The Unbelievable History of Sunflowers

In this video, we look at the remarkable journey sunflowers have been on throughout their long history.
Find us here too!
Patreon: / fireoflearning
Lucinox - Our Science Channel: / @lucinoxofficial
The following music performed by Kevin Macleod Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Download available at incompetech.com
These songs provided by the KZbin audio library
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV 1049 [orig. by JS Bach]
Accralate
These songs provided by the KZbin Audio Library
Vacation Casual
Russian Dance
Simple Gifts
Hickory Hollow
Sources
[1] Pappalardo, Joe. "Sunflowers: The Secret History." Overlook Press, 2008.
[2] Heiser, Charles B. “The Sunflower among the North American Indians.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 95, no. 4, 1951, pp. 432-48. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3143283.
[3] Lentz, David L., et al. “Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus L.) as a Pre-Columbian Domesticate in Mexico.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 105, no. 17, 2008, pp. 6232-37. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25461773.
[4] Smith BD. "Eastern North America as an Independent Center of Plant Domestication." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Aug 15;103(33):12223-8. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0604335103. Epub 2006 Aug 7.
[5] Blackman BK, et al. "Sunflower Domestication Alleles Support Single Domestication Center in Eastern North America." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Aug 23;108(34):14360-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1104853108. Epub 2011 Aug 15.
[6] Park B, Burke JM. "Phylogeography and the Evolutionary History of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.): Wild Diversity and the Dynamics of Domestication." Genes (Basel). 2020 Feb 29;11(3):266. doi: 10.3390/genes11030266.
[7] Putnam, D.H. et al. "Sunflower." Alternative Field Crops Manual, Purdue University.
www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/a...
[8] Sahagún, Monographs of the School of American Research and the Museum of New Mexico. Book 9: The merchants. Florentine Codex. General History of the Things of New SpainCE Dibble, AJO Anderson (School of American Research and the University of Utah, Sante Fe, 1959 [1569], No 14, Part X.
[9] Kiple, Kenneth F., and Kriemhild Conee Ornelas, editors. "Cambridge World History of Food, Volume 1." Cambridge University Press, 2000.
[10] Cumo, Christopher. "Sunflower." Encyclopedia of Cultivated Plants: From Acacia to Zinnia. ebrary.net/28124/environment/...
[11] Gerard, John and Thomas Johnson. "The Generall Historie of Plantes." The Ex-Classics Website. CHAP. 259. www.exclassics.com/herbal/her...
[12] "Sunflower Plant" Encyclopedia Britannica. www.britannica.com/plant/sunf...
[13] "Jerusalem Artichoke" Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusal...
[14] How old is the sunflower in Mexico? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Jul 29;105(30):E48; author reply E49-50. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0804588105. Epub 2008 Jul 21.
[15] Guinness Book of World Records. "Tallest Sunflower." GuinessWorldRecords.com www.guinnessworldrecords.com/...
Picture Attributions:
By Vengolis - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By shirleybolling2005 - Flickr: D40 726, CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Eric Hunt - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Bobyellow - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By MarkThree - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Björn S., CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By NAPARAZZI - www.flickr.com/photos/naparaz..., CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Fan Wen - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Alvesgaspar - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By H2ase - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By torange.biz - torange.biz/photo/32/HD/sunfl... on torange.biz/crude-sunflower-o..., CC BY 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Bundesarchiv, Bild 137-037542 / CC-BY-SA 3.0, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By cattan2011 - Sunflowers farm, CC BY 2.0, Changes made commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Navaneeth KN - Flickr: The artist and the photographer seek the mysteries and the adventure of experience in nature (Explored), CC BY 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

Sunflowers are being used today as cover crops on many farms. Their strong roots can dig into heavy soil, and they create a lot of biomass that's either tilled back into the soil to add organic matter to it, or used to make compost. All of that improves the soil for growing next year's crop of whatever. They're also useful for reconditioning contaminated soils - they can pull heavy metals and other toxins out of the soil, and then the land will be useful again for other crops. Naturally, the large flowers attract pollinators and the seeds are a favorite of songbirds. We leave some of our sunflowers standing after the growing season to provide seeds and shelter for native beneficial birds and insects.

[@silence-humility-calmness]

fun info:-) thanks!

[@deborahdean8867]

Hemp as well is suppose to draw contaminants out of the soil. And it yoo is used hor oil and biomass. And I believe it's the water lotus that's been used to purify sewage to drinking quality

[@helenamcginty4920]

I assume the plants used as contaminant cleaners are disposed of somehow as their seeds would also be contaminated along with the rest if the plant. There are many plants which can absorb toxins. Even the humble spider plant and several succulent plants often used on the house.

[@karenf9137]

Fabulous info!

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

@@helenamcginty4920 you're right, the plants still have to be dealt with, but it's easier than digging up tons of soil and trying to treat it. You and Deborah Dean are of course also correct that many different plants can be used in similar ways on a small or large scale. It's a fascinating field, pun intended :D

[@mu99ins]

I grow sunflowers on my corner lot. This year, I planted as many sunflowers as I could in my front yard. The reason is I have heavy soil, and the roots of a sunflower help till the heavy soil. I like birds and bees and butterflies, and they like my sunflowers. I get mixed reviews from passerbys. Most of the front yards in my neighborhood are well kept lawns, which is unfortunate since California is a drought stricken place. Eventually, the sunflowers will give way to rose bushes, since roses like hard soil. I also planted various gourds, because I like gourds. I plan to make bird houses out of them. Maybe paint a few. I plant the tall sunflowers to thwart the feral cats jumping at the birds who feed off of the sunflowers. These birds are frightened of me, and fly away when I open the front door. But, if I whistle a tune, they stick around to listen, and eventually resume feeding off the sunflowers as I whistle.

