sunflowers

[diver]

I've planted 2 sunflowers on my lottie and they are doing really well. I planted them because I wanted to harvest the seed to have with my breakfast cereal, and to eat as a snack. I'm sure lots of you out there have done this before and I ould really do with some advice.....how do I go about it...do I leave it the seeds to dry on the flower or do I pick them or what......?

[Magpie]

Leave everything until the petals fall off, and the back of the sunflower goes dry. If the birds start having a go at them before then, you can put a leg of pantyhose over them. (The flower, not the bird, although I suppose that would work too, but not be very nice!)
I cut them then and leave them upside down, in paper bags, in a cool dry place, until I need them. They are jolly hard to de-husk though! To get them out of the flower, I just rub two dry flowers together, and they sort of pop out. But those husks... I just save them to plant, now, rather than eat. Any dehusking ideas?

[Millymollymandy]

I have always put them out for the birds, that is, if they haven't already eaten them on the plant.

Interesting that you posted this because I was thinking about trying to keep some for me and whether it would be hard to take the husks off. Obviously it is!

Shame because here in France they are not popular like in the UK and if you can find them in a health food shop, of which there aren't many, they cost a fortune. I had two bags brought over from the UK which were dirt cheap for a whole kilo. I use them in breadmaking.

[wulf]

We've found the big problem to be squirrels rather than birds. Last year, they chewed the heads off our sunflowers before they'd full developed - vandals!

We'll see how this year's ones do. They grew up from what had been dropped below the birdfeeder at my mother-in-laws so, if they don't get squirreled, it will be interesting to see what they turn out to be!

BTW, I've no experience of harvesting the seeds but I wonder if some kind of soaking and / or heating might work to loosen the shells?

Wulf

[diver]

thanks a lot magpie , I will have a go at harvesting them, and I never thought of putting them in bread, I will have a go at that too, if I can get the husks off.

[Magpie]

You don't need to buy the seed merchant's packets of seed either, you can just use the bulk birdseed to plant.

MMM It's funny they aren't used much in France, I have never been there, but one image that pops into my head when I think of France are the fields of sunflowers. I guess it's like pumpkins in the US, how they tend not to eat the flesh of them. Roast pumpkin - mmmmmmmm!

[Millymollymandy]

I guess they are for sunflower oil. Sadly no fields of sunflowers where I live - they really are a fabulous sight to see, aren't they? I think they are "happy" flowers!

My ones this year are a dark bronzy colour - a packet came free with my veg seed order. I think I prefer yellow though.

[diver]

I buy sunflower seed kernals to feed the birds so can I just plant these next year, or do I plant the ones with the husks on that come with the general birdseed ?

[Magpie]

You need the ones that still have their grey and white husks on, not the little kernels.

[diver]

thanks, I will save some of the seed from this years sunflowers