Sunflower Seeds

I tried my hand at growing sunflowers this year in the garden. 

They were beautiful. 

I wasn't planning on harvesting the seeds but that changed.

I did a little research and I learned the process.

First I let them grow and once the petals started to fall off and the plant dies I cut them off at the head. 

I put them in a big brown grocery bag to let them dry out. 

I left them in the bags in a dark place for a couple days.

Once they are dried out they looked like this. 

Then Lydia and I went to work pulling the seeds out. 

It is a great project for little fingers and I was glad for her help. 

It was messy work. 

The next steps took patience but were very easy. 

I soaked the seeds in a big bowl of water along with 1-2 cups of salt. I let them sit over night. 

Then I lay the seeds on a towel to dry for about day or so. 

Lastly I melted some butter, 

added some ranch seasoning until they were all coated really well

and then I roasted the seeds on a cookie sheet protected in tin foil for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

They turned out beautiful and were very tasty!

Lydia eats them whole, I'm still trying to teach her how to extract the seed from the shell. She cracks me up. No pun intended.