Cutting the Sunflower Heads from the Plants

On Friday, June 20, 2014, it was the 98th day of my second DIY sunflower garden. And, that was the first day that I began to cut off the sunflower heads to harvest them for seeds. I probably cut around two dozen of the larger heads. I checked the back sides to see that they were yellowing and indented and that the petals had already fallen off.

White Mommy Cat Inspecting Cut Sunflower Heads
Photo Taken June 20, 2014

Last year, it was closer to the first of June when I was harvesting the seeds from the sunflower heads. In 2013, I was able to use my Florida Room for the drying of the sunflower heads. This year, things changed significantly when I located the six baby kittens that the white mommy cat had stashed in my neighbor's bushes!

White Mommy Cat Inspecting Cut Sunflower Heads
Photo Taken June 20, 2014

Now the mommy cat and six baby kittens are enjoying the pleasures of my Florida Room. So, I am using my garage for the drying location. After cutting about two dozen sunflower heads, I put them in the lid to my 55-gallon trash can. That seemed to work quite well for supporting the heads while they dry. I placed the lid on the top of the garbage can in the garage and have left it there for the right time to harvest the seeds.

Today, June 24th, is the 102nd day of my sunflower garden. I have filled a second lid with the cut sunflower heads. I have also been cutting the smaller heads and placing them at the foot of a crepe myrtle tree at the back of my property. Yesterday, I found a squirrel had actually climbed to the top of one of my taller sunflower plants to chew off one of the heads! So, to keep those squirrels happy, I have cut several dozen sunflower heads to keep them happy.

The squirrels aren't the only critters climbing my sunflower plants! The female and male cardinal birds have been landing on the stalks and actually snapping a few plants. I've also seen the baby mockingbirds jumping around at the base of the sunflower garden. Numerous times, the hummingbird has made an appearance, but it doesn't stick around long enough for me to snap a photo!

By the way, yesterday morning I was working out at Bailey's Powerhouse Gym. Chatting with a friend for a while, she suddenly stopped and asked me, "you don't smoke pot do you?" I looked at her surprised and said, "no, but I was working in my sunflower garden this morning, cutting the heads." You see, I must have reeked of the pungent sunflower odor. When you are cutting the heads, you get a little sticky residue on your hands. And the sunflower leaves can impart a strong smell when you handle them! Don't be working in your sunflower garden the day of any job interview! They might think you smell like pot, or something!!!

P.S. Oh, mommy cat? Well at 8:45am on Friday, June 20th, I located the six baby kittens and brought them into the Florida Room. Next, I was looking for the right opportunity to bring in mommy cat. You can see she was hanging around when I was cutting the sunflower heads early in the afternoon. I didn't want to "grab" her because that might unduly frighten her. She had to be comfortable coming inside. Well, the opportunity presented itself at 3:45pm that day. Yeah, it took me six hours for her to be ready to be with her babies inside!

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds from the Heads

For ten days, I had been drying the cut sunflower heads in a wicker storage box in my Florida Room. Today, I worked on my first dried sunflower head to harvest the sunflower seeds.

By the way, imagine my surprise when I Googled sunflowers and harvesting sunflower seeds from the heads! Holy smokes, but I found so many content scrapers out there who don't have a clue how to be original and authentic, but feel the need to steal other people's work. Shame on you. Why don't you try and grow your own gardens and then you can share your own photography.

Dried Sunflower Head Before Harvesting Seeds

I knew that my sunflower head was about ready for harvesting the seeds as the top layer was easily falling away from the head. In the above picture, you can see the seeds exposed near the center of the head.

Dried Sunflower Head Before Harvesting Seeds

Checking the dried sunflower head, the rest of the top layer was easily falling away, exposing more of the sunflower seeds below.

Completely Removed Top Layer of the Dried Sunflower Head

Carefully running the ball of your finger over the top of the dried sunflower head, the top layer should easily fall off. Now you can see your seeds are completely exposed.

Some Sunflower Seeds Removed from the Dried Sunflower Head

As you gently brush the top of the dried sunflower head, the seeds will literally pop out. If you look closely at the above picture, you can actually see the remainder of the seeds within the seed head.

