Using Sunflower Stalks in Your Garden!

If you’re a Gardner like me you’re always looking for ways to re-use!   One spends so much time and money on their gardens anyway.  Why not find ways to utilize the plants they grow, (outside of the obvious food of course)!  This was my thought when I started investigating using Sunflower or Okra stalks in my vegetable beds.   I mean Sunflowers are just a beautiful addition to any garden and I plant them everywhere!

What really grabbed my attention was the size of them.   Some of these plants grow so tall and the stalks are so large that it just seemed right to use them in the gardens if possible.  As a result, over the last season, I have been testing out both sunflower and okra stalks as tepees and as slat holders in my space.  Here are some tips I have learned on reusing these giant plants.

Tips on using Sunflower and Okra Stalks

• The stalks of the skyscraper sunflowers can range from three to four inches around at the largest point.  Some even get as high as fifteen feet.  These can make beautiful natural poles for beans etc. As such, if they are in the right spot you may consider not cutting them at all.

  

  Plant your veining plants at the base of them and allow them to simply crawl their way up.

However, If you need to utilize your stalks in a spot other than where they grew,  pull them up and clean them for drying.

• Utilize a small saw to cut them at the base of the plant.  After removing several of them I found it easier, (at least on the larger plants ) to cut them first and deal with the roots later.

  

• Prepare stalks for drying by removing any leaves, stems, flowers etc remaining on the plants.  Do  NOT cut the leaves or stems all the way to the stalk!  Allow about an inch of length to remain.

  

  This sounds odd; however, once dry this tip hardens, and provides great handles for string, twine or rope.

• Drying is very important.  Okra stalks were harder to dry.  I lost several to mold while attempting to dry them over the fall and winter season.  The weather was too cold and wet.   Sunflower stalks dried much faster and easier with less loss.   As such if your planning on using Okra it’s best to grow them in the spring and use the summer sun to dry them with.
• Find a place that has full sun and keep them off the ground.   An arbor can provide the perfect spot!

  

  

• Sunflower stalks took about 45 days to fully dry.  At that point they were ready for the garden.
• For tepees utilize heavy garden twine to tie the stalks together; or, twists that are stable enough to hold them together.  It’s also helpful to dig out the area the  tepees will fill prior to tying them up.