Clipper's Results

Since we are on the subject of seeds and "how in the heck?", I have the large radishes in bloom (darn plants are at least three feet high in my jungle garden). How do I harvest this seed? Or point me to where it is already written. I don't want to loose them now after all the care I gave them. Many other things are also on their way. Long sunlight days here make things grow fast.

Clipper

Eventually the blooms will fall off and then a pod will form and grow to about 2 or 3 inches long. This pod will swell. I've harvested all of my radish seed starting when the topmost pods are brown and starting to dry out. I just cut the stalks to ground and removed all the pods. Put the pods in a flat and in the Sun until they're dry. The pods break easily between your fingers and the little seeds fall loose. Then I winnow the pod pieces out in the wind. I've collected about 1/4 cup of Giant radish seed already and I still have two flats to go! Winnow means to pour the seed and chaff from one container to another in a stiff breeze (not a gale!) until a satisfactory amount of chaff has been blown out of the seed. You will loose some of the seed this way, but it beats the heck out of removing the chaff piece by piece!

Roger