Saturday 11 August 2012

#1: Kale Seed Extraction

In our journey of collecting seeds for the Kerrisdale Seed Library, we are exploring the seed extraction methods for various plants, and will be posting mini tutorials for all library members to learn from. Our very first seed extraction tutorial will be on the Kale seeds. 

For those with little knowledge about the Kale, here are some quick, fun facts:
Kale is a dark-green vegetable full of nutritional value, especially Vitamin A and Calcium. Among its health benefits, it has a major role in the battle against cancer and heart disease. Furthermore, it can be eaten in a many ways: as a side-dish, a main dish, or part of salad. However, PW Community Garden's very own favourites are the Kale Chips.


To extract Kale seeds, you will need to sow the plant about 2 months in advance, depending on the temperature. Then the Kale would be ready to harvest, so take however much you need and leave the rest to seed. We, at the PW Garden, left the Kale from a whole bed untouched. Eventually, small yellow flowers will emerge from the Kale, as will some green buds. Again, this indicates that you should give the plant more time to mature its seeds. You will know when to harvests seeds as the buds will turn from green to a dry brown colour. Remove the brown buds from the plant, and leave the green ones out. You will then have a pile of buds similar to this:


After this, you can take the buds home and softly peel them off. If the seeds have matured enough, the buds will peel off almost immediately. Note that the seeds are arranged in two rows inside the buds, separated by a thin layer. Make sure you do not miss the other half of the seeds! In the end, you will have a bag full of Kale seeds, which you can then sow again for another growing season.

Hope this was a pretty straight-forward tutorial for the kale seed extraction. For any questions, or to become a member of the Kerrisdale Seed Library, e-mail us at kerrisdaleseedlibrary@gmail.com .

Cheers,
Sheida Naderi-Azad

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