Grow your own Sorghum for grain and flour

Small-Scale Grain Production and Processing

For the past few years, the Sharing Gardens have been growing sorghum, amaranth and corn to process and use in baking, and breakfast cereals. This post is specifically about growing, processing and storing sorghum on a small-scale. (Image left: Kassaby sorghum ripening.) To read about growing blue corn, and for other relevant LINKS, see below.

Rook and Chris harvesting Ba Ye Ki sorghum.

Sorghum is a highly nutritious grain. We live in USDA zone 8B, with relatively mild winters and a long enough growing season to ripen the types of sorghum listed below. We mainly use the grain, ground for hot breakfast cereal but sorghum, when ground finely, can be used in recipes for baked goods as well. It contains no gluten so it is appropriate for those on gluten-free diets. 7 Surprising Benefits of Sorghum, Are There Health Benefits to Eating Sorghum?.

Though sorghum has no gluten, when mixed with wheat flour, it still makes wonderful baked goods. Here it is with a Whole Grain No-knead Bread recipe we've made.

Growing conditions needed: Sorghum grows to various heights (up to 12 feet!). The plant, in early stages, looks very similar to corn. We have experimented with two varieties, Ba Ye Ki and Kassaby. (Ba Ye Qi Grain Sorghum, Ba Yi Qi Grain Sorghum (Milo) and Kassaby Sorghum - description). Ba Ye Ki is a very short-season grain so we're almost guaranteed a ripe harvest but it is also much less sweet than Kassaby - whose canes have been compared in flavor to sugar cane. Ba Ye Ki is shorter in height (6'-7') vs. Kassaby which can grow to 12'. Because of Kassaby's greater height and its higher sugar content, it also requires a longer growing season. Both can grow in moderately rich soil but do require regular, moderate irrigation to really thrive (though I'm sure that people who have experience at dry-land farming could achieve success with less, or no watering, we have not developed that capacity on our farm).

Ba Ye Ki sorghum: a shorter crop (5'-7') and shorter season grain. Not as sweet... (pic credit: https://annapolisseeds.com/products/ba-ye-qi-sorghum)

...as Kassaby sorghum: taller (9'-12'), longer season, sweeter. Stalks can be pressed for syrup (though we've never tried it). (Image credit: https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/kassaby-sorghum)

Trellising: We have grown both varieties with, and without trellising. Kassaby - the taller variety has a sturdier stalk and seems to do fine without trellising. Ba Ye Ki, which produces grain faster, puts less energy into stalk formation and, in our experience, is prone to lodging. This can be mitigated somewhat by growing it in multiple rows or blocks of grain, with approximately 6" between plants in all directions. The plants will tend to hold each other up. 

If you only have space for a single row, the type of trellising shown above will work. Strong cable/wire is stretched taught between 10' T-posts. In the picture, we've attached bamboo uprights for pole beans to climb on.Sorghum doesn't need the bamboo uprights, it just needs to be attached to the trellis once it reaches the height where it starts to "lodge" or fall over.

Another trellising idea is to plant your grains inside a wire cage (6" between each plant, in each direction). The cage will keep them from lodging. This works for fava beans too!

Sorghum is largely self-pollinated (each plant can pollinate itself) but plants can also cross-pollinate through wind or insects transferring pollen between plants. Growing multiple plants in rows or blocks will aid in cross-pollination. Also, when laying out your garden plan, keep in mind the height of the variety you are growing so they don't block smaller plants of sunlight and water as they grow in height. (Though you can use their height to your advantage if you want to grow a shade-loving crop like lettuce, on the north or east side, to protect it from the most intense afternoon sun.)

Sorghum grows much like corn though it is "self-fertile" and relies less on wind than corn for full pollination. Kassaby sorghum is the tall, whiteish fronds to the left of Darlene while Golden Bantam corn is growing to her right.

Starting sorghum from seed: We have used two different methods for germinating sorghum seeds. The easiest method is to prepare the ground to be as weed-free as possible and scatter the seed lightly; gently covering the seed by raking or a very shallow tilling, so the seed is barely covered with soil. Later, once the sprouts have come up to 3" or 4", plants should be thinned to 6" apart. 

We've had good luck with direct-sowing our sorghum and shallowly tilling it under so it's just barely covered with soil. A good rule of thumb is to plant seeds twice the depth of the seed at its widest point.

