Every year I plant big sunflowers all over my yard. I love to find little places to tuck them in, and when August comes I have bright yellow sunflowers all everywhere. Some sunflowers are decorative, meaning the seeds are too small to harvest, the wild sunflowers that grow around here are like that. I also plant big sunflowers that have nice heads that produce seeds that are big enough to harvest and eat.
I have never actually harvested the seeds for us people type to eat, I give them to the animals. The chicken love to peck the seeds out of the head, and then I don’t have to try to do it myself. When the flower heads get big and bend over, and the backs start to turn yellow it is time to cut and dry. Once they are dry I will throw heads into the coop for the chickens.
However….
I have to leave a few heads for my little birdies. This year I grew sunflowers along the grape trellises and the birds have found that the posts make perfect little perches for picking at the sunflower seeds.
I get to watch these sweet little birds from my kitchen window, as they peck away at my sunflowers. I have plenty of flowers in other places that I will harvest, I think these will stay right were they are for the little birdies.
