I lived in North Dakota many many years ago and there were miles and miles of sunflower fields. It was amazing to see the beautiful flowers as they turned their faces toward the sun as it moved across the sky.

Sunflowers are great for feeding birds and they are just a beautiful addition to any yard or garden.  They will typically reseed themselves from seeds that have fallen throughout the summer, but you can also harvest your own sunflower seeds easily.  From Hometalk.com,

(1). Once your Sunflower has faded, don’t cut it right away, wait a touch more than usual than any other faded flowers… than not to much longer

after, dead head the sunflower head.

(2) Quickly with your hand Brush off the Orange/Yellow baby petals & your seeds will be reveiled & then place the sunflower head in a dry spot for a couple days to allow the flower seeds time to fully dry. Don’t wait to long, I’ve found they become too moldy and brittle after a longer period of time.

(3) Once fully Dried & Ready, Slightly Bend Flower Head and/or you can even split flower head with your hands & with just your fingers, simply push the sunflower seeds right out. They come out very easily. You will be surpised how many seeds you will get from one Sunflower head.

(4) Once done removing all your seeds, place on dish or flat surface of any sort and allow them time to completely dry out, leaving no moisture whats-so-ever.

This will also work on other blooming plants, so transfer the know-how to your other favorite flowers!

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik.

Photo from dlouhan.

The ingenuity of the people never ceases to amaze and inspire!  From using coffee filters to keep dirt from oozing out the bottom of planter pots to diapers to hold moisture in, the ideas presented on Tipnut really *are* clever!

Photo from Pinterest.

Have we all seen the easy way to de-silk corn? You microwave the corn for about 4 minutes, then cut off none-stem end.  Shake it a little and it should slide right out.  Like this video of Ken demonstrating.

I tried it and it didn’t work.  I think my knife was not sharp enough so it had cooled by the time I was ready to shake it loose.  I’ve gone back to the old way of just pulling the leaves down and picking the silks the best I can.

However, if you are a fan of corn and always looking for corn ideas, this looks like a great way to cook a LOT of corn in a short time.  It’s cooler corn!

Then my sister, a capable Maine cook with years of camping experience says “let’s do cooler corn!” Before I can ask “what the [bleep] is cooler corn?” a Coleman cooler appears from the garage, is wiped clean, then filled with the shucked ears. Next, two kettles-full of boiling water are poured over the corn and the top closed.

Then nothing.

When we sat down to dinner 30 minutes later and opened it, the corn was perfectly cooked. My mind was blown. And I’m told that the corn will remain at the perfect level of doneness for a couple of hours.

If you are looking for a family garden project that is fun, cute, and easy even for the youngest kids, building a fairy garden could be in your future!  From The Magic Onions,

Make sure the plants you choose all like the same amount of sun and water. If you are going to be using moss, remember that moss likes sun to part shade and lots of water… choose other plants that like the same. If you are going for a desert garden look, pebbles, rocks and various cacti look wonderful, but do make sure that too many prickles won’t deter your little ones from playing in their magical creation.

This is a superb idea – a great way to build a lovely focal point for your yard and a good way to bond with your family.

Happy July 4th! Be safe and have fun!

If you are the creative type and love entertaining in the summer, this is a great little craft for outdoor parties.  Make your own drink holder from an old aluminum can, a few pieces of hardware and a little bit of creativity.  From Positively Splendid,

We have a big front yard that we are currently outfitting with new chairs, a fire pit, outdoor poofs and other fun items in order to make this space the go-to spot for the whole family. While I was strolling through a local market recently, I stumbled upon the neatest idea for outdoor drink holders and knew they were just the thing for our outdoor seating area! Instead of buying them, I decided to give them the good ol’ DIY try, and here’s how mine turned out!

I. Love. This. So. Much.