The down-side to the scatter method is that some varieties need a long season to ripen (Kassaby variety needs 110 days, minimum) so, if you're having a cool, wet spring and can't direct sow till late in the spring, you may wish to germinate the seeds in small pots in a greenhouse or grow-tunnel and transplant them once the ground warms up/drys out. We use jumbo six-packs, or the shallow, plastic containers that our favorite tofu comes in (with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage). To germinate in pots: we fill the pots with soil, water them and then make a small indentation with our thumb so the seeds will settle in these depressions (six per tofu pack). We then place 2-3 seeds in each cell to maximize germination. Once the seedlings are about 3" high, we thin them to one per cell. 

If you try to grow them in a clusters of 2-3 plants, none of them will mature well as they compete for nutrients, water and sunlight. We have had success at teasing the individual sprouts apart at this stage and replanting them in their own cells. It just depends on if your supply of seed is limited so you need to make every seedling count and how much time you have to do this.

Sorghum plants started in 'jumbo six-packs'. We sow 2-3 seeds in each cell and then thin to a single stalk, otherwise the plants compete for nutrients and light when they're transplanted to the field. Singles are on the left; the plants on the right have yet to be thinned to one plant per cell.

Summer growth and maintenance: Irrigate the soil only as needed. Deeper, less frequent watering will encourage the roots to grow deep, pursuing the water-table and thus being more resilient to hot and dry periods and less likely to lodge (fall over) in the wind. Keep the bed as weed-free as possible till your plants are well-established. After that, they should be able to out-compete most weeds. 

When to harvest: It's important to let your sorghum ripen as much as possible before harvesting. The seeds will be sweeter, and easier to thresh (remove) from the plant, the riper they are. On the other hand, autumn rains, if they aren't followed by strong sunny periods can lead to mold forming in the seed-heads. We start checking our crops for ripeness in mid-September. The Ba Ye Ki will darken to a strong russet/red. The Kassaby will become notably whiter as it ripens.

We usually harvest the seed-heads over a span of several weeks. We use pruners to cut off ripe seed-heads with 8-10 inches of stalk still attached. This helps in the drying out process; the stalks draw moisture from the seed-heads as they dry. Having the long stalk also gives you something to hold onto for the threshing phase.

Kassaby, long-season sorghum (tall and sweet) while it's still ripening. Kernels become a pearly white when they are ripe.

Kassaby sorghum in baskets for drying (with one, red Ba Ye Qi seed-head on the right). We cut it with 8" - 10" stalks which helps it dry down (the stalk pulls out moisture from the kernels) and this gives us something to hold onto for combing the kernels off the stalk (see below).

 

Ba ye Ki sorghum, laid out in cardboard boxes in our greenhouse while days are still sunny, warm and humidity is low. These aren't as red as they should be for ideal ripeness. Our season was cut short that year by cold, heavy rains. The sorghum was still edible; just not as sweet and it was harder to thresh as well.

If we're having mostly sunny days with only moderate humidity, we lay the seed-heads on cardboard trays in our greenhouse to dry. If skies are overcast and the humidity is high, we put them in cardboard trays or baskets and bring them in the house. We heat our house with wood and have shelves all around the upper walls of our living room where our wood stove is, for the purpose of drying foods in the fall. Many fall mornings we'll start a small fire in the wood stove just to dry the air in our house and bring the temperature up slightly. Even if we have to open the windows later in the day (because outside temps have climbed) it's worth the few sticks of firewood to keep the drying process progressing.

As temperatures drop and humidity rises in the autumn, we bring our bean and grain crops inside and dry them in baskets and boxes on shelves above our wood stove. It's super important to make sure these crops are very dry. We've lost previous batches to mold that formed after we put the grains or beans into storage containers for the winter.

Threshing the sorghum: We've tried several methods over the years to remove the grain from the stalks but this year Chris came up with our best method yet! He attached a metal pet-grooming-brush/comb to a 2' x 4' board (see pic). This is placed in a deep plastic tote to catch the seed as it falls. The seed-head is combed through the tines of the comb which causes the seeds to release and fall into the tote below.

This year, Chris built two new tools for processing the sorghum. Sifter, on the left, and a pet-comb attached to a 2'x4', for teasing the grain off of the stalk (right).

