Fall is Coming, but Don’t Throw Those Dead Sunflowers Away!

Fall is approaching and it's time to start thinking about cleaning out your gardens and flower beds. With that comes some major chopping down of sunflower stalks. When I started growing sunflowers, I actually bought a machete just for this purpose. It's honestly the only thing I ever use it for! One year I was at my cousin's house and noticed all of the sunflower stalks and heads in his garbage can. He said he saved a handful of seeds for replanting but that was it. I told him about all the things you can do with those seeds and he changed his ways! My favorite thing to do is to cut the sunflower heads off and hang them on the fence for the birds to feed on.

Did you know you can easily collect sunflower seeds for baking? Spread them out on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes then salt 'em up. If you want to deshell the seeds, an easy way is to put them in a bowl and cover them with water. Then use an electric mixer and stir the holy heck out of them. The seeds will come out of the shells and the shells will float to the top. Scoop the shells out and drain the water to find all the seeds in the bottom. We use sunflower seeds in salads and sprinkle them on vegetables.

We like to plant a variety of sunflowers in different colors and heights.