Seed Cleaning Screens

Reader Contribution by Cindy Conner
Published on July 17, 2014

As I was completing my newest book, Seed Libraries and other means of keeping seeds in the hands of the people, I photographed seed screens for one of the color pages in the book. This book, published by New Society Publishers, will be on the shelves in the bookstores about February 1. You can pre-order it now from New Society at a discount or buy it from me through my website when I get copies (no discount, but I will sign it). However, you don’t have to wait until then to see my seed screen photos. One photo is here showing the most basic of seed screens that you probably already have in your kitchen—regular colanders and strainers. You can see the other photos at Homeplace Earth.

Threshing Seeds

There is a lot to know about seed saving. You are familiar with the seeds of things like tomatoes and squash since you encounter the seeds when you eat them. You never see the seeds of carrots and kale when you eat those vegetables. Knowing when to harvest the seeds (sometimes the following year) is information you need to know. Assuming you have brought your plants all the way to mature seeds—now what? You will need to free the seeds from their pods in a process called threshing; which could be accomplished by rubbing the seed pods in your hands or putting them in an old pillowcase and beating it with a stick. Now you have seeds and chaff mixed together.

Winnowing Seeds

Next is winnowing, which is separating the seeds from the loose chaff. That’s where seed screens are helpful. Often you can put everything in a bowl and give it a shake. The seed will fall to the bottom and you can remove the big chaff by hand. Pour what is left through something with holes and you can remove more chaff from the seeds. The more closely the holes are to the size of the seed, while freely letting the seeds pass through, the cleaner the seeds will be. You will have chaff smaller than the seeds. To remove that, find a screen with holes a little smaller than the seeds. The dusty chaff will fall through, while your seeds stay on the screen.

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