Once we collected and stored goldenrod seed, we moved on collecting seed from the biggest biomass producer of all the natives on our farm, showy tarweed (
Madia elegans). Showy tarweed is a tall, eye-catching annual native in Oregon and California that secretes sticky oil. Some say it smells like tar, others say it smells like pineapple. Pacific Northwest tribes ground its seeds to produce flour so sticky that water wasn’t needed to form the flour into dough.
All this makes harvesting the plant pretty interesting. Given the 8-foot average height of the plants, two passes with the combine were required to obtain the seed that remained in the spent flowers. After combining, we raked remaining stems into piles and tossed that material by hand through the combine to remove any seed. Next, we swept up any dropped seed from the weed cloth installed at planting to catch seed as it fell from the plants. The bulk of the seed was contained in these sweepings. Finally, the sweepings containing stems and seeds were also thrown through the combine for a rough cleaning and stored to await further cleaning this winter and ultimately, being directly seeded at restoration sites and creating pollinator nectar sources and resilient grassland ecosystems long into the next decade.
With sore shoulders, I went back to my desk, while our farm staff carried on with their tireless labor. In the spring, there will be more opportunities to become a farmer for the day. IAE would like to thank Oregon State University and the broad consortium of partners involved in the Willamette Valley Native Plant Materials Partnership.
