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chicken lady
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| Posted: Aug 07 2007 at 8:25pm | IP Logged
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Yours looks great, ours is pathetic!!!! This is the first time it has been a failure. I think it was the dry summer and poor location. The boys guord teepee is awesome! I am stumped about the house!! I did have to plant it twice as the ducks and chickens apparently love sunflower plants 
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joann10
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| Posted: Aug 07 2007 at 9:15pm | IP Logged
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Ours is still growing, and I think it is looking great. The kids love it.  Here it is.
Next year we will make it bigger. We also have morning glories beginning to bloom over the last couple days.
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PDyer
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| Posted: Aug 08 2007 at 8:19pm | IP Logged
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Our sunflower house is more like a sunflower tunnel, but we love it just the same. The morning glories bloom, but they haven't climbed across the strings like we thought they would. Oh well. Here's a picture, if I can get it to show up...
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Patty
Mom of ds (7/96) and dd (9/01) and two angels (8/95 and 6/08)
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PDyer
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| Posted: Aug 08 2007 at 8:22pm | IP Logged
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help! on the picture posting! 
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Patty
Mom of ds (7/96) and dd (9/01) and two angels (8/95 and 6/08)
Life at Home
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Elizabeth
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Here is our sunflower house. Well, this WAS our sunflower house. Apparently, a child who shall remain nameless but is large enough to harvest very large sunflowers, decided it was time. And now, everyone in my house under ten is in tears. 
Fall planting suggestions? Anyone?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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~Rachel~
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| Posted: Aug 30 2007 at 3:49pm | IP Logged
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For fall plantings...
well you can plant garlic and tulips to come up next year.
Cool weather crops like spinach and kale, lettuce, mache can all be planted and kept alive for a while.
You 'may' be able to get away with carrots and parsnips because the frost will make them sweet.
If you are will to go with a small cold frame approach (you can do this with PVC pipes and plastic) you can experiment to see what plants you can keep alive the longest. Eliot Coleman has a book called Four Season Harvest, which can help you grow FOOD all winter long 
As for flowers and herbs... well the herbs can grow on your kitchen window. I kept a basil plant alive (hydroponic at that) all winter last year, until one of the kids sprayed oil on it. Thyme, chives, basil, marjoram/oregano, parsely all make good kitchen windowsill herbs.
You might be able to get some paperwhites to bloom inside, along with other spring bulbs, but I am not so up on the flowers 
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~Rachel~
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Dawn
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| Posted: Aug 30 2007 at 4:10pm | IP Logged
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Elizabeth wrote:
| Apparently, a child who shall remain nameless but is large enough to harvest very large sunflowers, decided it was time. And now, everyone in my house under ten is in tears. |
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Elizabeth, could you and the children hang the sunflower heads somewhere outside? (I'd say along a fence except I don't think you have one.) We do this with our few flowers and it's great fun to watch the songbirds "come and get it!" The goldfinches love them especially and dangle upside down to get every last seed!
Or, you could attach the large flower heads to a wreath base and hang that instead ...
Perhaps such a nature craft might put a happy spin on an unfortunate situation?
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Dawn, mum to 3 boys 
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The Nature Corner
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joann10
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Our sunflowers have finally bloomed on the top of 13 foot tall stalks. I was afraid frost was going to kill them before they bloomed. I just put up the picture of it.
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ladybugs
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| Posted: Sept 04 2007 at 5:41pm | IP Logged
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That looks great, Joann!
Good job!
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Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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PDyer
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| Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 9:27am | IP Logged
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Now that I've learned how to share an album on shutterfly, I can show you all our sunflower house. It doesn't look like this anymore --- the sunflowers are gone, but the morning glories are still blooming every day.
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Patty
Mom of ds (7/96) and dd (9/01) and two angels (8/95 and 6/08)
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lapazfarm
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Gorgeous, Patty! Wow!
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Theresa
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ladybugs
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Looks great, Patty!
Well done!
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Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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Martha
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I'm so excited to be doing this in our backyard! I have the mammoth sunflower seeds, morning glory and night glory too (moonflower). the only thing I have yet to get is a bail of hay for the "floor" of the house. We're waiting just a few more weeks to be sure the last chance of frost is past.
The ice storm left us with a huge expanse of yard without grass. Can't afford sod, 8 kids+dog+friends=not a snowball's chance of growing grass from seed. I'm hoping this is the perfect use of the area. A 10x10 sunflower house. And we're thinking of doing several other of lovejoy's garden ideas too. Like a butterfly garden (around the koi pond maybe?) and a small miniture veggie snack garden (grape tomatos and mini cucumber and the like!)
Oh I'm so excited! The kids think I'm nuts, but I hope they think differently in a few months!
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Martha
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joann10
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We had great fun with this last year, but it will be almost two months before we can plant in our neck of the woods. (It was 10 degrees this morning when we got up  )
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Sarah M
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We will be trying for a sunflower house this year. I ordered these seeds from Seeds of Change and am reserving a small rectangular spot in our garden for a sunflower hideaway. We can't plant here in the NW (without much fear and trepidation of late spring frosts, that is) until May, so I plan to start these indoors mid-April.
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JoBeth in OH
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My sunflower house was a bust last year.  Dh rototilled a section for us, then I direct sowed the sunflower and morning glory seeds. We were diligent with the watering, but nothing happened. Upon further inspection, I discovered little slivers of sunflower husk.
Whether squirrels or birds, I thought I had outsmarted them by getting the seeds to germination before replanting. It turns out germinated seeds are just as tasty.
This year, I'm going to start the seeds in mid-April and plant actual plants, in the hopes that the critters will leave them alone!
In true optimist fashion, I'm also going to plant a bean teepee or two this year. 
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CandaceC
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Oh, I'm excited to see this post! I also have been devouring Lovejoy's books...and we have been digging our rectangle in the backyard for our sunflower house already! I am hoping to plant the seeds in the next 1-2 weeks!! The kids are super excited!!
I'm sure you all have seen Eve Bunting's book...but just in case someone hasn't seen it, Sunflower House by Eve Bunting is just precious!! A must read for springtime, especially if you're planting sunflowers!
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Candace - wife to David since 2000...mommy to Hannah (Feb. 2002), Emily (April 2003) and Caleb (March 2005)
His Mercy Is New
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Martha
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Yes, I just bought Bunting's book last weekend - very sweet!
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Martha
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Ruth
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Oh my goodness! I just asked our 5dd to bring me a book to read to her from our gardening unit, and she gave me Sunflower House to read to her. I loved it! I didn't even realize we had it.
Here is a great site to help you get started.
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Ruth
mom to 7 miracles
My family blog
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Rachel May
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I'm curious if it would be possible to grow one without planting it in the ground? Our small back yard is the only place to plant, but when the builders landscaped, they laid sod on top of backfill--a mixture of clay and large rocks. I don't think I'll be up to any heavy labor to improve the soil, but I'm hopeful that there's an alternative?
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Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Sunflower Houses