Close-up of the tool we use to thresh the grain from the stalk. It's a pet-comb we found at a 2nd-hand store, bolted to a 2'x4' board.

Close-up of pulling the grain-heads across the comb. This is why we always cut the grain-heads leaving several inches of stalk for use as a handle.

 

Sifting: The next stage is to sift the seeds through a wire mesh with 1/4" sized holes. (This wire mesh is called "hardware cloth" in the USA). Chris made a framework that's the same size as the tote we're sifting into and solidly attached the mesh to its bottom edge. The grain is poured into the top and rubbed vigorously through the screen. The seeds fall through and (most) of the longer stems and chaff remain on the top of the screen.

After the grain is teased from the stalk, it is vigorously rubbed through a screen with 1/4" holes. This breaks up the clumps of grains into individual pieces and removes much of the chaff which remains on the screen.

Winnowing: There will still be some fiber that makes it through the screen so, on a day with a mildly steady wind (or standing in front of a box-fan) pour the grain back and forth from one container to an other. You will have to experiment to find the right height from which to drop the grain and, if using a fan, how far from the front of the fan to pour the grain. It's helpful if your containers are lightweight (so it's easy to pour them when full of grain) and with a wide surface area so that, as the grain falls straight down, it's not bouncing off the rim of the receiving container. The grain will fall straight into the container below and the chaff will be blown away by the wind. 

 

Repeatedly pour the grain back and forth between your two pans until you've achieved results you're satisfied with. There's no need for you to winnow out all the chaff. Just do the best you can. Any un-removed chaff will float in the cooking water if you cook it whole and can be scooped or poured off before you cook it or, if you're grinding cereal or flour, will be ground along with the seed and just provide some extra fiber to your diet!

We winnow the grain, separating the remainder of the chaff (or at least most of it) by pouring it from one container to the other multiple times on a mildly windy day (or in front of a fan). The heavier grain drops into the container below while the chaff blows away.

Drying: As our sorghum seed progresses through these phases of threshing, sifting and winnowing, we put it back into a warm, dry place between each step to keep it from absorbing more moisture. At the end of all these steps we put it into cardboard flats, or shallow pans (to give the maximum surface area) and keep it on our drying shelves until we are absolutely certain it is completely dry. Grains that are stored moist, can end up molding in your pantry and be ruined.

Here's a top view of sorghum heads drying in a basket.

Grinding: Though we've seen recipes for cooking sorghum while still whole (How To Cook Wholegrain Sorghum) we've always used ours in a ground form: either coarsely ground for cereal, or finely ground for flour to use in baked goods. It adds a sweet, almost nutty taste to our hot cereal mix. We use a Diamant grain mill that Chris hooked up to an old motor with a clothes-dryer belt. This greatly speeds up the process of grinding - though if we ever lost electricity for an extended period, we can easily convert it back to being hand-ground.

Chris hooked up our Diamant grain mill to an electric motor so we're able to efficiently grind enough grain for our own use as well as to share with our volunteers.

Course ground sorghum for use in hot cereal.

We hope this tutorial has been helpful and inspires you to begin growing sorghum yourself. Please post your questions and comments below so we can all benefit from them.

 

Seed Saving: Save the ripest, driest grains/seeds for future plantings. One seed-head has enough seeds  for most small-scale grain growers, with enough to share with other growers in your area!

Here is the post we wrote about growing and processing your own blue corn  for drying and grinding. These methods also work for growing/processing Golden Bantam and other varieties of corn. Grow Your Own 'Blue Corn' 

And here's a recipe we've developed to make a Crumb-Free, Whole-Grain Cornbread  (just substitute sorghum flour in a 1:1 ratio with the corn flour in the recipe).

 

Here is an excellent video about making sorghum syrup from the canes: Making Sorghum Syrup! Best Crop For A Self Sufficient Homestead!

Growing grains as a community makes the task of processing it much less daunting. Here, Jessie and Llyn are husking the corn in preparation for shucking and further drying.

Why We Grow and Eat "Organic" Food

Organics - Better for Health!

