Looking for a better way to harvest basil seeds

socalgardengal · July 18, 2013

What a time consuming chore! I put them in a sm. paper bag, shook the holy c**p out of it and then poured it all out on newspaper. Then I rolled the flowers between my fingers to get the rest of the seeds out and then tried to "lightly" blow the chaff away and NOOOO, it went everywhere LOL!!! HELP, is there a better way to do it?

bejustice · July 18, 2013

I made a mess like that with thai basil and a hairdryer once. Try a sieve. They fly Thai basil in here in the winter.

socalgardengal · July 19, 2013

Hahahaha, I actually was thinking about using the blow dryer, glad I didn't! What a mess that would be

Doug9345 · July 21, 2013

I think I put them through some screen first to get the bigger chaff out. Afterword I poured the mix onto a paper plate, slanted it, and tapped on the edge. If you get the angle right the seeds will slide down the plate and the chaff will stay toward the top. It works even better with petunia seed because the are round.

July 18, 2013	#1
socalgardengal Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: San Diego,Ca Posts: 462	Looking for a better way to harvest basil seeds What a time consuming chore! I put them in a sm. paper bag, shook the holy c**p out of it and then poured it all out on newspaper. Then I rolled the flowers between my fingers to get the rest of the seeds out and then tried to "lightly" blow the chaff away and NOOOO, it went everywhere LOL!!! HELP, is there a better way to do it?

July 18, 2013	#2
bejustice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Timberlake, nc Posts: 50	I made a mess like that with thai basil and a hairdryer once. Try a sieve. They fly Thai basil in here in the winter.

July 19, 2013	#3
socalgardengal Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: San Diego,Ca Posts: 462	Hahahaha, I actually was thinking about using the blow dryer, glad I didn't! What a mess that would be

July 21, 2013	#4
Doug9345 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Durhamville,NY Posts: 2,706	I think I put them through some screen first to get the bigger chaff out. Afterword I poured the mix onto a paper plate, slanted it, and tapped on the edge. If you get the angle right the seeds will slide down the plate and the chaff will stay toward the top. It works even better with petunia seed because the are round.