Sunflower Heads Harvested

Now that the garden is coming to a close I will be writing less about my latest harvests.  This week I saw that many of the sunflower seeds were being eaten which means that the seeds are ready to be harvested.  Rather than removing each seed individually it is better to just cut off the head and bring it inside to dry.  This way birds, squirrels, or other pests will not be able to steal them.

Once they dry you can then use the seeds for anything you want such as frying them, eating them as is, or just grinding them up for a sunflower seed meal.  You can just feed them to birds if you like or put them in a bird feeder.  The choice is up to you.

I will most likely grind the head and the seeds and add them to my worm compost bin.  This way they will be eaten and they will be returned to the soil as dense nutrients for next years harvest.

You can see from this head that some pests got at the seeds before I could cut off the head.  Damage is minimal and that is something to be glad about because it could be much worse.

Here is a head that I could have left on the stalk for a few more days to complete ripening.

I will still let it dry and it will be useable mulch or meal once I grind it all up.  Nothing in the garden will ever go to waste.