmare the following year. Then it doesn't even help with a ground cover since cress sprouts everywhere as long as it is moist enough. With a cold and wet summer like last year, it quickly becomes a cress jungle. If you still want self-grown cress seeds, I would recommend growing them in pots or in a place where they are allowed to spread.
• Anise hyssop
  can also overwinter in milder areas or when the winter is mild. Butterflies and bumblebees love it.

biennual self-sowing vegetables

To be honest, I hadn't had the patience to let biennial vegetables bloom yet. I always felt that it takes up so much extra space without much food (the year they bloom). It also became a bit complicated in terms of crop rotation and interplanting. On the other hand, I think it's great to be able to be self-sufficient in as many vegetable seeds as possible.

• Carrots
  I'm wondering if I should save some of the nicest carrots from last year and dig them up again in the spring to try to get seeds
• Parsnips
  i love parsnips! This means that I really want to be self-sufficient with both the vegetable and seeds, but also that I have not managed in two years straight to let a single one remain in the bed. Will try to sharpen myself up this autumn.
• Beetroots
  I had beets flowering before, but the same year they were sown - I have some doubts as to whether it is desirable since it could mean that I am breeding plants that use the energy to flower instead of forming beetroots.
• Swiss chard
  it also often flowered the first year but quite late in the summer and I doubt the seeds would have had enough time and warmth to ripen.

biennual self-sowing herbs

• Parsley
  I let one of last year's plants bloom hoping the seeds managed to mature. I let them sit on the plant and will repot if there will be new plants in the spring.
• Caraway
  same as parsley
• Garlic mustard
  the taste reminds me of both garlic and cress. I hope it manages to overwinter here. Have collected some seeds just to be safe. (got year-old plants in the spring)

More self-sowing plants

• Corn flowers
  gives a nice color to decorate cakes and salts and dried in herbal and tea mixtures. Be aware that a single plant becomes quite large over time with many flowers. I forget that every year.
• Poppies
  it spreads massevly. With nice dashes of colour in mind in the summer, I left far too many plants standing last year. Also, if I was able to harvest some seeds to sprinkle over baking in the end, I won't do it again...hopefully.
• Evening primrose
  a biennial plant used both medicinally and as a vegetable. Last year I didn't manage to sow them in time, will try again this year.
• Sweet chervil
  it is on the blacklist and is assessed as having a high invasion risk. This means that it threatens Norwegian nature and vulnerable plants. You should therefore not grow it and if it is already in your garden you should preferably try to prevent it from spreading. read more here.
• Allium genus
  most onion plants are perennial and reproduce by forming lateral bulbs. Some species such as chives, spring onions and welsh onions are also good at self-sowing. If you want to harvest seeds or constantly get new small plants, then these varieties are a good choice. Or avoid them otherwise.
• Coriander/cilantro
  I included it on the list at the very end because I know that there are people who actually like coriander, although this is completely incomprehensible to me. I can't stand either the smell or the taste of the fresh plant (strangely, I don't mind the seeds in a curry mix that much). If, on the other hand, you like coriander, you may be surprised to hear that you can easily become self-sufficient with it.

If you want to prevent self-seeding plants from spreading uncontrollably, you can remove the flower heads before the seeds ripen. In most cases, it also helps to use soil cover (preferably of organic material - it also offers many more benefits) in addition to not digging in it. Otherwise, you can collect the seeds to share with others or to get some fresh greens in the form of sprouts in the winter.

There are of course many wild plants that are excellent self-sowers, but I have limited myself in this article to those that I actively cultivate.
Do you have any self-sowing plants in your garden that you appreciate? Feel free to write a comment.
Happy Goating