We are eagerly waiting for the first flower of our sunflowers in our food forest garden to open.

We sowed them from seeds we bought as food. But I found the seeds so fresh that I counted on us being able to sow this successfully. And that turned out to be the case: 10 seeds gave 10 small plants.

We eat a lot of sunflower seeds. It is a relatively cheap vegetable protein. But also a versatile ingredient for use in salads, breakfast porridge, bread, all kinds of hot meals.... Either fresh, cooked or roasted, seasoned or not.

But besides that, the sunflower is a very versatile plant. Of course, we all know its oil. But in addition, the sunflower is also a source of medicine, fibre, dye, green manure...

Did you know that the young flower buds are edible, steamed and served like globe artichokes?

And the roasted seed is a coffee and drinking chocolate substitute. Above that, boiled leaf petioles can be mixed in with other foodstuffs.

Medicinal Uses

If you have to fight high fever, you make a tea from the leaves. Also it is astringent, diuretic and expectorant.

And if you need a poultice on sores, swellings, snakebites and spider bites, you can put crushed keaves on them. Harvest the leaves as the plant comes into flower and dry them for later use.

For the treatment of malaria and lung ailments a tea made from the flowers is used.
And the flowering head and seeds are febrifuge, nutritive and stomachic. Also the seed is considered to be diuretic and expectorant. So it has been used with success in the treatment of many pulmonary complaints.

And if you need a warm wash on rheumatic aches and pains, make a decoction of the roots.

But there are also many other uses of this versatile plant.

Agroforestry Uses

If you need a spring-sown green manure, sunflowers produce a good bulk of material.
Smallholders often intercrop sunflower with groundnut, pulses and millets, plant it on banks around irrigated fields, or use it as living supports for beans.

Other Uses

The oil of the seeds is an important ingredient to make soap, candles, varnishes, paint etc, as well as for lighting. Often mixed with a drying oil such as linseed. And the oil is unrivalled as a lubricant. Above that, it is an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as an emollient, opacifyer and skin conditioner.

A high quality writing paper is made from the inner stalk.

The pith of the stems is one of the lightest substances known. So it is used for a wide range of applications, such as making life-saving appliances and slides for microscopes.

The dried stems make an excellent fuel, the ash is rich in potassium. And both the dried stems and the empty seed receptacles are an excellent kindling. Also, fibre from the stem is used to make paper and a fine quality cloth.

Finally, a yellow dye is obtained from the flowers.

Source: Wikipedia, Useful Temperate Plants

Food Forest Garden

Read more about our Food Forest Garden on the pages What We Eat, What We Grow and Where We Grow It.

On the first page, I'll give you an overview of what we eat. After all, that determines what we want to grow, the fruits, nuts and vegetables in the garden.

Then I'll tell you what's in the garden, and finally where it is and the overall layout.

This will give you some insight into the start of the establishment of our food forest garden, the perennials and trees.

And in this blogs I tell you more about eating Raw and Wild, about Drying and preserving, about Healed by nature, about Preserving our roots... and other harvest and about Pollination By Flies.

Ecological Footprint

So do you want to know your ecological footprint? 

Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en 

And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?

Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.

And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !