My son brought home a sprout last year from school so we planted it in the garden. I thought it was green beans, but it turned into a sunflower. This year, I transplanted to a different part of the yard and we just harvested it.

The boys had been dying to get at the thing. It was gigantic! All summer long, “Is it ready yet?”

The first thing you need to check before harvesting a sunflower is that the leaves around the center have turned brown. That’s when you know it is ready.

Take the head down and put your kids to work! Or do it yourself. My kids lasted only a few minutes.

After you’ve taken the seeds out of the head, soak them in water with salt overnight.

The following day, run them through a colander and then dry them out.

Once they are dry, place them on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes at 300ºF

Done! Let them cool.

Drizzle a very small bit of olive oil on them and sprinkle them with some sea salt. You can even spice it up a bit with some cayenne pepper! Enjoy!