Drying Sunflower Seeds

Last year I tried growing some sunflowers in my garden.  They did quite well, and about halfway through the year I started thinking maybe I could get some seeds from them too.  They didn't look ready, so I waited patiently.  More patiently, it turns out, than the birds.  One day I showed up and almost every seed had been eaten.  This year I'm trying to pick them a little earlier and let them dry indoors.  Many sources recommended putting paper bags over the flowers after they turn downward, but that requires replacing the bags after each rain, and I don't have time for that.  Or a limitless supply of paper bags.  So here they are in my guest bedroom, probably picked too early.

Grrrrrr....squirrels!

So, can you tell the difference between this and my last garden update? Anyone see it? Oh, yeah! Where is that bright beautiful sunflower I was bragging about?!

It's gone! Gone where? Who knows?! It was chewed off a few inches above the ground (hmm...that's about squirrel mouth height, isn't it?!!!!!!!) Most of the stem was dragged to the end of the path, and the flower head just disappeared.

Sigh. Maybe I am not meant to grow sunflowers.

Garden Update

The garden is coming along nicely in spite of my recent neglect. Check out my first ever sunflower blossom! (And to give you some idea of how much trouble these have given me, recall that when I planted this one I used the last two seeds in the package! They are just too tasty to the slugs.) I have lots of things to harvest tonight, so stay tuned for a picture of my first big harvest from the new garden.