Feeding the Birds

 

Every year we get volunteer sunflowers growing in the bird sanctuary under and around the bird feeders. I pull them like weeds and throw them in the compost normally. This year, we decided to let some of them grow to see if we could get seed for the birds. There are 15 sunflowers out there now. Our season is not usually long enough to get sunflower seeds without a lot of frost protection work as the season gets later. I am not going to do any of that work. I am using a cross my fingers and fly by the seat of my pants strategy. Seeds are not that expensive and trying to harvest some was really just for a bit of fun. If I have to be out there covering flower heads with plastic in my nightgown, the fun just seems to drain out of it.

Volunteer

We have a volunteer sunflower at the pit. I walked all the way through this to get a photo of the flower face. Bearing in mind that when you walk through that, you have to be aware of what is under your next step (as in mice) as well as what is in the spot you are going to be flattening all that tall grass onto (as in wasps nests). Summer went ahead of me. I think she was worried because I don't normally go strolling through anything quite that tall or thick. When I got there, I saw that the middle stalk is absolutely FULL of buds that are going to open facing the yard any day now. Oh well, I came out alive so it was all worth it. I think I will encourage the seed to grow there and add some red hollyhock seed this fall. They would make a nice border between the field and the yard since they apparently grow anywhere, through anything.