Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
There are many ways to harvest lettuce seeds; here's the one we use at Arche Noah: the first stage of
harvesting consists of plucking ripe seeds from well-formed stalks. At this stage, shaking or striking as
a method of separating seed from plant is not an option, as too few seeds on the plant are ripe. The
second (or third, etc.) time through, seeds are rubbed or tapped into a container by carefully bending
the stalks over a bucket (or sieve). This is more easily done with two people, with one person holding
the container and the other carefully moving the stalks into position and rubbing the seeds free
between flattened hands. (Caution: different varieties have varying degrees of pliability; take care not
to break stalks.)
By late summer, lettuce has self-sown from this lettuce plant. These seedlings can be placed in their own bed and harvested
until winter.
Hang harvested seeds in a cloth bag in a room with good air circulation to dry. Most of the material
in the bag will be plant debris and nonviable seed.
When wet weather threatens while seeds are ripening, harvest entire plants, roots and all, and hang
them to dry in a rain-protected spot (clean soil from roots or place roots in a cloth bag to avoid soil
getting mixed up with seed, which is difficult to clean). Place a towel or sheet underneath to catch seed
that falls and thresh remaining seed from stalks when ripe.
Winnowing begins after a thorough threshing. Harvested materials should be very dry. Then comes
winnowing with sieves, which requires some skill and improves with experience. Many find lettuce
seed to be the vegetable seed that is the most difficult to clean. First, sieve out coarser plant debris like
parts of stalks. Then use a slotted sieve, ideally with - in. (0.8-1.2 mm) perforations, to separate
seeds from remaining chaff. Use the wind to perform a final winnowing of small portions of seeds.
The most effective cleaning step will depend on the variety, the harvest method (plucking or thresh-
ing), weather conditions during harvest, etc.
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