More Sunflower Seeds Removed from the Dried Sunflower Head

I found it amazing to see just how many sunflower seeds were neatly tucked into that dried sunflower head. In the above picture, you can now clearly see the honeycomb structure within the head that held the seeds. It rather reminds me of a bee's honeycomb.

All Sunflower Seeds Removed from the Dried Sunflower Head

Holy Smokes! Look at all those sunflower seeds. You can see them in the right side of the picture. On the left, is the top layer which covered the seeds. And, the honeycomb sunflower head has had all the seeds removed.

Grading the Sunflower Seeds Removed from the Dried Sunflower Head

I was curious how many sunflower seeds I gathered from harvesting the dried sunflower head. Can you make an educated guess how many there are without looking ahead at the answer?

How Many Sunflower Seeds Can You Harvest From One Dried Sunflower Head?

You can see I made 4 little piles of seeds. I was rather "grading" the types of seeds by A, B, C and D grades. To the far right is A; to the far left is the D group. After completing the counting and grading, I found that A and B were pretty comparable in quality and size.

Piles A and B have 100 sunflower seeds each. Pile C has 90 sunflower seeds. Pile D - I did not count but estimate that there are at least 50 little seeds. That's 290 good seeds from one dried sunflower head plus the 50 little seeds = 340 seeds!

I was more than a little impressed with the amount of seeds that I harvested from that one sunflower head. It measured 3.5 inches in diameter and weighed about 4.5 ounces. So, that's about 100 sunflower seeds harvested per 1 inch.

These sunflower seeds were harvested to be used as seeds for planting more sunflower plants. I hope to be distributing my sunflower seeds before the end of the month.*

By the way, I started with Burpee! You can get a variety of Burpee Sunflower Seeds on Amazon. I have enjoyed the Autumn Beauty variety the most. The colors are quite outstanding!

And, now I have a 7 foot sunflower garden -- how about that? All from little Burpee sunflower seeds.

*UPDATE: I started The Sunflower Project on June 11, 2013. Within the first three days of the project, I had a number of early adopters - participants who signed up. I've sent out free packets of sunflower seeds to everyone on the list. Don't miss out! Add your name to this pay it forward project.

Drying Sunflower Heads for Seeds

It is now time for me to try my hand at drying the sunflower heads for harvesting the seeds! My sunflower garden is nearly 3 months old; I started it from seeds on March 2, 2013. I was waiting for the right moment to cut that first sunflower head. I suppose I could have ceremoniously waited until June 2nd, but I couldn't wait! So, I am 2 days short of the 3 months.

For those of you who STOLE my original images and written content, shame on you. Might I suggest you try being your own authentic selves? Go out and plant some seeds and watch YOUR gardens grow.

Cutting the Sunflower Heads

You can tell when it is time to cut the sunflower heads as all of the flower petals will have fallen off. The back of the blossom head will be yellowing. And, something important to note. You can see that the back of the sunflower head has indented or pushed toward the front.

The Back of the Sunflower Head is Yellow and Indented
Photo taken by JaguarJulie Ann Brady on May 31, 2013

I got out a pair of my heavy duty inside scissors and headed out to my garden. Since one of my tallest Autumn Beauty sunflowers had been bent over for more than a week, I decided to make that the first head I cut. That was the first Autumn Beauty sunflower plant to exceed 6 ft. in height. At the time of the cutting, it was well over 7 ft. in height if you stretched it out.

Largest Sunflower Head in My Garden : Autumn Beauty
Photo taken by JaguarJulie Ann Brady on May 31, 2013

It was easy to cut the thick stem with my scissors; I cut down to leave 9 inches of stem on the head. Before I cut any other sunflower heads, I came inside and put the cut sunflower head on my LS-30 postal scale.