August 2024: We've been saying it for years: the key to health for people and the planet is to switch to growing and eating organically grown foods. Finally, it seems that the connection between ultra-processed foods (which are heavily subsidized by the federal government) and chronic diseases. Here is a short (13 minute) video which summarizes this perspective. LINK

 

(The following article was originally posted several years ago...Perhaps its time has come!) If you've been wanting to increase the amount of organically grown foods in your diet this post is for you! Here are many reasons including the beneficial effects on the environment, the people who grow and harvest our food, the animals raised to provide food and your own health. Thank you for taking this important step in your life.

Chris and I eat almost exclusively organically grown foods when we're at home. At 73 and 60 years old respectively(Feb. 2023), we are both very healthy. We take no prescription medications and, in fact had a bottle of aspirin pass it's expiration date in our medicine cabinet once because we were too slow in using it for occasional muscle soreness or headaches! We each have had three colds in the last 16 years but no other illnesses that caused us to be bed-ridden for even a day. Our food is our medicine (along with other healthy lifestyle habits including meditation, stretching and exercise practices and a generous lifestyle geared towards service) and we feel strongly that a societal shift towards an organic, whole foods, plant-based diet would have significant positive effects both on people's personal health and the health of the natural environment as well.

Image credit: Maria-Marlowe

We are at an advantage over most people as our large gardens provide a high percentage of the foods we eat but for many years we have made it a priority to let our food-budget reflect our values and we only buy groceries that are organically grown. The only times we don't eat organic are when we eat out at restaurants or are visiting friends, which amounts to two or three times per month.

This post offers an overview of what we feel to be the most important reasons to shift to an organic diet. For those readers who have the financial means to make this shift entirely, we encourage you to jump into an organic life-style whole-heartedly. We also encourage you to cultivate relationships with local farmers through shopping at farmer's markets and co-ops that feature local, organic foods or joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). See also: Seven Tips for Shopping at a Farmer's Market

We realize that, for many people who are living close to the edge financially, that committing to buying all your groceries organically-grown may be impossible at this time. If that is the case, consider making smaller incremental changes such as committing to only buying organically and humanely produced animal products (where farm chemicals become most concentrated) or only buying organic "treat foods" (whatever that means for you). Their higher prices may encourage you to eat less of these items which will be better for your own health and  for the health of the planet.

Another option to increase your intake of organic garden-produce is to start your own garden, or start or join a community-garden. LINK: So, you want to start a Sharing Garden.

We like to remind ourselves as we adopt new lifestyle choices that "it's a direction, not perfection." Be gentle on yourself as you make new changes and, if sometimes you decide to eat something on your "no-no list", do it consciously, do it with joy and then re-commit to following your chosen dietary guidelines once again. Happy eating!

Image credit: Enki quotes.com

So, here are some of the top reasons we feel it is important to eat organically grown foods.

Healthier for you: Ingesting farm chemical residues isn't good for your health. Many of these chemicals can build up in one's tissues over time so, even though we may only eat small amounts with each meal, their accumulated amounts can be significant over a life-time. Also, children tend to be more susceptible to environmental toxins as they are building new tissues at a faster rate than adults.  LINK-Pesticide Action Network

Any farmer who grows "organically" may not use herbicides, pesticides or fungicides - unless they have been approved by the organic-certification agencies.

Slow-grown food is more nutrient-dense.

More nutrient dense? The truth is, most organic-farmers struggle under the same competitive conditions as farmers who grow using conventional practices. This means, they need to invest the least amount of money in fertilizers and other soil amendments, and grow their produce as fast as possible, to get it to market ahead of their competitors to make the most profit. These practices lead to more "water-weight" and less nutrient-dense foods. This means that the vitamin/mineral content may not vary much between organic and conventional farmers.  On the other hand, some studies suggest that, on average, organically-grown produce is consistently more nutrient-dense and lower in pesticides and heavy metals. Nutrient Levels in Organic vs. Conventional Foods

This is why it is important to know your farmer so you can confirm that their food is slow-grown and that the farmers are replacing the minerals that get depleted in their soil from harvesting crops.

Adding compost-tea to our gardens is one way we replace many of the nutrients that are depleted through harvesting.

