Raising sunflowers for the winter feeding of birds is easy and simple. Plant the sunflowers in full sunlight in the spring and fertilize with time-released fertilizer. The blooms can be enjoyed all summer and the dried heads harvested in the fall. We let the seeds mature and remove the head before the seeds begin to fall off. After they are dried, place them in a plastic container to keep out mice and insects. When winter arrives, simply take out a head and place out for the birds. They will come and pick out the seeds. When they finish with one head just put out another one.
The native sunflower is somewhat smaller than the more familiar cultivated variety. The Common Sunflower was used by the Indians for flour. They made bread from the ground seeds and used the oil for cooking and grooming their hair.
You may want to harvest the sunflower seeds for yourself but be prepared to spend some time hulling the seeds. The nut meat is an excellent source of Vitamin E which is a very important fat-soluble antioxidant. They are also a good source of magnesium and selenium.
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