Seed Harvest at Prairie Nursery is a Big Operation

Check out how we harvest and clean our seeds

David, a large field technician, uses a combine to harvest a field of Prairie Dropseed.

Prairie Dropseed seed stalks are left in the field after seeds are harvested by the combine.

 A field of Little Bluestem in the foreground, with Prairie Dropseed being harvested in the background.

Little Bluestem is fluffing out and ready for harvest.

Butterflyweed seed ripens in the foreground as Prairie Dropseed is harvested with a combine in the background. There's a narrow row of Little Bluestem in the middle.

Prairie Dropseed seed stalks up close.

Bekah, a seed crew leader, uses a large fanning mill, which cleans thousands of pounds of seed at a time.

Fanning mills employ a combination of shaking screens to winnow out impurities, and an adjustable fan to blow off chaff.

Kay is using an antique Clipper Fanning Mill to clean wildflower seeds. This mill is still useful in the 21st century, and does a great job cleaning small quantities of prairie seed.

Some very tiny seeds are cleaned by hand, using a screen. Cleaning Red Baneberry seed can be messy.                                       

"When Mother Nature is your business partner, nothing is certain."             -Rita Mae Brown

Harvest time at Prairie Nursery, as with any agricultural operation, is  subject to the weather. Our first snowfall this year was on November 10th.