GMO versus organically-grown:  There is still debate about whether foods produced from Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's) are a health risk to humans. We are strongly opposed to them because of the compelling research pointing to the possibility that eating GM plants, or livestock raised on GMO feed can lead to leaky-gut syndrome and a whole slew of health problems including severe food-allergies, learning disabilities and autism-spectrum disorders in children. Autism and GMO's LINK Institute for Responsible Technology-a GMO watchdog group. Genetically Modified plants and animals have the potential of interbreeding with plants and animals that were not genetically modified, with unforeseen consequences. Some GM plants (corn and soy) are specifically bred to be resistant to Round-up and other herbicides meaning large amounts of these chemicals can be used to grow them. This leads to well-documented cases of super-weeds that have become resistant to herbicides and require ever stronger chemicals to keep them in check. LINK: The Dangers of Round-up Ready Foods, LINK-GMO Health Risks  Also, GM corn and soy are used extensively in livestock-feed so you can imagine how these farm-chemicals concentrate in their tissues.

We feel strongly that it is important to avoid eating any genetically modified plants. We feel it is especially important to avoid eating animal-products (meat, dairy, eggs) from animals fed on GM feed.

Sharing Gardens - 2019

But what about just eating non-GM foods? Well yes, this is a step in the right direction but just because something is non-GMO does not mean that it's grown without farm chemicals. Industrialized farming uses plenty of chemicals in growing the food. Did you know that it is also a legal practice for farmers to use Round-up as a desiccant (which causes withering and drying in plant tissues) to artificially dry crops if conditions are too wet for the crops to fully ripen in the field? LINK-Wikipedia, LINK-EcoWatch.

By definition, organic farmers are not allowed to grow Genetically Modified crops, or feed them to their livestock.

Better for the environment. Anyone following the news knows that our environment is under attack from all sides. Industrial farming is one of the biggest culprits.

Pollinators are under siege from the practices of growing "mono-crops" (all one variety) for thousands of acres, offering no variety in their diet of pollen, and many farm-chemicals are damaging to their health as well. LINK - Why growing sunflowers is great for bees.

Honey-bee on tansy. We let some weeds flower in our garden intentionally as they provide important pollen-food for beneficial insects. Here's some good news: Grassroots bee petition in Bavaria forces greener farming practices: 

Soil health: Industrial farming - through over-tilling and depleting soil of organic matter makes soils void of all life and destroys the structure of the soil itself which no amount of added fertilizers and chemicals can restore.

Healthy soil means healthy soil-organisms. Eight-year old, Ricardo holds an earthworm found in our gardens.

Industrial farming is a major source of water-pollution. Industrial farming has negative effects on the world's water for many reasons. Here are a few: Heavy Metals build-up; Algae Blooms, Dead-zones and Acidification; Nitrates; Pathogens and Over-use of water reducing water-levels in our aquifers. (LINK-How Industrial Agriculture Effects Our Water)

Many bird species have a hard time finding enough insects to feed their young. Farm chemicals tend to concentrate in the tissues of animals, the higher-up you go in the food chain as Rachel Carson so famously proved in her landmark book from the 1960's titled Silent Spring.

Thorin, Eliza and Adri harvest cabbage, 2018.

Be aware too, that this principle of chemicals concentrating in tissues applies to foods raised for human consumption too. The accumulation of these chemicals in our own bodies will therefore be less with a plant-based diet. The more meat, dairy and eggs one eats, that are not organically-raised, the higher concentrations people have in their bodies of these chemicals. Bear in mind too that the quality of life for livestock animals grown organically is more humane as well.

Organic farming practices keep our air, water and soil healthier and can even contribute to the increase of viable habitat for wild plant and animal species.

Organic farming is better for the farmers and farm-workers who grow our food. Sharing Gardens volunteers digging potatoes 2018.

Healthier for the farmers and farm-workers: When we use our purchasing power to make a statement about our values, we are directly contributing to healthier lifestyles for everyone involved in the food-growing community. LINK - Agricultural Chemicals and Human Health

In this complex world of competing dietary studies which often offer contradictory results it can be difficult to know who to trust and which dietary practices will be best for your health and the health of the environment on which every living things depends.

If you have been feeling on the fence about whether to make the commitment to eating more organically-grown foods, we hope this post has helped you make that shift. Just remember that wise saying, "You can either pay your farmer now, or pay your doctor later." We think this is good advice.

Get to know your farmers! Chris and Llyn in the Sharing Gardens, your friendly, neighborhood "farm-acists".

Bella loves kale!

