Classy and Opinionated Lifestyle Mom Blog
A home is our sanctuary where we feel comfortable to be ourselves and unwind after long days of running around between responsibilities. That’s why homeowners always look for ways to make their homes more relaxing in a way that they can express their personal tastes …
Many homeowners are proud of showing off a beautiful garden, but it takes effort and time to keep it green and clean all year round. If you’re not careful, you might end up spending extra money trying to fix mistakes that could’ve been avoided from …
Every year we enjoy going to a local farm to pick sunflowers. It’s a great family-friendly activity and doesn’t cost a lot of money. You can dry out your sunflowers to use in your autumn home decor, in craft projects and yes…you can eat the seeds once dry. It’s a very easy process! Here’s some tips to help you get started.
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Tips for Picking and Drying Sunflowers
1. Plan ahead. You need to wear comfortable walking shoes and dress appropriately for the weather. I recommend taking along a cardboard box and garden shears. You’ll want to apply sunscreen and bug spray before heading out into the field.
2. Look for flowers that aren’t damaged and are disease-free. Avoid ones that contain a lot of bugs and/or worms. You want them to look nice! In the case of sunflowers its not about the size. The larger ones can be difficult to work with whereas smaller ones dry-out quicker and nicer.
3. You want to cut them at an angle leaving at least 6″ of stem. You can leave leaves on or remove them.
4. Lay them flat and in a single layer in a box for transport home. Don’t pile them onto one another. Keep the heads facing up.
5. Once you get home you want to prepare the flowers for drying right away. Find a cool, dark and dry place in your home to hang up the flowers once you prepare them.
6. You will need paper bags, rubber bands and twine. Cut twine 14″ to 16″ in length. Tie around the stem of the flower (bottom of the stem) with a hanging loop at the other end. Slip a paper bag over the head of the flower and fasten it shut with a rubber band.
The bag helps to keep bugs out and to keep things dark. You need to hang them upside down to dry. A closet. garden shed, pantry closet, laundry room, etc. all work well. The bag will also catch any “dried sunflower seeds” as your flower matures.
7. It will take 3-6 weeks for your flowers to fully dry out. This process depends on the size of the flower, weather conditions and location. Be patient and leave them alone for the first 3 weeks. Then check on them weekly after that.
8. Remove the rubber band, bag and twine. If there are any seeds still left in the head you can remove them. You can trim the stem to a more manageable length, just cut it at an angle. If the center of the stem is moist…hang it back up and let it dry out for another week or two.
9. I like to dry them out to decorate during the fall season and/or in craft projects. You should spray them “lightly” with hairspray or with 1-2 “light” coats of a clear acrylic spray sealer. This will help to preserve them.
The photos in my post were taken a few weeks ago when hubby and I went sunflower picking. There’s a farm about 10 minutes from our home that offers U-Pick Sunflowers every year. Luckily for us…we had a gorgeous 78 degree weather day to do it! They charge $1.00 per sunflower no matter the size.
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For the past 8 years we’ve planted a backyard garden and every year it gets bigger. The first year that we started we only planted a few tomato and bell pepper plants. Over the years we’ve added more items. Some of them are in garden …
Every season I like to give readers a sneak peek at my outdoor gardening yard art that I display as the seasons change. It always takes me 2 to 2 1/2 weeks to change out my seasonal decor and get everything changed over. Luckily for …
Every year I like to grow fresh parsley in containers that I keep out on my patio. A lot of people refer to this as container gardening. I keep my herbs separate from our vegetable garden so that I have easy access to them during the gardening season. Herbs are really easy-to-grow in containers!
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Whenever I need fresh parsley for a recipe I just walk out to the container and snip off what I need. Wash and rinse under cool running water, blot-off the excess water with paper towels, chop off the stems and then finely chop up the parsley.
I like to preserve and dry a lot of our fresh parsley for later use. I find that by making my own dried parsley that its more flavorful than store bought versions. I can use less of it in recipes and it tastes 100% better. Plus…it saves me money! Here is how I like to preserve and dry our fresh parsley.
How to Preserve and Dry Fresh Parsley
I snip off the parsley leaving a 1″ stem. You want to do this BEFORE your plant starts flowering and BEFORE the leaves start getting brown spots, etc. If any of its damaged…toss away.
Place a colander in your clean sink. Add the fresh parsley too it. Wash each sprig under cool running water. I make sure I get in between all of the leaves, front and back, etc. I typically rinse them for about 3 minutes to make sure I get off all of the dirt and debris.
Fold up 2 paper towels and lay them on your cutting board. Place the parsley on top. Fold up 2 additional paper towels and use them to blot-off the excess water. Do this gently so that you don’t damage the leaves. Toss out paper towels.
Plug in your food dehydrator. Set heat on lowest setting. Place the sprigs on the trays making sure you space them out so that they don’t touch. You want the warm heat (air) to circulate all around them. Place trays in dehydrator and then put on the lid. In my experience it takes 2-4 hours for them to completely dry out depending on how many trays I’m using. They need to be dry and crumbly when you touch them. Turn off dehydrator and let them cool for 30 minutes to room temperature.
Place on cutting board and use a small knife to snip off the stems. You can crumble up the leaves with your fingers/hands or use a mortar & pestle. Pick out any stems as you see them. Place dried parsley in a clean & dry spice bottle or plastic bag (purge out all air).
You can store your preserved parsley for up to 1 year at room temperature and it should retain its flavor. If you want it to last longer…place the spice container or bag into your freezer where it will last even longer. That’s it! Very easy to preserve your own parsley!
I like to store all of my herbs and spices in Tupperware Spice and Herb Containers that I purchased a few years ago on Amazon. They’re the best! They’re dishwasher safe, have easy snap-on and snap-off lids, lids open to a shaker side and a side that you can measure out. They have a slim profile so they fit nicely on a spice rack or stack them (yes, they’re stackable) in a cabinet. Plus, you can put them in the refrigerator and/or freezer with no problems!!!
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My grandchildren love to work on arts and craft projects. My grandson is more of the artistic one while my granddaughter is more of the crafty one. The two of them could sit for hours working on various projects together. We tend to keep them …
Every year we plant a backyard garden. We enjoy growing our own tomatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, peas, onions, broccoli, watermelon, cucumbers, lettuce and several other vegetables. We’re by no means EXPERTS when it comes to gardening and are always trying to improve our skills. This …