S is for Sunflower

Sunflowers have always been one of my favorite garden plants. Lets just say it brings the 5 year old out in me. Especially, I adore the “giant sunflower” and what child doesn’t marvel at a plant that wasn’t and now looms 12 or more feet off the ground.

Besides its beauty, cheeriness, and presence; what has it done for us lately. The sunflower (Helianthus annuus or Mapi'-na'ka) is a native North American plant and has been farmed for at least 5000 years. Archaeologists have found evidence that the Indians of Arizona & New Mexico have cultivated the plant since 3000 B.C. Now-a-days we feed wild birds and critters with it mainly, and some health conscious folk include it in bread and on their salads. In the 1880’s a process for extracting the oil from the seeds was patented and we got sunflower oil for cooking. So what else can we do with the plant?

Well, have you heard of the “Three Sisters” in gardening, well IMHO the “Sunflower” the cousin that hangs out in the garden too. Let me explain corn, beans, and squash are the three sisters in Native American farming. Basically you plant the corn, then the beans so they can climb up the corn as it grows, and finally plant squash at the base to acts a mulch. There is a lot more to this marriage of sisters, but that is for a later post. Anyway, Native Americans also grew a lot of sunflowers. Why?

The seeds are actually very useful just raw, roaster, braised, as flour, and as a portable food. But let’s start at the beginning, when to sow the sunflower seeds. When the ice breaks up in the rivers, start trying to work the ground once you can plant your sunflower seeds. You might also want your planting to correspond with the first full moon of the April; some tribes refer to this month as “Sunflower-planting-moon”. Clever. Plant the seeds 3-4 inches deeps in friable soil, or as shallow as 1 inch in heavy soil.

Sunflowers are a very hearty plant and will do their best to grow anywhere you put them. This said they prefer full sun and growing in well drained moist fertile soil. They are very tolerant of sandy or clay soil but help them by adding lots of organic compost. Sunflowers are hardy and car little about the day length. Just remember doing plant the seeds in “wet” soil they will suffocate & rot. I use sunflower as trellises for morning glories, red runner beans, and for beans. The seedlings germinate in about 7 days or longer depending on temperature.

Sunflowers respond positively to liquid fertilize either chemical, organic, or fish. You might want to support your sunflower tops if you use them as a trellis; summer thunder storms tend to topple the tops. To jump ahead a little once the seeds start developing you might want to protect you flowers from birds if they start harvesting them before you do. But I have found this to be rare unless you leave the heads up to long.

Then the only thing you need to figure out is what you want to do with the sunflowers bounty. Some recipes to follow, but you can finds recipes for parching, making salted seeds (good for hot climates), and meal-cakes with fat as an energy pick me up.

References:
Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden: Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians (Borealis) This is excellent book on finding out how Native Americans farmed. If you like archeology, sociology, food history, or just knowing how other folks garden this is the book for you. I have read this book twice, and it is a quick easy enjoyable read.

Heirloom Sunflower Seeds - Flash Blend Flower Seed Organic - Get some variety in you garden, these may not be the biggest sunflowers you have ever seen but they will be the most divers.