How To Know When Sunflower Seeds Are Ready To Be Harvested For A Protein-Packed Snack

Sunflowers add a cheerful charm to the garden, with dramatically colored petals on heads that follow the sun. Plus, their seeds are edible. Once you enjoy the blooming flowers, you can harvest them for protein-rich snacking, to use in baking projects, or for things like homemade nut butter. There's a sweet spot to aim for when you harvest sunflower seeds, timing that considers maturation of the seeds and the hunger of foragers like birds. Harvest them too early and you won't get enough oomph in the sunflower seeds inside their shells. Wait too long and there's a chance something else will get to those seeds first.

Harvesting sunflower seeds shouldn't even be considered until the flower's petals have shriveled up around the edge. Look for other signs that the seeds are maturing like the back of the sunflower head turning yellow and the seeds getting larger inside the center of the flower. Some gardeners wait until the seeds are dropping off the flower before they cut it. Others harvest sunflowers when ⅔ of the seeds look full and ready, then hang them upside down in a well-ventilated area to dry, loosely covered by a paper bag or cheesecloth to help protect from pests. Whichever signs you look for, when the time comes to harvest your sunflower seeds, cut the flower from the stem and let it dry somewhere warm before removing the seeds by brushing your thumb over the flower's center.

Sunflower seeds are safe to eat as soon as you've brushed them out of the head and rinsed them off. But, if you want to make them into a flavorful snack, there are plenty of ways to dress them up. Simmer the sunflower seeds in salt water for an hour to infuse them with salty flavor. Then, coat the seeds in a mixture of different herbs and spices and roast them in the oven for a few minutes to make them crispy. Make them spicy with a coating of serrano, coriander, and garlic powder or create a smoky and zesty blend with paprika and lime juice. You can shuck the shell when you eat each seed or remove them beforehand to use the seeds in other ways.

Once you take the nut out of the sunflower seed shell, a whole different world of culinary options becomes available. Mix the hull-less seeds with honey, cinnamon, and crushed nuts for a sweet snack that is great by itself or as a dessert topping. Shelled sunflower seeds also add extra protein to baking projects. They're a garnish that will dress up a boring salad in no time and a great swap for pine nuts in homemade pesto, with garlic-infused oil, of course.