Other relevant LINKS:

Organic diet intervention significantly reduces urinary pesticide levels in U.S. children and adults - Science Direct 

What the pesticides in our urine tell us about organic food - The Guardian

The States in America That Use the Most (and Least) Glyphosate - Zero Hedge

What's in standard 'fast food'?
 

How to Wash Vegetables and Fruits to Remove Pesticides

 

Harmful Ingredients in “Healthy” Breakfast Cereals 

Saving and Storing Kale Seed

Kale is a powerhouse of nutrition and in climates like the Pacific NW, where we live, it's very easy to grow. (See: No-Fail Kale: The Powerful Health-Benefits of Kale and How to Grow It).  It is also relatively easy to save seed from too. Here is a post about the methods we use to save kale seed.

One of the pleasures of growing your own food from seeds is to begin to save your own seeds. With most varieties, it's not difficult and the seeds you save yourself will naturally select/adapt to be more perfectly suited to your local climate and conditions. Saving seeds also contributes to having a greater sense of local food-security in case there ever comes a time when seeds are not distributed over long distances, or there is a seed-crop failure in another part of the country.

Eat your kale for healthy skin, hair, bones and teeth!

We typically grow two crops of kale per year: the first one we start in February - either in pots, or directly sown into our greenhouse raised-beds. LINK: Starting Seedlings Directly in Greenhouse Raised Beds

The second batch gets started in early July and transplanted to outside beds once the seedlings are big enough; or we scatter the seed over a whole outside bed, creating a lush mat that we can eat from through all but the harshest of winters and then roto-till in, in the spring as a cover crop (after harvesting the spring flowers/raab).

Starting seeds: We often start seeds in plastic tofu-containers with holes drilled in the bottom. We like re-purposing plastic so it isn't just sent to the landfill. Being vegetarian, we eat a lot of tofu (!) and so generate a lot of these containers. Be sure to drill 1/4" holes for drainage! They will last for many seasons.

To use this method, fill the containers mostly full of soil and press the soil down evenly with the bottom of another container. After sowing seeds, cover with scant, even layer of soil. Keep moist but don't over-water.

The white containers above are tofu-containers we have re-purposed for seed-starting. These seedlings pictured above are lettuce plants (to show spacing of seeds).  

 

Once the seedlings are about an inch tall, re-pot them into jumbo six-packs, or (we use) the same tofu-containers, with six seedlings per container. The tofu-containers use less soil than the six-packs and it's very easy to break apart the roots of the six plants when it's time to plant them in the ground.

Choose a location that gets plenty of sun and has well-drained fertile soil. Since the part of the plant you are harvesting to eat is the green leaves, this is a big clue that kale loves nitrogen. But don't over-fertilize. This will make the plants grow too fast, have weak cell-walls and be more susceptible to diseases and insects (such as aphids).

Plant them 18" - 24" apart. If slugs are a big issue in your area, sprinkle iron phosphate granules around the plants and replenish if it's been consumed or gets very wet (brand-name "Sluggo").

If you have lots of seed, you can broadcast it over a whole row and harvest the leaves in bunches, cut with a knife (see pics below)

Here, Chris is harvesting kale that was sown directly in a greenhouse bed. Using a sharp knife, he cuts off whole handfuls of kale leaving the node where new leaves sprout untouched for future harvests. The leaves will continue to re-grow for many, many months.

Kale and fava beans as a cover crop (planted in Sept., pictured in late October). Kale survived the winter; favas did not (froze). We ate kale all winter and tilled the kale into the soil in the spring as a 'green manure' (for fertility).

Saving seed: The best time to save seed is in the spring, from plants that have wintered-over but we've also saved viable seed from the plants started in February. That latter seed ripens in the late summer.

Though we're not aware of hybrid-varieties of kale (which would mean that the seed you saved wouldn't grow "true") be sure that there are no other plants from the brassica family flowering near by, at the same time. These include (but are not limited to) broccoli, cabbage, mustard and other varieties of kale. If other brassicas are flowering at the same time, your seed may become cross-pollinated and your plants may not grow 'true'.

Broccoli is in the same family as kale (brassicas) and, if flowering at the same time, their seeds may cross.

