Collection times vary between species and even within species (depending on the location eg. Golden Wattle at Nathalia is likely to ripen a few weeks before Golden Wattle at Broadford (due to the cooler conditions). The season will also influence how quickly fruit ripens

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While some species have seed available to collect any time (eg. tea-trees, bottlebrushes, some eucalypts), others have seed ready for only a day or two – typically during December and January. You will need to keep a close eye on how the fruit is ripening in your part of the world to make sure you don’t miss out for some species.

Plants with woody fruits

eg species: of Eucalypts, Allocasuanna, Hakeas, Callitins.
We remove small branches, or individual fruit with secateurs and/or pole pruners.

Plants with pods

eg species of: Acacia, Brachychiton, Daviesia, Dillwynia, Glycine, Hardenbergia, Indigofera, Pultenaea, Senna.
We wear gloves to strip pods from branches into a bag or container. With wattles – can beat branches with a stick or shake them and capture seed on a drop sheet spread below.

Grasses

eg species of: Austrodanthonia, Austrostipa, Themeda.
Strip seedheads off their stems by running a cupped hand along the seedheads in an upward motion, or cut them off with secateurs. For larger jobs, we use the Bandicoot seed harvester.

Collecting daisies

We collect fluffy seeds by hand or using a backpack vacuum.

Plants with fleshy fruit

eg species of: Dianellas, Atriplex, Enchylaena.
Picking ripe fruit off the branches by hand.