DIY Sunflower Seeds

We planted Sunflowers in our garden this year in hopes of shading some of the other plants.  In the long run they died before we were done with them, but they were beautiful while they lasted! We have some serious need of fertilizer all the way around! We just put our garden in and figured we would see what happened!  So far it's working out better than it could, but with room for improvement.

Did you know you can make your own sunflower seeds??  They are pretty tasty, let me tell you!  First you have to grow your sunflowers!  The bigger they get, the better!  Our seeds are pretty small because they stopped growing prematurely, but they are still tasty, just small.

'Pick' your sunflowers!  Basically just take a knife or what I call nippers (the tool you use to trim small tree branches or bush branches) and cut the flower off the stem an inch or two from the head... you really just want the head, extra stem just gets in the way!

Next, you have to separate the seeds from the rest of the head... which is a bit tedious, but with lots of good help and company (my husband and sweet boys!) it can be a fun family project!

Getting there....

Empty flower heads, a pile of seeds!  Next, rinse the seeds then let them soak overnight in salt water, like super salty!  Next morning, drain the water and dry them off (I used paper towels)  Spread them out on a cookie sheet, SINGLE LAYER, you really don't want them stacked at all.

Spray them with an oil-based spray or toss in olive oil and bake at 300 degrees (F) for 30-40 minutes, stir occasionally.  They are done when the shells start to brown and get crispy.  Let cool and enjoy!!!