Sunflower seed project – Harvest time from jason toal on Vimeo.
It’s September! And for may Sunflower growers its time to start preparing to harvest your seeds. For those of you that took part in the seed sharing project this spring, I hope you have been successful growing this year, and will consider harvesting your seeds in a timely fashion, and save them for distribution to YOUR network in what ever manner you see fit.
I have a list of participants that I will be following up with that shows the progress I have recorded thus far. A couple of mentions. Alan Levine, (the first to respond to my post and also to grow his sunflowers being from sunny and hot Arizona) has documented his progress in amazing detail. Way to go Alan! Looks like you were able to harvest your seeds juuuust prior to this post. As long as you keep them cool and dry over the winter, they should be in fine shape to redistribute next year. Giulia Forsythe whom also was quick to respond has been documenting her progress in a similarly awesome fashion, which if this picture is any indication still need a ways to go before the are ready for harvest.
For anyone else that is going ahead with sharing photos on flickr I have created a sunflower seed sharers group, for you to join and add your images.
As for my own progress, I faced a few garden plot challenges this year, but eventually was able to start a plant from seed outside, and although it was planted very late got some very good results.
This photo was just taken a few days ago, and is featured in the video above. It’s still going to take a week or two to fully mature, but I will be keeping a close eye on them during this time to save them from potential rain and/or bird disasters.
Thanks Jason! Rain is not a problem here (but I am not in Phoenix desert climate, but 100 miles north at about 6000 ft elevation). I’ve not seen any bird attacks, they are around, but kept busy with feeders that have store bought seed, which also flowered. I had two Vancouver plants that fell over. I harvested them early, the seeds were still white and a bit soft, but they turned grey inside my shed, which is dry and warm.
What I looked for in the big ones were brushing the flower cover off on an edge and saw the seeds were firm, grey, and had that stripe down the side- more or less, they looked like the ones you set. They did pop out pretty easily when I brushed with my thumb, or bent the heads back to release.
This has been so fun! A new tradition I think is we should return some seeds back to you and Harry. I may have a few hundred seeds to share last year.
Definitely my best plants were ones that got regular water, a drip hose that was fed every day from a timer that soaks my main garden.
This was so fun! I love sunflowers so much and mine are extra special so I gave them extra love. We had a really wet summer but also had a lot of sun and heat which I think my sunflowers really enjoyed. I never had to water them once they were outside and I’m thankful for that. (I can’t handle needy plants!)
I joined the sunflower seed Flickr group and was a bit intimidated by the gorgeous photos and realized they were Alan’s. Wow! My flowers have turned and I will document my harvest in the coming weeks, I’ll save my seeds and gladly mail some out to anyone who comments on my blog post. Of course, I will send some back to you and Harry too (that’s a great idea, Alan)
Thanks so much for the video, Jason. Lots of helpful info but more importantly, it made me so happy to see and hear you. (MISS YA, BUDDY!)