Sunflower Project

The Sunflower Project

Image is from Wikipedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/.../File:Sunflowers... licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

One sunflower can produce hundreds of seedlings. What if each one of those seedlings was given away and each one produced hundreds of seedlings also. If each one of those was gifted to people to plant and save the resulting seeds, assuming each sunflower produces approximately 300 seedlings, in a year we could have close to 100,000 seedlings, one for every person in Nelson and Tasman, all from that initial single sunflower.

If everybody then saved those seeds we could have close to 30 million sunflowers the year after!!!

Perhaps that's a bit ambitious 🙂 However, what if we did keep planting as many as we could? It would be a nice symbol of community, of cooperation, as well as hope.

Welcome to the Sunflower Project.

Step 1: Pick up a Sunflower Seedling

Pick up points coming soon. If you've already got one, go to Step 2.

Step 2: Plant your Seedling

Plant it where it will be seen by as many people as possible (perhaps some graffiti planting is in order). Preferably a place where you can keep an eye on it, water and feed if necessary and add support as it grows.

Some growing tips here https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/garden/107800516/how-to-growsunflowers

Step 3: Enjoy and Nurture

Look after your sunflower, water, feed and tie to a fence or a stake as it grows taller to prevent the stem snapping in the wind. Treat it as a new member of your family and enjoy it's beauty.

Step 4: Harvest

When the flower is ready to harvest (when flower petals begin to dry out and fall off), cut the head off and hang somewhere to dry (where the birds won't get them, or cover with a bag - you can always leave some out for the birds later).

When the head has dried rub the seeds off with your hands over a container then leave the seeds to dry further for a few days in a tray (or a cardboard box for example) before storing in an airtight container.

Label and store your container ready for Spring next year.

Step 5: It's Spring - Planting time

Grab some seedling trays or plant pots or whatever containers you can find. Mitre 10 and Bunnings have recycle bins in the garden section where they can be picked up for free. Nelmac Nursery by Whakatu Marae also has a free plant pot bin, as does Restore.

Fill the seedling pots with potting compost (normally a mixture of compost and sand/pumice to allow water to drain through). Potting mixture can be made pretty cheaply if you mix your own but if the cost is a barrier, let us know and we'll help source some.

If you don't have the room to plant all the seeds, perhaps give some to your neighbours/friends to plant.

Plant your seeds at a depth of approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Place them in a warm sunny location and water as needed.

Step 6: Giving - The Fun Part

Spread the joy and gift the seedlings to others. Give to your friends, leave at the front of your house for passers by to pick up, go and visit your neighbours (it would be a nice ice breaker to get to know more of the people in your street) or at community centres, at schools etc. with some instructions (these six steps) and a link back to the project page (https://urbanfarmers.nz/index.php/sunflower-project).

Sit back and watch our city, and our community, blossom.