Sunflower Harvest

Last week was something of a write off as Dan, Pip and I all came down with colds, coughs and sore throats. I managed to lose my voice at the start of the week and although I'm feeling much better, my voice is still more Tom Waits than Kim Bliss. 

Still, it's that time of year so I can't complain too much. That said, I was suffering a little from cabin fever by the end of the week, so yesterday I ventured outside as soon as the sun broke. I've heard the weather is supposed to turn pretty cold soon so I'm going to make the most of what warm sunny weather we have left.

The peony's seed bulbs had just burst so we spent a happy few minutes collecting all the seeds. 

The sunflowers were definitely ready to come down. The flower heads were drooping and the plants had that crunchy, brown look that they get at the end of the season. We've put them on the conservatory window sill to start drying out.

But seeds aren't the only thing you can do with sunflowers. Did you know that you can dry out and use the stalks too? I find this especially useful with the giant sunflowers. The longest one we have is over 8ft high and I had to use a saw to cut it! 

When they dry out they're as hard as wood and very sturdy. And as they grow straight, they can be used for all sorts of things. I've used them as curtain poles in the past, but they can also be used to stake next seasons plants too.

I'm toying with the idea of growing Pip a sweet pea tipi in the garden next year. If I go ahead with this I now have three decent sized sunflower stalks to make it with which is a good start. 

So all in all, it's not a bad harvest considering I did very little with the garden this year!

P.S.  I've read and re-read this post a thousand times and each time I do, I find a different typo or another sentence that doesn't make sense. Bear with me, I'm sure that I'll make sense again once this lurg has passed one. Please let that be soon!