Sunflowers in France

Read my story in French »

The word for sunflowers in France is TOURNESOLS. It’s easy to see where the name comes from since tourner is to turn and sol is for sun. Growing 5 – 12 feet tall the flowers face east when fully grown – although myth has it that their face always the sun. However, young sunflowers do move east to west during the day as they are growing so it is not a total myth.

Thistles and Sunflowers

Wild sunflowers are native to the Americas. Native Americans domesticated the plant and the seeds were brought to Europe in the 16th century. So much to my surprise, sunflowers in France have not always been one of their agricultural crops.

Let’s take a closer look at those beautiful, sometimes plate-size, flowers. Each flower head consists of 1000 -2000 individual flower heads. That means up to 2000 seeds per flower. I have consumed so many sunflower seeds in my lifetime it makes me wonder just how many “sunflowers” I have consumed? In addition, I am now wondering how many “flowers” are in every bag of  seeds that you buy?

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Sunflowers in France as a crop

Every part of the flower is useful. There is nothing to waste with a sunflower. While growing they are beautiful to look at and later the leaves can be used as cattle feed.

Seeds (have the shell on) and seed kernels (the part inside the shell) can be eaten or used for cooking and for extracting oil. Like most agricultural crops the fields are rotated. So if you have a special area for viewing these majestic giants keep in mind that they will not be found in the same fields two years in row.

Native Americans ground the seed kernels into flour  and in Germany today bakers continue to use this flour in breads. If you have a coffee grinder you can grind the kernels yourself to add to pancakes and muffins. You can grind your own sunflowers seeds in small food processors to make this flour. Caution –  only do short bursts unless you want to create sunflower seed butter! I frequently add whole kernels to whole wheat bread.

Are the kernels good for you? YES! Besides lifting your spirit with their beauty, they contain B-complex vitamins, vitamin E, folic acid and minerals such as phosphorous, iron, and selenium.

Sunflowers in France- images

Do I have a passion for photographing sunflowers? Yes, and I hope you enjoy each of these photos from France.

You will note a difference in color of the sunflowers. Those with the pure lemony yellow color with soft green leaves and rolling hills in the background were in the southern part of Burgundy Region while the others were in the Poitou-Charentes Region. The Poitou-Charentes was particularly hot that year. As a result the sunflowers appeared a bit stressed looking. Yet when we were in the Burgundy Region the year before the weather was cool enough for a light jacket most mornings and evenings so the sunflowers were lush and green!

Chorus of Sunflowers

Mon histoire en français…

Tourner vers le soleil : les tournesols. Qui n’aime pas les beaux tournesols ? Ils poussent de 1,5 m à 4 mètres face à l’est. Les gens ont beau dire qu’ils suivent le soleil, c’est juste une légende. Cependant, les jeunes fleurs tournent de l’est vers l’ouest pendant qu’elles poussent.

Ces plantes ont été domestiquées dans les Amériques et elles ont été amenées en France en le 16e siècle. La tête de la fleur a quelquefois la taille d’une assiette avec 1000-2000 têtes de fleurs individuelles.

Chaque parti de la fleur est utile. On peut manger les graines (sans leur écorce) ou y extraire l’huile. Aussi, les noyaux peuvent être moulus à poudre pour faire du pain. Ils sont bons pour la santé parce qu’ils contiennent les vitamines B, E et l’acide folique, et aussi les minéraux comme le phosphore, le fer et le sélénium.

J’adore les tournesols et j’ai une passion pour les prendre des photos.

N.B. Les fleurs de la couleur du citron avec les collines dans le lointain sont de la Bourgogne du sud et les autres fleurs sont de la région Poitou-Charentes.

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