I've been learning to save a lot of different kinds of seeds over the last few years, and the most difficult part seems to be figuring out the best processing technique to get seeds out of their fruits or hulls.  With the first crucifer I processed (tokyo bekana), I gathered the whole top of the plant and pounded it with a big wooden pestle to break the seed cases apart.  My new method with kale seems to be even more streamlined.

Seed to Seed warned me that kale fruits ripen a few at a time over the course of a week or two.  If you rip up the whole plant, you'll either lose some seeds due to premature shattering (opening) of the early pods, or you'll harvest seeds that won't sprout since they're not fully mature.  So I set off to break the ripest-looking kale pods into a container, figuring I'd come back in a week to harvest the rest.

As I worked, I realized that it was even easier to simply thresh the ripe pods directly into my container than to break off clusters of pods.  Running a fruiting head through my hand resulted in lots of seeds and some pod bits making their way into my box, which meant the threshing and winnowing stage was as simple as shaking the box so the seeds settled to the bottom, scooping out most of the pod bits, and then blowing the rest away.

This week was my second round of harvesting, and a few minutes' work netted half a pound of kale seeds!  Kale seeds are good for three to five years, so I shouldn't have to save seeds again for quite a while.  Now I just have to wait and see if the information I was given on kale hybridization is correct (meaning that I should end up with two unsullied varieties, the same as I grew last year) or if my Red Russian and Improved Dwarf Siberian interbred (meaning that these seeds will turn into the kale equivalent of an alley cat).