April 19, 2008 | View Printable PDF Document
Grow the Tallest Sunflower Competition
How to enter:
- When your sunflower gets REALLY
tall or around the middle of
September, have someone take
a picture of yourself standing
next to the sunflower you planted
here on Earth Day.
- Submit your photo by the deadline
date of Sept. 25th via email to:
info@longislandgamefarm.com, attn:
Tallest Sunflower Competition.
- Include height of sunflower,
your name, plants name if it has
one , address, email, telephone
number & any interesting things that you may have learned by growing your own plant.
- Some of the prizes you could
win are: Family Season Pass to
the L.I. Game Farm, Your Photo
posted on www.lifun4kids.com, Tickets
to The Garden Spot Fall Harvest Festival and Haunted
House and more.
- Winners will be notified by September
30, 2008.
- Good luck and Be Good to the
Earth!
Celebrating Earth Day by Planting Your Own Seeds
Courtesy of The Garden Spot
a full Service Garden and Wild
Bird Center
(just a few minutes from the
L.I. Game Farm)
Growing and Harvesting
When you get home water the seeds
right away and put them in
direct sunlight. Sunflowers
will pop out of the soil in a week
to two weeks, and will start out
slowly. Transplant outdoors or
into a larger container. If you
notice birds bothering the little
seedlings you can tent a piece
of chicken wire, or a milk jug
with the top and bottom cut off
or something similar to protect
them. They will pick up speed in
their growing process, and the
children can be responsible for
watching them, watering them, and
placing cut up leaves or another
type of mulch carefully around
the bottoms of each plant.
After
you take your photo for the growing
competition you can harvest your
sunflower or leave the seeds for
the birds. The children can record
which birds come to the
plants and how many, as an extra
project.
When the seed heads start
to turn brown, they can
be cut with 2 inches
of the stem and hung to dry in
a ventilated place such as a garage
or attic. When they are dry, simply
rub them together to loosen,
soak over night in salted water
and then drain. Spread them on
baking sheets and roast
for three hours at 200 degrees
until dry. These can be stored
in a container for eating.
Be sure to save some seeds
out before this process,
place in envelopes and
label for planting next year. Store
them in a dry cool place until
spring.
Growing sunflowers can
be a unique, family
project. So much can be learned
about nature and the growing
process, as well as teaching
children patience. The end result
will be something they will always
remember and treasure
For more information about
the Long Island Game
Farm call (631)
878-6644 or visit www.longislandgamefarm.com.
