I grew sunflowers because I like them, and honestly from a pollinator standpoint watching all the pollinator bees, and the humming birds with them was fun and amazing. I did not set out to plant them for harvest, but I thought since I had them I would try it.
It came to the end of their lifespan so I thought I would pull some for harvest.
I cut some of the dead flower heads off, watched a couple of videos on YouTube on how to harvest sunflowers and got to work.
I rarely ever give up on a project after I start, but first I noticed you have to wear gloves because they are so sticky, and soap and water does not get it off easily. So ewww.
Second, the pattern in the heads of the sunflowers really ick out my wife, so that’s not good to have sitting in the kitchen.
Finally, it is tedious, and slow, and annoying.
All that combined, means I just gave up. It’s the first garden related project I just gave up on.
When I can get a pound of organic, shelled, sunflowers from Trader Joes for $2.99, and I can’t identify any real flavor difference, then I am not really into spending HOURS on shelling these and processing them.
I think I will keep my sunflowers to just decorative from now on.
Garden Rat 