Saving Your Sunflower Seeds

This is something that I only starting doing a few years ago and it is such a joyful thing to do.

It also makes for a great gift, to package up your own homegrown sunflower seeds, and give them to those you love on special occasions or on birthdays. I have done this numerous times tied up in a pretty ribbon. In fact, I bought my father in law a seed box and I filled it with my favourite seeds, many of them homegrown. It's such a thoughtful thing to do and makes loved ones feel extra special. I've also noticed that the germination rate of my homegrown sunflower seeds is just excellent and they produce the most beautiful sunflowers.

I want to stress that this is not something I had ever previously done, so don't be put off if you're new to this. I didn't even know you could do this and it really isn't difficult! It was only when I started ordering seeds from a company called Real Seeds, that I realised just how precious good seeds really are.

I ordered some french bean seeds from Real Seeds a few years ago, and they turned up looking like a packet of magic seeds from Jack and the Bean Stalk. They gave me the most beautiful French beans. Check out this company if you want to try something different. They give you a description of the seeds and what they produce. You realise that certain seeds are finite and so should be treated with respect and care.

Now back to sunflower seeds and how easy this is!

Once the leaves have fallen off your sunflower and the back of the sunflower has turned a nice brown, it's time to cut the head off and dry it out at home or in your greenhouse. I would normally have 2 or 3 sunflower heads laying about on my kitchen table for a few weeks! The kids have gotten used to this sort of madness when I'm around. :)

Once you've given it a couple of weeks, sit down at the kitchen table with a couple of tea and get the kids involved. You'll see that you only need to run your fingers over the seeds to start releasing them. Some are easier than others, so you might need to apply a bit of pressure. You'll end up with a beautiful pile of stripey coloured sunflower seeds that will be ready for planting the following year.

For storage you can refrigerate or freeze them.

For me, fridge and freezer space is always sparse, so I save them in a brown envelop and put them in my cupboard with all my other seeds. This has worked just fine for me and I've had no problems with germination whatsoever.

I hope you manage to give this a go and you get the kids involved as you do it. This is such an easy and enjoyable task.

You can also show the kids how if you break the seed case, you'll find inside the sunflower seeds that you find in the super market secretly hidden away inside. It's a magical lesson and my kids loved it.

Let me know how you get on. I would love to see pictures of your sunflowers from your homegrown seeds! There is such a magnificent sense of achievement in doing this and the kids will pick up on just how special it is.

Daisy chewing on a raw, homegrown sweetcorn whilst posing in front of one of our sunflowers!