On Saturday we played in the yard & garden all afternoon. Here's Keira goofing off by the marigolds she & Bob planted. We love all those beautiful blooms! The tall little mimosa tree, next to Keira, has grown about 6 feet this summer! Bob planted it as a baby, back in April I think! The large tree in the far right corner is the pine tree on this property. This is the side yard to us, so we don't spend a lot of time in it, but Bob does tend to it though. The little patio set belongs to our neighbors.
Bob & I decided we should get around to harvesting those sunflower seeds from Ellie! I wanted to get some photos of her stump after Bob cut her down, but alas, I was not timely in my efforts & the opportunity passed me by. Perhaps next year. For now, at least I was able to capture these moments. Keira had a lot of fun helping with the harvesting!
Retrieving those plump sunflower seeds!
We had walked around the side of the yard to the alley way in order for me to harvest the remaining tomatoes along the fence, when Keira came upon this little piece of wood. I believe it came from the pine tree in our neighbors yard. Nevertheless, it was an interesting find & I told her she was welcome to bring it home & put it in the garden. Shortly thereafter she wanted to get her feet wet in the cool water of her pool, so off came the shoes! I thought this was such an adorable sight when I came across it on the front steps!
Daddy & Keira, sorting the seeds. The green bowl is full of the tomatoes & basil I harvested earlier. I really had to fight the snails & caterpillars for my basil! Ugh!
The tomato & basil harvest, drying off on the kitchen counter.
Mama's brown fingertips from picking all those basil leaves from their stems. The bonus: my fingers smelled great for hours!
The quart bowl full of harvested sunflower seeds. Yes, that would be 4 cups of seeds from a single sunflower! Bob even kept some seeds out to plant for next year, & left a few out for the birds!
Fresh tarragon, one of my favorite culinary herbs! An absolute must have for chicken & turkey. I also have a recipe for tarragon deviled eggs I would love to try someday soon!
How to Prepare & Roast Sunflower Seeds
After harvesting the dry seeds by simply running your hand over the face of the dry sunflower, & separating out the extra plant material, follow these steps:
1. rinse the seeds off in a colander.
2. Into a kettle with 2 quarts of water & 1/2 c salt, add the seeds (about 1-2 cups) & bring to a boil.
{As I had 4 cups of seeds, I increased the water to 3 quarts & the salt to 3/4 c.}
3. Reduce heat to low & simmer 1-1 1/2 hrs.
4. Drain seeds but do not rinse, & spread out on towels to dry for a couple hours.
5. Preheat oven to 325. Onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper, place a layer of seeds.
6. Cooking times will vary, depending on level of seed dryness, but should be at least 25-30 min. Be sure to check & stir every 10 minutes. They are finished when they are light & just beginning to look toasty. Test a couple seeds to make sure the insides are no longer moist.
7. Remove, cool, & enjoy!
Our sunflower seeds, cooking on the stove top in their salty bath!
Making pesto!
Chopping the basil also stains my cutting board & knife blade brown!
Pesto in the bowl, sunflower seeds drying on the counter, & tarragon cooling on the stove top!
And a little Keira, dressed up & laying in the middle of the kitchen floor! {Always the ideal place to be when mama is busy in the kitchen, ugh!}
Tarragon & pesto, a couple of my favorites to cook with!
This morning I asked Bob to get some chives for our eggs, & this is what he brought! Of course, this is only a fraction of the abundance of chives in our garden. So I'm drying out chopped chives in the oven now & they are stronger than I thought! Our little eyes are stinging! So we're airing out the house now & Bob took Keira for a little walk to get some fresh air! I love my chives, too, but sheesh!
Ah, the fun we have in the garden! Bob has been taking pictures of the roses & praying mantis' on the zinnias & other flowers. I will have to get him to share them! :-)
Shiloh: how fascinating and interesting. Thank you for telling us just how to roast sunflower seeds. I loved seeing in a photo just what toasted sunflower seeds look like. The toastiness was just perfect. I was surprised how much salt they took. And to think the store sunflower seeds are even saltier.
ReplyDeleteExplain more about Keira's little white dress. That is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. Was this a result about Church on Sunday. Is that why she is all dolled up? Where did you get this dress? Bob should sketch this dress for a painting.
I loved seeing the back or side yard. The marigolds looked stunning as well as the mimosa tree. Will the mimosa tree have white blooms on it? You posted a picture once of the mimosa bloom. I'll look for it. I saw the pine tree. On average how many pine trees do you see where you now live? I don't understand about why the neighbors have their patio set on your lawn? Do you get to use it?
In your last post I didn't understand the jingle bell ant when Keira was spraying Bob's hair. Is it a toy or spray bottle? Does it play jingle bells? Explain more please.
Love Joy
Funny you should mention the salt, Joy, because I thought the exact same thing! They must use a ton for the store bought sunflower seeds! The little white dress Keira has on is actually a little dress for an adult. Chita came across it at a thrift store & thought Keira might like it to dress up in. It's too big, so Bob has it pinned up in the back so she can put it on & twirl about the house. Heck, she wasn't dolled up, nor is this dress church worthy. She was a little ragamuffin in a pretend princess dress laying in the middle of the floor. I probably would have been freaking out a bit more if it were actually one of her Sunday dresses!:-) Most of the mimosas I have seen actually bloom pink. I don't remember having a photo of the mimosa bloom, but I will be on the lookout. According to Bob, there are pine trees everywhere around here. The yard area in front of our apartment is ours, but the side yard is a community yard for everyone. Their patio set is out there only because they lack an actual patio to put it on. Keira sits at it from time to time but it's not in good condition & we don't really use it. From what I can tell, neither do they!
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