Sunflower Harvest Time

My sunflower garden went really well this year. As you will recall my secret to bountiful sunflowers is to “water” them with Guinness beer. I think the entire Woodpile was jealous of my success. This is my favorite time of year – harvesting sunflower seeds! I like to cut the heads off and harvest them on a specially made harvesting stump.

So many sees to chose from, where do I begin. Harvest time can be an emotionally overwhelming experience for me.

A photographer from the newspaper came out to capture the moment.

These seeds are literally bursting out of the sunflower head.

After much experimenting I have discovered a “vacuuming” technique

is the most efficient way to harvest seeds.

Cheek pouches come in handy for this job

It is always a smart idea to keep a watchful eye for seed thieves.

Goldfinches in particular are addicted to sunflower seeds. I went to chase this fellow off and he started citing U.W. international law. (Apparently he is a lawyer.) U.W. – United Woodpiles – it is similar to the human’s United Nations. He argued that anything above three feet in the air was considered “international airspace.” I got out my handy ax and brought him “back to earth.”

No sooner had I taken care of that overpriced lawyer, I had to deal with Woody the Woodpecker. Yes that same one of cartoon fame. His animation production crew was there to record every detail. Well, I guess you will have to watch his next episode to see what happen.