Note: I’m traveling this week for a little R&R with family. I’ll be keeping up with my 100 push ups challenge while I’m gone and there will be knitting progress to report when I return. Posting will resume in a week.
I was browsing through one of my books on herbs yesterday and was surprised to come across a page devoted to sunflowers. I never knew sunflowers were considered an herb. In my mind’s eye when you say herb, I think oregano, basil, parsley. But according to Wikipedia, an herb can be useful for many purposes, including cooking, medicine and spiritual purposes. Time to expand my focus.
The sunflower’s usefulness extends beyond its seeds and oil (which I knew). Here’s some of what I learned.
Sunflowers have been cultivated for 3,000 years and were introduced into Europe by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. Because of their ability to absorb water, they have been planted in the Netherlands to help reclaim marshy land.
The stems can be used for fuel and the fibrous pith (the part inside the stem) is useful in paper making, textiles and scientific experiments. The Chinese use it to make rope.
The leaves can be dried and smoked. Anybody want to try that?
The flower petals can be used as a dye.
The raw buds can be steamed like artichokes or eaten raw in a salad. You might convince me to eat them cooked, but raw, not so much.
Besides feeding the seeds to your chickens to increase their egg laying, you can also use the seeds medicinally, boiling them for 20 minutes and then drinking the “…tea to relieve coughs and inflammation of the kidneys.”
And because of their water-absorbing ability, growing sunflowers near a house will help to drain ground and deter “rising damp”.
Who knew? All this time I was growing them for the chickadees.
Source: The Complete Book of Herbs by Lesley Bremness, Viking Studio Books, 1988.
