Published On: September 3rd, 2019Categories: Uncategorized


Longtime readers of this column know I have a running battle with squirrels in the garden. Digging up perfectly good plants, stealing fruit from trees, or throwing things to chase off intruders, I’m sure they think I’m a nuisance to their otherwise idyllic patch. Too bad I think it belongs to me.

With a great deal of chicken wire and netting, I’ve managed to protect a lot of the plants, but sunflowers simply won’t be contained. They’ve grown tall enough that I thought there was no way the squirrels could get to them; they’re in the middle of the yard, away from fences or trees, so there is no launching pad for the furballs to fling themselves from.

I underestimated the ingenuity of those animals.

Sitting at a peaceful breakfast on the patio, I noticed a trembling in the sunflowers, one of them shaking and disturbing its neighbors. Suddenly it fell like a sequoia, crashing to the ground in a majestic, slow-motion tumble that left a hole where once it had been. The squirrel at the base of the plant looked delighted and scampered along the stem to sever the head and cart it off for a meal.

Since the squirrels have begun strip-logging my sunflowers, that’s a sure sign it’s nearing time to harvest those heads. Here’s how:

The easiest way to tell if sunflower heads are ready is that the ripe seeds start falling out. Pick up a few and split them open to see if the seed is plump with meat. If the seeds aren’t falling yet, look for the sunflower heads to be droopy and down-turned with its back changing from green to yellow/brown. Petals will be shriveled and falling, leaving the plumped seeds exposed.

Keep birds and squirrels from thieving the seeds by bagging the head with perforated plastic bags. In my case, that won’t help because the logging operation is in full swing, so the head needs to be ripened away from the plant in a protected area.

At this point — before the seeds start falling — cut the head off the stem, leaving 1 foot of stem attached. Hang them upside-down in a warm place until they dry and the seeds separate easily.  Use the stem to turn the head over and hold it upside-down while rubbing the seeds out by hand. Dry and store them, or roast them in an oven preheated to 300 degrees for 15-25 minutes.

If you prefer salted seeds, soak them overnight in a brine of 2 tablespoons of salt to 1 cup of water. Boil the brine, seeds and all, for a few minutes, drain, then spread them out in a thin layer on a cookie sheet. Roast the seeds in an oven preheated at 200 degrees for three hours, or until crisp. When roasted long enough, they’re easy to shell.

Other seeds that are ready for harvest are seeds from dill, fennel, cilantro (coriander), or parsley. To harvest these seeds, cut the stems when the seeds are turning from green to brown (harvest cilantro when half of the seeds have turned brown).  Bundle the stems together with a rubber band — they shrink to fit the stems when the stems dry — and hang them upside down.  Loosely secure a paper bag over the flower heads to collect the seeds as they shatter from the stem.  Once the seeds have completed the browning, rub them to separate any remaining from the stem.  Dry them the rest of the way by setting the seeds out on a drying screen in a warm, well-ventilated space for a few days.


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