How to Harvest Sunflower Seeds

Its Autumn and with cool, wet weather right around the corner its time to start harvesting the sunflowers.

There are four ways to tell when a sunflower is ready to harvest for seeds. First the flower begins to droop

Upright flower

Drooping flower

Second, the petals should be mostly gone and the remaining ones should be dry and brown



Dry brown petals

Fresh yellow petals



Third, the seeds will have developed black or gray stripes

No stripes

Striped seeds



Fourth, the back of the flower head will have changed from green to yellow

Green

Yellow



If all of these signs are present then cut the flower leaving six inches of stem

Hang flower heads in a warm, dry place for a week.

After the heads have dried, break them into pieces and rub the seeds out. Later I'll post on how to roast the seeds