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Garden Gate:  OK, the sunflowers grew, now what?  |
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JoyIowa
True Blue Farmgirl
273 Posts
Joy
273 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 08 2005 : 7:48:14 PM
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Hi everyone,
Earlier this spring several of you wrote and gave me wonderful ideas on how to get my sunflowers growing. And grow they did! Most of them are 12' tall. All have huge flowers. All have started to hand their heads. Now what?!?! When do I harvest them? How? Will the birds get them before I do? Thanks!
If it's not illegal, unsafe, or immoral, why not try anything once? Who knows? You may come back for a second helping! |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2005 : 05:26:56 AM
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Joy, Oh I have "sunflower envy"!!!! Your topic heading made me laugh. Are the heads drooping like they are about to fall off? Do the seeds look dry? What do you want to use them for? Bird seed or human snacks? If you leave the heads on eventually all the seeds will be devoured by birds and some will drop off and you will have lots of sunflowers next year! If you want to save the seeds, wait until the seeds look dry and are about to drop off, and the head is dead looking, cut the head off ( this sounds graphic, but it is just a flower) and harvest the seeds for your purposes.
Being is what it is. Jean Paul Sartre |
Edited by - MeadowLark on Sep 09 2005 05:28:41 AM |
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Nicol
True Blue Farmgirl
200 Posts
Nicol
200 Posts |
Posted - Sep 09 2005 : 09:03:19 AM
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| Joy, thanks for asking that question. I've been wondering the same myself. And thank you for your advice Meadowlark. I think I'll harvest some to eat and some to plant next year (where I want them to grow). |
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Ahodge
Farmgirl in Training
27 Posts
Anne
334 SW Well, Fort White
FL
USA
27 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2005 : 05:45:11 AM
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| stretch stockings over the heads of the sunflowers to allow them to dry longer and get plumper without the birds getting them all. When they are eating size just snip off the head, stocking and all and hang in a cool dark place until needed. Please do this before first frost, and on a dry day. Cutting it when it's damp will result in mold |
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quiltedess
True Blue Farmgirl
296 Posts
Nancy
Priest River
ID
USA
296 Posts |
Posted - Sep 10 2005 : 08:01:13 AM
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I loved it the year a grew lots of big sunflowers and corn. I had pheasants in my yard that fall, the only time I'd seen them in the 27 years I've lived here. They were sure pretty.
Nancy |
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JoyIowa
True Blue Farmgirl
273 Posts
Joy
273 Posts |
Posted - Sep 11 2005 : 7:28:18 PM
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I picked one out of the head today and opened it. NO seed!!!! Are they just not developed yet? Do I need to wait longer? The seeds are not dark at all yet, but they have tipped over. Help!?
Thanks
Joy
If it's not illegal, unsafe, or immoral, why not try anything once? Who knows? You may come back for a second helping! |
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OkieSunflower
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
OK
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2005 : 06:36:11 AM
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When I grew sunflowers, I always left them on the plant until the plant was completely dried up. --to the point where the plant couldn't support the head.
I really didn't have problems with that many birds--but we do live out in the plains. I then took the heads and laid them out on mesh screen (in a protected building--like a garage) and let them completely dry out.
hope this helps
"Nothing is impossible. Some things are just less likely than others." Jonathan Winters
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theherblady
True Blue Farmgirl
510 Posts
Jan
Glasford
Illinois
USA
510 Posts |
Posted - Sep 30 2005 : 1:09:11 PM
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I grew sunflowers for the first time this year...My question is...I grew some smaller-more orange-ish sunflowers...Can you eat all kinds of sunflower seeds?
Do you toast the seeds?
Jan |
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Garden Gate: OK, the sunflowers grew, now what? |
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OK, the sunflowers grew, now what?
