| amaranth chaff |
After almost two weeks, I only had the opportunity to process my amaranth seeds now. The weather was perfect, except maybe a bit windy. But it was not too warm, not too cold. I had some free time (or I made some free time), and I separated the seeds from the chaff. It is always amazing to see how much you can harvest from so little garden. I started with a small bowl full, and after three or so months, I have triple what I started with.
The first step was removing all of the seeds from the stalks. I asked my girlfriend to help me with this process, so she also got her hands dirty with some amaranth. The process was so much fun. In contrast to the big seed heads that I get at my other home, these ones were small and had only one main seed head. It was so easy to just pull all of the seeds from the main stalk/stem.
After separating all of the seed clumps from the stalks/stems, I separated the seed clumps with my hands. I essentially rubbed the clumps between my hands, releasing most of the seeds from the chaff. This is not a perfect science, and the chaff has a nasty tendency to prick you like small thorns. But it works, kind of, and I have always done it this way.
I love to see how a harvest pays off. For those fellow gardeners who save their own seeds, I am sure they are familiar with the sense of pride and accomplishment when you begin to see how many seeds you have managed to save. You also know how much potential for new plants there are when you start to see all of the seeds.
| amaranth seeds and chaff |
Every time I need to get rid of the chaff, I go into the garden and blow the chaff where I will plant the next crop of the seeds, this time amaranth. This is also not a perfect science, and some of the seeds will get lost. But this will grow the new plants, in my case. We are lucky to live in temperatures where plants will essentially grow year-round, or so I am experimenting now.
I managed to get a small 50ml bottle full of seeds. This did not last very long, as I tried to cook with them. I managed to make something very nice, and I will post it shortly! But I saved about half of the 50ml bottle, so that I can plant when I am back from holiday.
I have not found time to plant the rosemary yet, and I am going to go on holiday for some two weeks. So I will get someone to water the rosemary for me. They have grown so much in the short amount of time since I stuck the cuttings in the ground. Like saving seeds, seeing cuttings grow evokes the same joy in me. I think when I come back in two weeks, they will be ready to plant.
| rosemary cuttings |
Then there is the funny salad rocket situation... Most of the plants are still flowering. But some of the seed pods have started to break open on the bottom of the plants. Normally, the bottom seed pods only start to dry out when the flowers have died. But this time around most of the plants are still flowering and the pods are drying out. As I noted, I am leaving for vacation so I cannot do much about this... I will see how it looks in two weeks time.
The couple of wild rocket plants that I have growing are also suffering a similar fate. The seed pods are bursting open. But I am happy with this, as I have way too much seed already, and now they are self-sowing for the future. Or so I hope.
| wild rocket open seed pods |
It is funny how well the salad rocket has grown. I think they completely destroyed my Swiss chard, as there is only minor evidence that they are still growing. And I could also not manage to get all of the amaranth harvested. Alas. I will see what these seed heads will look like when I get back from the two-week break. If they are dried out on the stalks, I will let them self-sow for the next season.
It is funny how the garden completely changed in so little time. It has been three or so months since my little experiment began and I am so happy with how things grew. Now I am curious to see what will come up again, from all of the seeds that I dropped. But this is also a little bittersweet as when I get back from the two-week holiday, I will be flying back home for two or so months. So I will not have time to plant new plants, nor will I have the opportunity to see if the amaranth and salad rocket will grow in the summer. Such is life!
In any case, I hope that your garden is growing strong, healthy, and well.
All of the photographs are my own, taken with my Nikon D300. The musings and writings are also my own.
