Sunflower: The rest of the story

We thought it would be fun to learn a little more about the one thing we sell most of in the store! The sunflower seed…

We learned that sunflowers are native to Central America and were probably growing in what is now Mexico as early as 2600 B.C. It reached as far as Tennessee a few hundred years later. By 1000 B.C. the Native Americans (who recognized a good thing when they saw it) domesticated the plant and used it by grinding it up for flour and for it’s oi. Oil is something that sunflowers are laden with About 40-50% of the sunflower seed by weight is oil.

Ah, sunflower oil! Not only do the birds appreciate it but we have come to love it as well.  It is a premium oil, light in color and low in saturated fat.  It’s mild flavor means you can use it for baking and frying and even as a salad oil.  The Native Americans use to boil the seeds and then they would skim the oil from the water.  We more modern folk just smash the whole sunflower head, making sure to squeeze out every drop we can.

Did you know that the sunflower head is actually not a flower but instead a bunch of flowers? Well, now you do!  what is even more interesting is the way the florets are clustered  in the head.  They are set in an interconnecting spiral pattern.  This pattern allows for the most efficient packing of seeds within each head.  We think it makes for a very pretty flower head as well.

Here in the states, sunflowers are planted from May to early June.  They are harvested in late October.  In 2010, over 2 million acres were planted, mostly in the Dakotas.  That is a lot of seed.  But hold onto your hats…. Russia, who got into sunflowers by the 18th century, sows over 10 million acres a year!

You might decide to try your hand at growing a few stalks of sunflowers. They grow quickly and kids especially love to watch them tower above their heads.  Just know when you do that the likely hood of you harvesting your seed heads is small.  Remember, the birds love them best!!

Sunflowers in a field