Altho’ they’re wonderful to have all year ’round, I can’t think of a better time of year than January and February to be growing sunflower shoot greens! And if you grow pea shoots too, a salad of a mix of the two is…..well, I can’t think of a more delicious home-grown fresh winter-time salad. Easily grown indoors in the depths of winter, in very little space and takes very little time from planting to plate. Amazing.
A friend of mine calls these “Sunnys” . Here they are in a grow tray on a sunny day, reaching for the sunshine. Seeing them do this makes me want to call them Sunnys too.
A sea of Sunnys in their grow trays. On a not-so-Sunny day. Almost ready to harvest! Sunflower shoot greens are chock full of goodness. Lots of protein, iron and calcium. Vitamins A, B, C and E. And more good stuff that I can’t remember right now. They’re so uniquely delicious and quite lovely to look at on a dinner plate too.
If you’re interested in growing some of these and you haven’t tried it yet, start with a pot or tray you have, fill it with potting soil and enough sunflower seed to cover the top of the soil. Soak your seed first (for a day) and when you plant it, cover the seed with just a little bit of soil (you should still be able to see the seed on top of the soil) to help settle it in and keep the seed moist. They’ll start sending out little white roots and before you know it, the greens will appear!If you live on Mayne Island and are interested, contact me about bulk seed for sunny growing.
Here are some bags I harvested today to take to Happy Tides. If you’re not growing these right now, there will be lots available there for purchase tomorrow and Saturday…and through February too!
Our supper tonight: bangers and mash with a gigantic pile of pea shoot and sunflower shoot greens. Yum!
Hi Christina,
You are so inspiring in what you are doing!!! I am back at work..1 day a week in a grade 2/3 class. I so enjoy working with the kids. This post got me thinking about the integration of earth, water and sun, which is part of our science this term. So, I would like to grow some greens in our classroom that we can harvest and have for lunch one day. Could I get some seeds from you this weekend? How long would it be before we harvested the seeds if we planted this Tuesday (Feb.2)?
thanks Farmer Friend!
diane
What a fabulous idea Diane!! For seeds: call me to set up a meeting time, 2 in the afternoon is usually good for me on the weekends. If planted around Feb 2, they'll be ready around the 15th or 16th…(about 2 weeks later) it really depends on the temperature and light where they're growing, but I'd plan for the week of the 14th. see you soon!