The First Head Cut : Largest Sunflower Head : Autumn Beauty
Photo taken by JaguarJulie Ann Brady on May 31, 2013

I'm not sure what the average sunflower head is supposed to weigh, but this one came in at 8.2 ounces.  For some reason, I thought if felt heavier than that. The next largest sunflower head weighed in at 5.1 ounces. Most of the heads that I cut were comparable in size, weighing 4.5 to 5.1 ounces each.

A Bunch of Cut Sunflower Heads for Seed Harvesting
Photo taken by JaguarJulie Ann Brady on May 31, 2013

As you can see in the photo above, all the sunflower petals have fallen off the heads. The back of the heads were yellowing and rather indented. The most stem that I left on the cut heads was 9 inches. The rest of the heads, I left from 3 to 6 inches of stem.

Pests Who Like to Harvest Sunflower Seeds

Some gardeners may recommend that you leave the sunflower heads on the plants to dry; however, you run the risk of the birds or squirrels doing the seed harvesting for you! Everyday, In my back yard, I watch dozens of squirrels flying through the trees which rise up in the drainage area at the edge of my property. Sometimes, it is like a party in my yard as they zip back and forth from my yard to the neighbor's yard.

Those same squirrels went crazy last year when the Drake Elm went to seed in my front yard. I saw 6 squirrels at one time up in that tree, dropping those seed pods in my grass. A few months later, I had hundreds of little Drake Elm seedlings in my grass.

When I had a bird feeder in my back yard, I used to fill it with a mix that had a lot of sunflower seeds. Yep! The squirrels found the bird feeder and made short order of the sunflower seeds. So, I know those squirrels will harvest those sunflower seeds once they get wind of them!

It's not only the squirrels, but we have a plethora of birds thanks to the neighbor who puts out two large feeders. One evening, I was in my Florida Room talking on the phone with my neighbor. As I looked into the sunflower garden, I saw a male cardinal land on the stem of an Autumn Beauty sunflower plant! He flew off to the other neighbor's yard and landed on his fence. Next, into the garden flew the female cardinal. She landed on the decorative metal edging. Yes, I could well imagine that those cardinals would like to harvest some of those sunflower seeds.

Drying the Sunflower Heads 

I have read that you should dry the sunflower heads in perhaps a dark shed. Or, to keep out the pests from your garden, whilst drying your heads, you could put a paper bag on them. I have a lot of heads to dry, so using paper bags wouldn't be practical. And, I don't have a shed yet. I thought about putting the heads in my garage; but decided against it as I use my garage every day.

Drying 19 Sunflower Heads for Seeds in a Large Wicker Chest
Photo taken by JaguarJulie Ann Brady on May 31, 2013

The next logical place seemed to be my Florida Room. It is a dry and warm room that sometimes feels like a greenhouse or hot house. I have a large wicker storage chest that I purchased from Pier One Imports many years ago. Since it was not being used for anything, I am now using it for drying the sunflower heads.

Before I brought the various cut sunflower heads inside, I set them on the concrete patio out back to be sure I gave any bugs the chance to scurry away.

Inside the wicker chest, I placed one of the plastic liners from Lowe's on the bottom. Then, I put the 19 sunflower heads on top of the liner as demonstrated in the photo above.

Drying 19 Sunflower Heads for Seeds in a Large Wicker Chest
Photo taken by JaguarJulie Ann Brady on May 31, 2013

Once I had all the cut sunflower heads arranged inside the wicker chest, I shut the top of it. I didn't shut it completely, but placed 2 sets of 2 moose fabric aromatherapy coasters under the lid to let just a little bit of air inside the wicker chest.

Like that storage chest? I found the Wicker Lane Wicker Storage Deck Box at Amazon looks pretty similar to mine! I've had mine for years, and it still looks pretty much like new! Those types of chests can be used for storage or you can use them for a cocktail table in the living room. Maybe add a glass top to it? I've found that my wicker chest worked in the bedroom, living room, patio or Florida Room.

Thanks for stopping by today to be a part of my sunflower garden journey! It's been fun, you know? Check back in to see how the drying process goes!

Update: I have just written my next blog post in this series entitled, Harvesting Sunflower Seeds from the Heads. Can you guess how many sunflower seeds might be in one average sunflower head?