Harvesting Sunflower Seeds

Chopper 9/27/2010, 3:04 am

I have been drying my sunflower heads for about a month and decided they were dry enough today. It took about an hour for one head. A lot of that was figuring out how to separate the chaff from the seeds. Getting the seeds off the head itself was not too hard and easy to do by hand. I would not want to grow a whole field of these without a harvesting machine of some sort.

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds 9_sep_12

Half a head plus some of the seeds and chaff and part of the stem

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds 9_sep_13

A bowl of seeds. I was going to salt them but I actually like raw seeds so may just leave them. Ate a few. They are lovely and sweet and there is no evidence of bugs. From the time they started to look mature, I covered the heads with cheesecloth.

Old Hippie 9/27/2010, 10:20 am

Those look great Chopper. Do you know a good way to salt them? I have never found a recipe for that. I love them salted but they are good plain as well.

My sunflowers were planted too late in the year for the seeds to develop properly so I didn't get any nice heads. I like to leave one or two in the garden over the winter for the birds. It is fun to watch them.

I love the look of the fields of sunflowers in southern Manitoba. My Mennonite ancestry dictates that we grow sunflowers. Every garden had sunflowers when I was little and no family get together was complete without them. I don't remember if they were salted or not. Nobody worried if the empty shells ended up on the floor and got walked on. When everyone went home, Grandma or my aunts would sweep the floor. The oil from the shells made a wonderful shine on the linoleum floors.

GK

Chopper 9/27/2010, 2:21 pm

From what I understand you boil them in heavily salted water then transfer to warm oven until dried. Clever, no?

Aub 9/27/2010, 9:44 pm

I have to let it dry for a MONTH Shocked

My kids are getting anxious waiting for the seeds to dry!

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Harvesting Sunflower Seeds

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds

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