The ideal process usually would be rubbing between hands and fingers but
these seeds/dried flowers are irritating nasty micro-spiney.
I've only got wooly gloves, so will try some latex/vinyl or leather
gloves next week. How is it done commercially, where seeds do not simply
pop out of pods.?

--
Global sea level rise to 2100 from curve-fitted existing altimetry data
<http://diverse.4mg.com/slr.htm>

In article <uio0ch$3f9a2$1@dont-email.me>,
diverse@tcp.co.uk says...
>
> The ideal process usually would be rubbing between hands and fingers but
> these seeds/dried flowers are irritating nasty micro-spiney.
> I've only got wooly gloves, so will try some latex/vinyl or leather
> gloves next week. How is it done commercially, where seeds do not simply
> pop out of pods.?

Put the dry seeds/pods in a paper bag, close it, and use
a rolling pin to crush the contents.

Then you separate the seeds from the chaff, depending
what size the seeds are:

If the seeds are quite large, blow the chaff off them
If they are quite small, tip the bag into a sieve and
shake the seeds out onto a plate. If your sieve is too
fine try a colander.

If all else fails, tip the bag contents into a wide
white soup bowl and painstakingly separate the seeds from
the chaff by poking them using a pencil tip.

I've done all of the above with many saved seeds in
the last month or two

Janet

On 11/11/2023 21:11, Janet wrote:
> In article <uio0ch$3f9a2$1@dont-email.me>,
> diverse@tcp.co.uk says...
>>
>> The ideal process usually would be rubbing between hands and fingers but
>> these seeds/dried flowers are irritating nasty micro-spiney.
>> I've only got wooly gloves, so will try some latex/vinyl or leather
>> gloves next week. How is it done commercially, where seeds do not simply
>> pop out of pods.?
>
> Put the dry seeds/pods in a paper bag, close it, and use
> a rolling pin to crush the contents.
>
> Then you separate the seeds from the chaff, depending
> what size the seeds are:
>
> If the seeds are quite large, blow the chaff off them
> If they are quite small, tip the bag into a sieve and
> shake the seeds out onto a plate. If your sieve is too
> fine try a colander.
>
> If all else fails, tip the bag contents into a wide
> white soup bowl and painstakingly separate the seeds from
> the chaff by poking them using a pencil tip.
>
> I've done all of the above with many saved seeds in
> the last month or two
>
> Janet
>

A rolling pin seems too hard. I tried a plastic collandar/salad drainer
and plastic spatula which worked well enough . Separating into seed and
dead flower material, enough to be getting on with. I'll try in a month
or two as still quite a number of stubborn seeds.
Perhaps a rolling pin on some silicone rubber sheet instead of a hard
surface.

--
Global sea level rise to 2100 from curve-fitted existing altimetry data
<http://diverse.4mg.com/slr.htm>

On 11/11/2023 21:11, Janet wrote:
> In article <uio0ch$3f9a2$1@dont-email.me>,
> diverse@tcp.co.uk says...
>>
>> The ideal process usually would be rubbing between hands and fingers but
>> these seeds/dried flowers are irritating nasty micro-spiney.
>> I've only got wooly gloves, so will try some latex/vinyl or leather
>> gloves next week. How is it done commercially, where seeds do not simply
>> pop out of pods.?
>
> Put the dry seeds/pods in a paper bag, close it, and use
> a rolling pin to crush the contents.

There are some fruits that doesn't work with. With a number of mallows
that would separate the mericarps from the epicalyx, calyx and fruit
axis, but separating the seeds from the mericarps requires extensive
rubbing (for Malva sylvestris and Sidalcea - with Malva assurgentiflora
you can cut the mericarp with a fingernail and peel it off the seed).

For Borago, I beat a fruiting shoot against the sides of a wheelbarrow,
and then pick the seeds out of the wheelbarrow.
>
> Then you separate the seeds from the chaff, depending
> what size the seeds are:
>
> If the seeds are quite large, blow the chaff off them
> If they are quite small, tip the bag into a sieve and
> shake the seeds out onto a plate. If your sieve is too
> fine try a colander.
>
> If all else fails, tip the bag contents into a wide
> white soup bowl and painstakingly separate the seeds from
> the chaff by poking them using a pencil tip.

The small tweezers sold for cosmetic use also do nicely for picking
seeds in the 1mm range out of chaff (or for picking bits of chaff out of
poppy seed).

I use plant saucers rather than soup bowls.
>
> I've done all of the above with many saved seeds in
> the last month or two
>
> Janet
>