SUNFLOWERS

It’s been a fabulous year for plants that need a lot of water to flourish. Fruit is in abundance. Everyone I know who grows apples, plums, pears and raspberries have said that they have had bumper crops. The only fruits to suffer were strawberries; it was just too wet for them. One flowering plant that has done really well is the sunflower. I was down at Tanya Dean’s house in Redcastle last week looking at her son Altáns fabulous collection of tall plants outside their front door. They are all self supporting and taking into consideration the lack of soil they are growing in, have done remarkably well -reaching up to at least nine feet.

SAVING THE SEEDS
If you have sunflowers then you can save the seed heads when the petals fade and the neck goes brown. You could put the complete head in the hot press to dry but we find they can go a bit mouldy. Try scraping the seeds off from the head and then put these into a paper bag to dry instead. The seeds make a great snack and are full of nutrients – calcium, thiamine, vitamin B6 and folic acid. (Peel the outside hull off first though!) Alternatively just leave the heads out for the birds to feast on.