Sunflowers are a backyard favorite to home gardeners. They are easy to grow, produce huge beautiful flowers, require no maintenance, and best of all provide a delicious snack! Sunflowers can be grown as perennials in warmer climates, or annuals in cooler zones. They thrive in just about any type of soil, and have an extremely rapid growth rate. The seeds are ready for harvesting when the plant has fully matured. You will know it's time to harvest when you see the following signs:
- The back of the flower head is brown and dry.
- The seeds are black and white striped, and quite plump.
- The once-yellow pedals have begun to turn brown, and fall to the ground.
So now you know your seeds are ripe and ready to pick! Harvesting them is a breeze. Just follow these steps and you'll be snackin' on the freshest seeds around!
- Cut flower. You want to cut the flower head off while leaving 12" or so of stem connected to it.
- Allow to dry. If you opt to dry outdoors, you must protect your seeds from birds. This can be done by wrapping the head in a paper or fabric bag. If you chose to dry indoors, you will need to hang the head upside down in a dry and well ventilated location. Wrap with a clean nylon stocking, or tie a bag below to catch any seeds that may fall while hanging to dry.
- Extract the seeds. Once the seeds have dried, it is time to remove them from the flower head. Simply rub your hand over the head and the seeds will begin to fall. I recommend you allow them to fall into a large bowl or bag placed below.
- Enjoy. The seeds are now ready to eat. Some people like to roast them, bake them, brine them, etc. That depends upon personal taste. Personally, I enjoy them as they are.
Douglas Heffernan is a professional freelance journalist. He writes frequent columns for The New York Times, and has been featured in People Magazine.
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Comments
Ive tried planting my own sunflowers at home, and have enjoyed the process. They grow very fast and large, and yield large sunflower seeds. I used the "mammoth sunflower" seed to grow mine. Is there a better seed or is that the best seed for sunflowers?
Many types of sunflower species exist. Each has its own unique features. The mammoth seed will grow very aggressively, and may reach a height of 8-10 feet within 12 weeks. I'm not quite sure I can say one is better than the other. It depends more upon what you would like to get from the plant (shade, decorative effect, landscape border, seeds, etc.) If you are growing sunflowers for the sole purpose of harvesting the seeds, I 'd say the mammoth is an excellent choice. I've yet to see a species produce larger seeds while growing this rapidly.
