Processing Weed

Dill that is ;) This is the time of year that I do the final steps to harvest my dill seed. Most of the plants that came up volunteer in the spring are brown and ready to harvest. This is one that I planted.later in the sing. I just now decided to blog about it, so this one is a little green, but you'll get the idea.

I actually had two 4 x8 beds of dill that came up volunteer early this spring. A few weeks ago I pulled them all when they were pretty brown and put them upside down in a barrel lined with a plastic trash sack. I left the sack open and stuck it in the shed to finish drying and forgot about it. A few days ago, Grampa Tom said, "You really need to do something with that dill! It is taking up to much room." 

So I took it out and rubbed the heads in my hand to knock the seeds off. The seeds fell to the bottom of the barrel and I was able to easily remove most of the larger stems.

Of course, it didn't get all of the stems, so I used a screen to sift off most of the stems that were left. I do this several times because it seems there's always some stems that manage to get vertical and go through the screen.the last couple of times I sift, I only do a small amount at at time and I try to pick out what ever few stems that get through. I never manage to get them all, but all in all the seeds come out pretty clean.

Then I package them in baby food jars. I'll probably sell all but one of these at the fall markets. I always like to keep a little back so I can plant a little more dill later in the spring so it will be ready when the cucumbers come on!

By the way, I've only got one baby food jar left! If anyone wants to donate some, I'm in need! Thanks!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue