How to Harvest Clover Seed
Clover is a plant that has been used as a winter cover crop, a field cover, and as a general soil enhancer. Clover is a quick-growing perennial that does well in most soils, although it prefers loamy soils with a balanced pH. Commercial growers have heavy equipment to plant and harvest the seeds, but with a little know-how, you can easily harvest clover seed in a small setting. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Look over your clover plants. You should see healthy-looking plants with many blossoms. The flowers in bloom are not ready for picking, so look for the blooms that have passed and turned either brown or black.
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Clover is known for being self-seeding, because new plants will grow where the seeds fall. The longer you leave dead blossoms on the plant, the more likely they are to drop their seeds, so pick the spent blossoms as soon as you find them. Hold the faded blossom between your thumb and forefinger, give it a firm twist, and pull. The flower should come right off.
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Place the picked seed heads in a paper bag. They need to stay dry until you are ready to harvest the seeds. If you notice that the plants are still green and the flowers have not totally dried, spread them out in a dry area until the blossoms have fully dried.
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Crush the dried seed heads so the seeds fall loose, then pour the whole mass of seed heads and seeds into a colander. Shake the colander, and the seeds will fall through into a bowl. Save the seeds in an airtight container in a cool, dark place until you are ready to plant them.
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