Event Calendar

Come join Hilltop Hanover Farm's Native Plant team process bulk seed from our seed increase plots. We will be cleaning broomsedge bluestem or broomstraw (Andropogon virginicus) , a clump-forming, warm season grass that grows wild in open, sandy fields. Broomstraw produces exceptionally fluffy seeds that are partially enclosed in leaf sheaths along the flowering stems, which are only partially released in the fall. Many of the seeds stay hidden in the sheaths and we need your help getting them out! Because the seeds are trapped in sheaths and are so light and fluffy, we have to go through a more labor intensive process before we can put the seeds through the brush thrasher (seed cleaning threshing machine), otherwise it's nearly impossible to separate the seeds from the rest of the vegetative material (chaff) later. So we need all the help we can get ripping up grass sheaths and shaking out the seeds!