Here is a broccoli plant going to seed. It looks almost identical to kale at this stage. You will want to stake or put a cage around your plants before they become so laden with seed that they will be in danger of toppling over. Note the little, red onion bag we tied on the plant early on to designate it as a seed-plant so no one harvested leaves from it. (Note: broccoli seed is often sold in large quantities to grow sprouts - highly nutritious.)

In order to create seed, kale will send up several flower-stalks per plant. Before they open, when they look little mini-loose broccoli heads, they are called 'raab' (pronounced 'rob'). They are tasty and highly nutritious (the flowers will be particularly 'sweet' from plants that have over-wintered as the cold causes them to 'sugar-up'). We love them lightly steamed and drizzled with olive oil, vinegar and a touch of salt. Enjoy the bounty, as soon the plants will become determined to set seed and the whole plant will become more bitter and tougher in texture. Just don't pick any raab from the plants you're going to save seed from.

If left to mature, the raab opens up into yellow flowers. Once the flowers open, the plants become more woody and less pleasant to eat (but the bees love them!).

Spring kale flowers (raab), harvested and ready for steaming. Spring raab is tender and slightly sweet and full of nutrients!

To save seed, select a plant (or plants) and don't pick off the flowers. Don't pick any more leaves to eat either. You may want to put a cage around the plant, or tie it to a stake as the flower stalks become quite heavy once they're loaded with seed. Also, if multiple people harvest from your garden, designate the plant as a seed crop with a sign, or flag. We use small, red mesh bags that onions come in and everyone who shares our gardens knows not to harvest where they see these red 'flags'.

The flowers will blossom, die back and a seed pod will form in their place. Kale gets pollinated primarily by insects so hopefully you'll see lots of them visiting the flowers.

The flowers are pollinated and become seed-pods. Each plant can produce thousands of seeds! Wait to harvest the seed-pods till they are mostly turning purplish/tan and the pods are drying out (see above).

It's important to find the right time to harvest seed. You want to be sure the seeds are ripe enough that they are fully black and pop easily out of the pods, but don't wait so long that the birds eat your seed, or the pods shatter and spread the seed onto the ground below. Regardless of your best intentions, there are always some seeds that shatter out of the pods so you can anticipate 'volunteer' seedlings to germinate in places you've let kale plants go-to-seed.  We have one place in a greenhouse that has germinated kale plants for a third season in a row since we last let plants go to seed in that spot. That's what we call a 'high-quality problem'!

When ripe, the pods will easily open by rubbing them between your fingers yielding multiple seeds in each.

Mature kale seeds. Each plant is capable of producing thousands of seeds. This is just a small fraction of those saved from one plant.

You need to have some way of catching the seeds as the pods dry and open. After clipping the ripe seed-stalks, slip them gently in a paper-sack and hang in a dry place where birds and other animals can't reach them until the pods are all dry. You can also put them upside-down in a plastic tub or bucket. We have hung them from the rafters of our garden-shed, or on a shelf above our wood-stove, or put them in the greenhouse in a tub, on a shelf, covered by screens (to keep animals from eating them).

Seeds are ready for winnowing (separating seeds and chaff) when the pods are crisp and dry and crush easily by rubbing them between your hands. If it isn't in a tub already, carefully place the stalks of seed-heads into a tub and rub the pods between your hands to shatter them and release the seeds. As each stalk is cleaned, remove it from the tub. In the end you will have a mixture of seeds and dried leaves/pods (chaff). Winnowing is described in the caption below.

Here, Chris is giving a demonstration to Rook and Cindy of winnowing bean seeds (separating the seeds from the chaff). On a lightly breezy day, or in front of an electric fan, slowly pour seeds from one container into the other so the breeze blows the chaff away and the seeds fall into the lower container. Repeat until clean.

Storing seeds: Often, after winnowing, we continue to dry the seeds on a shelf above our woodstove. It is very important that they be totally dry or they can develop mold during storage. Heat can also destroy seeds so don't dry them using intense heat conditions. Check the plastic bags, jars or bottles a week or two after you store them to check there's no mold growing. We've lost a few batches due to mold which is always a sad thing when you go to check your seeds at the beginning of the next growing season. Store seeds in a cool, dark place (or in your freezer, in an airtight container if you have the room).

Here's a LINK listing all our other posts about saving your own seed.

Delicious and nutritious, spring "greens": Toscana and Red Russian kale flanked by "Red Sails" lettuce.