Sunflowers Tips Harvesting

For sunflowers tips, harvesting is only the first of a series of tasks gardeners can take to harvest, store and enjoy sunflower seeds. Celebrate the season through sunflower tips, harvesting and enjoying these delightful harbingers of fall.

Sunflowers are among the late summer flowering plants.

If you've grown masses of the tall, stately flowers known as sunflowers, chances are you're wondering how to harvest the seeds. There are many uses for sunflower seeds. You can save the seeds and try to grow the plants again next year from saved seeds. You can harvest the seeds and use them in bird feeders throughout the winter to attract cardinals, blue jays and other beautiful birds to the garden. Or you can roast or salt and save the delicious seeds to eat as a snack. No matter what your reason, follow these tips to successfully harvest sunflowers.

• Wait until the flower heads are ready to harvest. Do not cut them down early. The seeds won't be mature enough yet to harvest.
• Look for telltale signs that the flower is mature. These include:
  • Petals fall off the flower
  • Back of the flower looks dry and brown
  • Seeds are plump and noticeable
  • Seeds are black and you can see brown stripes
• Cut the head off the sunflower plant, leaving about a foot of stem attached.
• Spread newspaper on the ground.
• Rub your hand over the seed head. Dry seeds will naturally fall out onto the newspaper.
• When all of the seeds are out of the seed head, compost or discard the seed head.
• Make a funnel out of the newspaper and tap the seeds into a jar or container.

Sunflower seeds can be used for many purposes.

You can use the saved seeds next year to start your sunflowers. Simply gather the harvested seed and store in a jar or container in a cool, dry location. Label the container so you don't forget what you have stored.

Sunflower seeds grown in the home garden can be used as bird food for wild birds. After harvesting the sunflower seeds, simply store them in a closed container. Make sure you use a container with a tight fitting lid and store the seed in a garden shed, garage or another location convenient to your bird feeder. Dried sunflower seeds are a favorite of mice, chipmunks, squirrels and rats, so be sure to use a tight-fitting lid or else you will have very fat rodents and a very empty container in a few days!

Sunflower seeds are tasty and nutritious, and while it's possible to eat too many, they're still packed with good nutrition and a healthy alternative to other snacks.

If you like roasted sunflower seeds, here's how to roast them:

• Harvest according to the tips above.
• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
• Place sunflower seeds in a shallow roasting pan
• Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring or shaking the pan to make sure they don't burn on one side
• Cool, store and enjoy

Another technique to storing sunflowers to eat as a snack food is to salt them. To create salted sunflower seeds like the kind you can buy in a convenience store:

• Add ½ cup of salt to 2 quarts of water in a large pot.
• Add sunflower seeds. The water should just about cover the top.
• Bring it to a boil.
• When the mixture boils, reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for two hours.
• Drain the seeds and spread them out on paper towels to dry.
• Use paper towels to blot up any remaining salt water.

Once they are dry, store in an airtight container and enjoy.

Sunflowers tips, harvesting and enjoying these delicious seeds are just a few of the many ways gardeners can enjoy the fruits of their labors. Growing sunflower tips, harvesting information and more can help gardeners enjoy these wonderful flowers.

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