Any Tips On Harvesting Thistle Seeds? (1 Viewer)

[Fountain]

Hi,

Does anybody have any tips on methods of quickly extracting the seeds from thistle heads?

- I've tried a few things and found cuting through the head just above the seeds quickest so far, but still a bit of fiddling to get the fairies out afterwards.

When buying 20kg of niger seeds from the shop and seeing how clean the sack is it proves there must be an easier way!!

 

[ChrisKten]

Hi,

Does anybody have any tips on methods of quickly extracting the seeds from thistle heads?

- I've tried a few things and found cuting through the head just above the seeds quickest so far, but still a bit of fiddling to get the fairies out afterwards.

When buying 20kg of niger seeds from the shop and seeing how clean the sack is it proves there must be an easier way!!

I'm guessing your harvest is on a small scale, but:

Niger is harvested 3–4.5 months after planting, depending on the region. It should be allowed to stand until flowers have withered. Further delay will cause heavy loss of seed through shedding. Crop can be harvested by hand or machine. When harvested by hand, crop is cut with sickles, tied in bundles and dried by the sun for a week or so, during which time some of the late-formed seed will mature. Threshing consists of beating dried stalks with sticks on a threshing floor. Seeds are easily separated then they are cleaned of all earth and weed seed by winnowing and sieving. Seeds are bagged and shipped to oil factories.

 

[Fountain]

Thanks Chris, thats a help - though a dry week of sun is a bit much to ask for during this cyclonic summer but it can go alongside my garlic & onions.

I'm guessing your harvest is on a small scale, but:

... lol, it'll be as much as I can gather, I should be able to get a few wool sacks full of heads.

cheers
Andy