Thursday, October 15, 2015

sunflowers for days







  


My happy spot this summer was right out my kitchen window, across the driveway, where I had planted some towering sunflowers, some dahlias, and petunias riotously wild.  I have dreaded cutting down the huge beauties even though they were scarcely beautiful anymore.  The weight of the seeds on the sunflower heads was so great that it was pulling the entire plant over the fence, looking like a curved spine, while the leaves had browned and shriveled, and the cheery yellow had faded.  And yet I still hated the thought of cutting them down because I knew it would signify the end of summer and the end of that beautiful scene that brought me comfort when I felt completely overwhelmed by the rest of the property, which, although not huge by any means, requires a lot of maintenance which falls largely to me in the summers because of my husband's schedule.  

Which made the impromptu seed-gathering party this week with my daughters all the more meaningful to me.  To celebrate the life of my sunflower friends together on the patio, brushing out the seeds and sweeping them into bowls - it was a fitting end to the joy they have brought me.  What satisfaction when piles of seeds just tumble out of the flower head with a few rubs of the hand! All smiles from everyone, except when the dog kept trying to be part of our harvesting party by rolling into the middle of the seeds.  

I will be using this recipe from one of my favorite food blogs to salt and roast them!  Simple Recipes has been a reliable resource for the kinds of recipes I like to make, so I was excited when it popped up first on my google search on what to do with sunflower seeds.  I had already planned on increasing the number of sunflowers I plant next year and here's another good reason to do so!

2 comments:

  1. mmm, sounds delicious! your girls are beautiful, happy and sunny :)

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  2. This was the first year we did not grow sunflowers...your photos make me wish we had. Enjoy!

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