Harvesting Sunflower Seeds
Tips For Harvesting Sunflower Seeds
Harvesting sunflower seeds from a home garden is an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Sunflowers are easy to grow and their seeds make great snacks and ingredients for many different recipes and even are great for animals. Harvesting sunflower seeds from your own sunflower plants is an easy way to reap the benefits of having a summer garden and provides a wonderful family activity as well.
Nothing says summertime like a big bright sunflower. Sunflowers (Helianthus annus) are large, round, yellow pedaled annual plants. There are many different varieties of sunflowers and some grow to be 8-12 feet in height. The seeds of sunflower plants are actually the plant’s fruit. They come from disc florets inside the head of the sunflower, and are arranged in a spiral pattern with a distinct mathematical equation. This allows the plants to pack the most possible amount of seeds into its head. Sunflowers are native to Central America but can grow readily all over North America. They prefer to be planted in full sunlight in fertile, moist soil. The more fertile the soil, the more seeds can be harvested, so it doesn’t hurt to add some fertilizers or humus to your soil before planting. Seeds can be collected from another sunflower plant or purchased at any nursery or garden center.
Plant your sunflower plants just after the last frost, in well cultivated soil about ½ -1 inch deep. It is a good idea to protect the area from weeds that can compete for your sunflower’s nutrients and avoid letting them drying out. Water your seedlings more when they begin to flower to help them grow larger heads. Sunflowers have a very interesting characteristic called heliotropism, or the ability to move their heads towards the sun every day. Remove any plants that appear diseased to prevent spreading anything to other plants.
Your sunflowers will be ready for harvesting about the third week of September. A good way to determine when the seeds are ready to be harvested is when the head hangs and the center of the flower turns brown. Cut the sunflower stalks and hang them upside for several days over a collection bin. Protect the heads from birds or they will steal your entire harvest. Cheese cloth is a good way to prevent the birds from getting to the seeds. If you choose to allow the seeds to dry on the flower without cutting the stalk and hanging it, a cheese cloth over the standing plant will protect it well. When hanging stalks, be sure to keep the collection bin well aerated to avoid mold and rot of the seeds. Once the heads are completely dry, simply rubbing the heads with your hands will remove the seeds.
Sunflower seeds are a wonderful food. They contain iron and calcium and are cholesterol free. They can be oven-roasted and salted to make a great snack food, made into nut butter, they make great additions to recipes like breads and salads, their oil has many uses, and they are great for bird or pet foods too. To roast sunflower seeds, start with a low oven temperature of about 150-200 degrees F, and soak them in salt water first to add to the taste. They can be roasted until they are dried and should be turned 2 times during the process. You can also make nut butter by grinding the seeds in a food processor, then adding oil and salt until smooth. Nut butter is great for spreads or lunches. Feed raw sunflower seeds to household pets or add them to your bird feeder as a treat for the birds. You can also keep some seeds for next year’s planting.
Sunflower plants are annuals and will not grow back next year, so it is best to dig out the remaining stalks and compost them for better soil. Harvesting sunflower seeds next year from the seeds you have collected this year is always rewarding as well.