Wow! I can’t believe it is September already and as usual, I am running about 2 weeks behind. It has been an interesting summer for weather, with an abundance of rain especially on the weekends. We were very grateful to have the new facility so we could hold our Sunday afternoon lectures indoors on all those rainy Sunday’s.
Again we had excellent presenters, all were interesting, informative and helpful. We thank them for enduring less than great weather and less than expected attendance. (I’m blaming the weather!)
We have had a busy summer with all the additional landscaping jobs required around the new building-but we have just about got it under control now. A major job of widening and boarding the display and harvest gardens is also complete and we are hoping that this will alleviate some of the never ending weeding-I know, I am just dreaming ! Currently we are working on a couple of theme gardens that should be ready by next summer.
Our afternoon Tea in the Herb Garden events got off to a wet start with the one in July, but the August date was sunny and we had a great turnout and rave reviews! Thanks to Liz for all her herbal culinary expertise-she has provided us with a wonderful assortment of herbal delights for all our events.
John’s daughter Sarah was married here on August 26 and this event gave us an opportunity to explore the creative side of herbs. We did an assortment of herbal decorations including-centerpieces, punch bowl rings, tent bouquets, an alter extravaganza and fresh herb sprigs on the wine glasses. Luckily the weather co-operated, the bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, the father of the bride nervous and a good time was had by all. (By the way Lavender Lemonade makes a great punch-with or without the vodka-recipe included).
Sunflowers
.I figured we could all use a little more Sunshine this year!
Sunflowers are a native of Mexico and Peru and were introduced into North America in the 16th century. They are now one of our most familiar garden plants and nothing is as spectacular as a field of sunflowers in September.
The botanical name is Helianthus annuus, Helianthus is derived from the Latin "helios"meaning sun and "anthos" meaning flower, probably due to these plants habit of turning their flower heads during the day to follow the sun.
In Peru, this flower was much reverenced by the Aztecs and in their temples of Sun. The priestesses were crowned with sunflowers and carried them in their hands, The early Spanish conquerors found numerous representations of the sunflowers wrought in pure gold.
Sunflowers are on the borderline between a food and a herb. Cultivated primarily for the seeds which yield the world’s second most important source of edible oil. Sunflower oil is used for cooking, margarine, salad dressings, lubrication, soaps and other skin care products as well as a source of fuel. Seeds are eaten raw, roasted and salted or made into flour. Birds are fond of the raw seeds and will generally beat you to the harvest. According to Sue Wells of the National Bird Feeding Society, "Sunflower seeds are the hands down favorite of most seed eating birds." The flowers yield a yellow dye and the buds and petals are edible and can be added to salads and baked goods. The leaves form a cattle-food and the stems contain a fiber, which can be used for making paper.
The black seeded variety of Sunflower yields the best grade of sunflower oil. It is an excellent choice for making herb oils as it has very little taste and no aroma of its own to interfere with the herbs flavour and aroma. Tocopherol, or Vit. E, an important vitamin and natural antioxidant, is present predominantly in its alpha form making sunflower oil rather unique from other oils such as soybean where the gamma form predominates. Sunflower oil also dries slowly and forms one of the best burning oils, burning longer than any other vegetable oil.
The seeds have diuretic and expectorant properties and have been used in the treatment of bronchial, laryngeal and pulmonary ailments, coughs and colds, and whooping cough. According to Hartwell (1967), the flowers and seeds are used in folk remedies for cancer in Venezuela, often incorporated in white wine. The whole plant used fresh in liquid extracts and tinctures has been used for tuberculosis and malaria.
Sunflowers are easy to grow and a favourite for children’s gardens. They attract a number of beneficial insects including lady bugs, parasitic wasps and they are a great bee plant too. Propagation is by seed and they will grow in any type of deep, well drained soil in a full sun location. Since sunflowers have highly efficient root systems, they are quite drought resistant except during flowering. Plants mature in 70-100 days and whole plants are harvested before flowering for leaf and stem uses. Buds are harvested before flowers open and petals are harvested as the flowers open. The whole heads are harvested when they droop and the back of the head is dry and brown and the seeds are dark and dry but before shedding begins. You can either hang the entire flower head in a cool, dry, dark location until ready to use or remove seeds from the flower head and store the seeds in a cool, dry location.
There are a variety of sunflowers available from the large-over 3 meters tall with flowerheads spaning 10cm or more to the dwarf cultivars that are suitable for pot culture. They also come in a variety of colours from yellow to reds, making them a great cut flower for indoor arrangements. And of course, if you don’t harvest the seeds yourself you are sure to have an abundance of birds enjoying them.
What ever your reason for growing sunflowers, for the seeds, the oil, the petals, the cut flower or for the birds, you would have to search long and hard to find a cheerier plant that can put a smile on anyone’s face.
So what’s happening at Kettleby Herb Farms?
HAPPY HARVESTING!
JOHN & SUE
"WE ARE GROWING FOR YOU"