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Post by castanea on Aug 12, 2011 22:10:34 GMT -5
Pollenless sunflowers - what exactly is the point?
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Post by 12540dumont on Aug 13, 2011 1:44:39 GMT -5
Bed of sunflowers drying down. A few days here, a few days in the sprout house, and then the hard work...with gloves, getting them out of the husk. Attachments:
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Post by blueadzuki on Aug 13, 2011 7:16:51 GMT -5
Pollenless sunflowers - what exactly is the point? I imagine they were created for the cut flower trade; to appear to people who want a vase of sunflowers but don't want to clean up after it. |
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Post by cesarz on Aug 13, 2011 21:31:26 GMT -5
Pollenless sunflowers - what exactly is the point? They are for cutflower trade to give to people with pollen allergy. Got lots of them here in NZ. |
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Post by caledonian on Sept 30, 2011 9:56:46 GMT -5
I'm also interested in the fiber qualities as I understand it can be used for making paper. I'm also wondering about the possibility of making yarn/thread. Can we grow sisal or jute in these here parts? Anybody got seed for such a thing? For low-quality, jute-like fibers, velvetleaf works fairly well. It grows abundantly, and produces edible fibers too. One obvious problem: it's a very heavy feeder (it stunts corn when it grows in cornfields) and is widely considered a pernicious weed. It might even be illegal to grow it in your location. Another widely-overlooked fiber source is nettles. They're delicious early in spring, very nutritious, and produce a shimmery flax that's sometimes considered even better than true flax. It's perennial, too. Obvious problem: it's covered in stinging hairs which vanish with drying or cooking but sting like bees to anyone touching the stuff. I've also heard of people making rope out of Canada thistles. Dogbane, also known as Indian hemp, produces fiber that the Native Americans used to make bowstrings. Look around at your 'weeds' - there's probably a plant that has been used for fibers in the past, and it might even be clothing-quality. |
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Post by blueadzuki on Sept 30, 2011 22:27:25 GMT -5
As I mentioned earlier. I also have some seed of a fiber plant called sun hemp Crolotaria juncea presumably a member of the rattlebox genus. How good the fibers are, I have no idea, but I'll test my seed next season.
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Post by MikeH on Oct 1, 2011 3:18:24 GMT -5
Bed of sunflowers drying down. A few days here, a few days in the sprout house, and then the hard work...with gloves, getting them out of the husk. Black oil or confectionery sunflowers? What are you planning to use the seeds for? Regards, Mike |
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 1, 2011 11:20:43 GMT -5
I use the seeds to feed the chickens. I add it to the commercial ration.
Organic chicken food here is going for $1 a pound. So, I decided to border the whole farm with sunflowers, collect the heads and throw them to the chickens.
Last year, I used some to bake with, but I prefer the green pumpkin seeds.
The sunflowers came in 2 batches, early and late. I'm still drying down late ones, husking and winnowing.
Anyone who needs some of these, feel free to PM me.
Holly
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 15, 2011 10:52:15 GMT -5
end of season sunflowers Attachments:
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 15, 2011 10:52:53 GMT -5
And another Attachments:
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Post by steev on Oct 15, 2011 11:30:27 GMT -5
Small-seeded sunflowers always get cleaned out before mature enough to cut; my farm is in a flyway for migrating birds, and the little finches love sunflower seed. A small price to pay for their service eating insects.
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Post by johno on Oct 15, 2011 15:37:32 GMT -5
I love sunflowers! Nice pics.
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Post by garnetmoth on Oct 16, 2011 11:17:17 GMT -5
Those are pretty Holly! Ill send you a PM- Alan's FOTE are great growers on lean soil, id love to add a bit more color to the flock too!
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 16, 2011 11:46:55 GMT -5
I find it interesting that every year the sunflowers morph to different shapes, colors.
I have plenty, so PM if you want them.
I need peppers, Jimmy Nardello and other sweet bells.
Eggplant
Chili's - Ancho, Anaheims, Big Jims
Sweet Sorghum and white sorghum
If you have nothing to trade PM me anyway and I'll send you some anyhow, at some day in the future, send me something that you think is great. Don't forget your address.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 9, 2013 1:39:01 GMT -5
Today I finally got around to threshing last fall's sunflower seeds. Just in time since the volunteers are beginning to appear in the garden. They have been growing as volunteers since they were originally planted in 2009. There is a lot of diversity in the seeds: Black seeds, white seeds, gray seeds, yellow seeds, striped seeds, speckled seeds, plain seeds, and red seeds. There are lots of sizes and shapes of seeds from tiny to medium sized. (No large seeds remain.) I liked the red seeds, so I separated some out and planted them in an area where there are not any other sunflowers growing. I'd like to see if the red color is heritable. Into the planting I also incorporated about 2 seeds of each of the other types, in order to maintain diversity, and to see if the red color can be incorporated into some of the other seed types. I wonder if the red seeds came from plants with red in the flowers?     |
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