Gadenin日本語Get the appJudge by the back of the head, not the front
The commonest harvesting mistake is cutting when the petals drop. At that point the seed is barely starting to fill and it will shrivel to nothing in storage. The head needs another three to five weeks after the last petal falls, and the reliable signal is on the back, not the face.
Turn the head over. While it is green on the back the seed is still filling. When the back turns pale yellow you are two to three weeks away. When the back has gone brown, the bracts around the edge are dry and papery, and the neck has bent so the head hangs forward, the seed is mature and it is time to cut.
| Back of the head | Face of the head | Seed inside | Cut now? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green and firm | Petals still on | Watery, flat | No, weeks away |
| Green | Petals dropping | Starting to fill | No |
| Pale yellow | Disc florets browning | Plump but soft | Not yet, two to three weeks |
| Brown, bracts dry | Seeds hard and striped | Hard, loose in the socket | Yes |
| Brown and soft or black | Moldy at the center | Spoiled | Cut and discard the affected part |
Pull a seed from the outer ring and bite it. If it dents like a raisin the head is not ready. If it is hard and the kernel comes cleanly out of a fully striped or black shell, cut.
Cutting and drying the head
Cut on a dry day, ideally after two or three rainless days, because a head cut wet is a head that molds. Leave a foot (30 cm) of stem attached so you have something to hang it by. A big head is heavy and awkward, so support it with one hand as you cut rather than letting it drop.
Hang the heads face down in a dry, airy place out of direct sun with good air movement around them: a shed, a porch, an open garage. Two to three weeks is usual, but the test is the seed rather than the calendar. A shallow tray underneath catches whatever falls, and that falling seed is itself a sign that drying is nearly done.
- Cut with a foot of stem Use loppers or a sharp knife and cut cleanly 12 inches (30 cm) below the head. Tearing the stem crushes tissue and holds moisture right where you do not want it.
- Brush the face clean Flick off the dried disc florets and any remaining petals with a stiff brush. Damp plant debris left on the face is where mold starts.
- Hang face down in a dry, airy place Tie the stem and hang so the seed face points at the floor. Air must move all round it, so leave a hand's width between heads.
- Bag it only if you must If you cannot hang indoors, tie a paper bag loosely over the head to catch seed. Never use plastic, which traps moisture and grows mold within days.
- Test after two weeks Rub the face with your palm. When seed comes away with light pressure and the shells feel hard and dry, it is done.
Getting the seed off and cleaned
Once dry, seed comes off easily. Rub two heads face to face over a large bowl, or work across the face with a stiff brush or your gloved thumb. Working from the outer ring inward is quickest, because the outer seed is always the loosest.
Winnow the chaff out by pouring the seed between two bowls in a light breeze or in front of a fan. The light husk and floret debris blows away and the heavy seed drops. Two or three passes leaves it clean enough to store.
| Step | Method | Point to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Threshing | Rub two heads together over a bowl | Wear gloves, the dry bracts are sharp |
| First clean | Sieve out the coarse debris | A colander is about the right mesh |
| Winnowing | Pour between bowls in front of a fan | Do it outdoors, the chaff goes everywhere |
| Sorting | Discard flat, light, discolored seed | Flat seed never filled and will not keep |
| Final dry | Spread on a tray for two more days | Any residual damp will spoil the whole jar |
Empty, flat seed at the center of a head means water stress or poor pollination while the flower was open. It is a note for next year, not something you can fix now.
Storing seed for eating and for sowing
Seed for eating stores well in an airtight jar in a cool dark cupboard, and keeps considerably longer in a fridge or freezer, where the oils are slower to go rancid. Roast in small batches as you want them rather than roasting the whole crop, because roasted seed goes stale far faster than raw.
Seed you intend to sow needs different handling. Never roast it, obviously, but also keep it cool, dry and in the dark, and label the jar with the year and the plant it came from. Sunflower seed germinates well for two to three years and drops off sharply after that.
| Purpose | Container | Where | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eating, raw | Airtight jar | Cool dark cupboard | Several months |
| Eating, raw | Airtight jar | Freezer | About a year |
| Eating, roasted | Airtight tin | Cool cupboard | A few weeks |
| Sowing next year | Paper envelope in a sealed jar | Cool, dark, dry | Two to three years |
Put a label in with the seed rather than on the outside of the jar. Labels on the outside come off, and unidentified sunflower seed is impossible to tell apart by eye.
Keeping the birds and squirrels off
The gap between the seed filling and the head being ready to cut is several weeks, and that is exactly the window when birds and squirrels take an interest. Birds work the face of the head and leave empty sockets in patches; squirrels take whole heads or gnaw the neck through and carry them off entirely.
The practical answer is to cover the head. A paper bag or a mesh bag tied loosely round the head from the moment the back starts to yellow keeps birds out and lets air through. For squirrels you need mesh rather than paper, and a collar of smooth plastic round the stem stops them climbing to it.
- Bag when the back yellows Slip a paper or fine mesh bag over the head and tie it loosely round the stem. Loose is important: a tight bag traps humidity against the seed.
- Use mesh where squirrels are the problem Paper bags are torn open in seconds. Fine wire or plastic mesh, tied at the neck, holds where paper does not.
- Stop them climbing the stem A band of smooth plastic sheet a foot (30 cm) wide wrapped round the stem at chest height gives nothing to grip. It works better than anything applied to the head.
- Cut early and finish indoors if pressure is heavy If they are taking a head a day, cut once the back is pale yellow and the outer seed is hard, and finish the drying indoors. Slightly smaller seed you keep beats perfect seed you lose.
- Leave one head as a decoy Deliberately leaving a single head unbagged at the end of the row occupies the birds and is worth the seed it costs. It also makes a good record of how fast they work.
Note the date you first saw bird damage. It is usually within a few days of the same point each year, and next season you can have the bags on before they start rather than after.