Everyone loves a rainy day...

Since the weather today is less than beautiful, I got to spend some time on the never-ending task of seed collection. Hemlock pine cones are small, and conceal the viable seeds with the hard outer shell. In the wild, the cones eventually dry out and open, dropping their seeds. At the ICN, all of this collection is done by hand, sitting on buckets rolling and picking away at hemlock pinecones to reach the seeds inside. The task is tedious, as the seeds are miniature and difficult to reach in many cases. HOWEVER, with good company and a positive attitude, three hours of seed collecting flew by! Many other nurseries around the state (and country, for that matter), have a mechanized seed collection method, or invest in big tumblers that physically shake the pinecones until the seeds fall out. Seth and Mike showed me a couple pictures of such tumblers, 'oohing and ahhing' like it was a fancy european sports car.

Personally, i'm much more impressed that they do it by hand, although it is extremely time consuming. Oh well, it gave me something to do on a rainy day, while sipping tea!