Sunflowering

So I read the “Sunflower” chapter in the Burpee Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener book and it said to cut the flower head leaving a two-foot stalk attached once the back of the flower starts to turn brown. I was supposed to hang it up in a dry airy place until the seeds were completely dry. But when I got that monstrous head down, I realized that 1) bugs were making nests in the dying leaves, 2) a patch of the seeds looked decidedly moldy, and 3) the seeds were falling out with a simple shake or touch. So instead, I took out all the seeds that were not moldy and put them in a colander. I left the rest of the head and seeds outside - maybe the birds will want them. If not, I’ll chuck it. I brought the colander inside and carefully picked though the seeds, removing all remains of the flower petals. I spread them in a lipped tray and put it next to a sunny window to dry out thoroughly. I hope to eat some and save some seeds for next year. What a lot of seeds a single large sunflower head can produce! The colander was 2/3rds of the way full.

I also want to mark this day on my calendar because I took most of the garlic bulblets I dried over the summer and put it in the refrigerator. In two weeks I can plant that out. I have more than I need, so if anyone local would like some garlic for planting please let me know. Speaking of extras for give away, I inadvertently bought two packets of Black Spanish Round Radish so if anyone wants to try out some of those seeds, let me know. Both garlic and radish can be grown in containers, so if you only have a small space, these are actually good ones to try.

And in the final note about extras... that tip on knocking off the flowers from pollinated zucchini has resulted in a ridiculous bumper crop of zucchini. It’s so out of control that I bought a dehydrator to make zucchini chips, and I am seriously thinking about buying this book: 101 Things To Do With Zucchini. I have an uncle who would say that title sounds porn-y.