Sieves work great for separating seed and chaff. I happen to have several sizes of sieves ranging from 1/4" to almost microscopic size. A regular wire kitchen sieve will take care of a lot of the chaff. I have also done it manually by sprinkling some on a plate and picking the seeds out one by one. Sometimes putting the seeds in a bowl and gently blowing little puffs of air will send the chaff flying and leave the seeds. Using a gentle shaking motion while blowing will keep the seeds rolling in the bowl while the chaff blows away. This can be tricking depending on the seeds so use with caution or you may blow your seeds away too. Lastly, just don't get crazy about chaff mixed with seeds. It doesn't hurt anything and if you are trading, just let the trader know that there is some chaff mixed with the seeds.

I would like to get some of these seeds. I just traded with someone and got a lot of chaff and one seed in one package, a lot of chaff and no seed in another package. Please see my exhange list. In addition to what is mentioned there, I have a few lavender bush morning glory seed ripening.

Image by: wintersown Vernonia Gigantea Seed Heads I've tried very hard to seperate the chaff from my seeds but it's impossible as the seeds are practically the size of dust. What do I do? Stop frustrating yourself! A good example of dust-sized seeds are butterfly bush seeds (buddleia family). I trade my butterfly bush seeds with the chaff included. If you're a seed trader then mention in your initial offerings that the seeds are mixed with the chaff and that the grower should surface sow the entire packet contents and pat it all into the soil. That's exactly how I start mine from seed....easy to do and it works just fine. If you mention up front in your trades what you're trading then no one can be "prissy" about the trade later on. You're not a mechanical machine...that's what commerical growers have to use to seperate out dust size seeds. Saving seeds is supposed to be a calming and peaceful hobby, allowing yourself to get frustrated isn't good for your mental health....don't stress yourself out over it. It's so much easier to mention that the seeds are too small to be seperated then deal with the stress thinking that someone will dissaprove of your trade. THEY can't seperate out dust-sized seeds either. Really teensy-weensy seeds are a major hassle to seperate from chaff, and honestly, they don't need to be. Mother Nature succesfully sows her seeds with chaff, and we can too. Smile and give yourself a great big hug for your efforts! Trudi

Someone on Houzz the other day asked what Echinacea/Coneflower seed looked like so they could trade. They had saved the chaff (garbage part). I like to describe coneflower seeds as "mouse teeth". Here's a photo of some I saved. They are small, maybe 3 mm long. This second photo is seeds and pieces of chaff. This is what you'll have after the flower has completely dried out and you start to pull it apart. You have to hunt for the seeds. Heidi