I've always wanted to know how to harvest spinach seeds but didnt know what to look out for in a 'seeding' plant. Finally, this past spring, one of my spinach plants made it abundantly clear to me. It slowed down with producing leaves but grew into this tall unattractive weed-looking tower. It was seeding! I left it to do its thing and when I noticed it was pretty dried out/dead, I pulled the entire stalk out of the ground and hung it upside down in a dry place. After a few hot dry weeks, I started harvesting the seeds. The way to tell the seeds apart from the other similar looking 'duds', is by touch and sight. The seeds are usually slightly bigger and more tan-brown than greyish-brown, and they are much harder/firmer (i.e. they don't crumble when you roll them between your fingers). You will get enough seeds off one bush to supply the whole neighbourhood! :) [pictured below, on the strand I am holding, the seed is the one positioned in the middle of my middle finger... and so are the loose ones you see resting in between my fingers.]
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