[@NinjaGrrrl7734]

I like you.

[@thisisAB]

This is some of the coolest shit I've ever read, mad respect

[@CottonCandyNationYT]

This is such a wholesome comment

[@breadman32398]

My only experience using sunflower oil was a college project where we made a 3d printer that used oil. Sunflower oil had the highest smoke point of commonly available food oils. So it was that hardest to set on fire. Probably makes it good for higher temp cooking.

[@milosevicmihajlo499]

Only experience? Whait what kind of oil are you guys using then? Isnt sunflower oil like a most comon tipe of oil used for cooking?

[@breadman32398]

@@milosevicmihajlo499 I just don't cook.

[@FruitingPlanet]

canola oil is much more suitable for that, sunflower oil has to be highly refined before heating it to high temperatures, otherwise it is very unhealthy.

[@007ShaolinMonk]

In Ukriane we primarly use the sunflower oil. I'd say it has the best fragnance of all. It is even better than olive oil.

[@dandankovsky7968]

@@007ShaolinMonk I used to fry boiled vareniki in sunflower oil when I was a student to have a quick snack.I love sunflower oil smell and taste - it reminds me of food in childhood.

[@joschafinger126]

Here in southern Spain, sunflowers are all over the place -in my area, there are loads of plantations. The seeds are one of the most popular snacks here, while the oil does tend to be somewhat looked down upon in a region that also produces vast amounts of olives.

[@drizzlingrose]

I gotta say how much I love the food history series, I don't watch many videos with my mom but this is one show we both enjoy watching together, thank you for your continued effort to make these

[@Fireoflearning]

All the best to your and your mother!

[@catboynestormakhno2694]

Sunflowers are also one of the best crops at clearing up radiation in soil, truly a magical plant

[@craigrandle6966]

Phew. I thought this channel was becoming exclusively Peanut the Capybara lore.

[@jangamaster8677]

Sunflowers seeds are one of Capybara favorite snack. This is a peanut lore video

[@peanutthecapybara]

@@jangamaster8677 I have to feed Peanut sunflower butter because of his "allergy"

[@worstnightmare8556]

A little bit, yeah ...

[@kingcotton659]

I wouldn’t be opposed

[@craigrandle6966]

@@peanutthecapybara your Peanut content is so unhinged but your primary history videos are so… hinged. I love it man I hope you keep it all up.

[@kelilahsimone8802]

Not only did I not know that Sunflowers were native to North America but my German great grandparents were some of the Volga Germans who immigrated to Canada 🇨🇦 where I was born. 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻Mind Blown 😮

[@rjohnson1690]

What village did your family come from? My family is Volga German too. 😊

[@jacqlynblattner894]

My Family is Volga German too. My Grandfathers Lineage came from Reez Germany during Catherine the Great and lived in Kamenka, Saratov.

[@jovanweismiller7114]

Having spent many long, hot, miserable hours chopping wild sunflowers out of corn and milo fields as a boy, I found this very informative. I grew up in Kansas. Despite the fact that the sunflower is the official state flower and its nickname is the 'Sunflower State', it is consider a noxious weed in Kansas. LOL!

[@msseedlady2587]

Kansas is where IMI tolerant sunflowers were discovered. Kansas extension agents contacted BASF to let them know that sunflowers were surviving through their herbicide applications. BASF took those sunflowers and crossbred them with other hybrid sunflowers to convey herbicide tolerance. Hence the Clearfield sunflower was born. To this day, no sunflowers are GMO. All herbicide tolerance (both the Clearfield and ExpressSun) are due to breeding and selection and are considered nonGMO. Seed companies have tried to stack the herbicide tolerance but found the Express trait and Clearfield traits are located too closely on the chromosome and cannot be stacked.

[@deborahdean8867]

You should try growing helichrysum italicum imortalle. A small daisy like plant. The oil is EXTREMELY valuable (imortalle....imparts imortality....curative. but used most in aromatherapy and perfumes ) . You'd be surprised at the demand for medicinal herbs. And goldenseal. If you grow goldenseal you have a goldmine. These do well in sunflower conditions

[@hylacinerea970]

sunflower oil is so perfect for fried foods. i just cant resist it-- most fast food companies use fry mixes containing it. 70% of all calories consumed globally come from crops originating from the americas.

[@thedwightguy]

I grow multi-headed sunflowers for three reasons: pollination, bee food, and migrating song birds in BC Canada southbound love the SMALL seeds (along with that little chipmonk). Bees will overnight in the flower head, doubling the range from their hive!! They really don't need much in terms of fertilizer, no matter what soil they're planted in. We have glacial till high alkaline soil, with some ammendments. They thrive. Deer are the only issue; they love them too. As a alkaloid, esp. when deer are sick (worms, bots, lice) they'll eat the sunflowers as a "med".

[@petuniafuzz9083]

Very interesting.

[@adriennefloreen]

It's cool that you mentioned helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem artichokes or sun chokes) because I planted some in a bathtub sized plastic pot in my driveway. If you do this the roots divide underground like potatoes. Then you will have a bathtub full of the small edible roots, if anyone hasn't seen one they're like the 2 inches long and they look like a bumpy small potato. If anyone sees these being sold at an organic grocery store or farmers market, you should buy some and plant a few of them. You can eat them raw, which is what I do, or cook them however you want. One of my friends actually microwaves them until they're soft and eats them with butter.

[@moisesm9602]

How do they taste?

[@adriennefloreen]

@@moisesm9602 When raw they taste like a jicama if you've ever had one of those but with a smoother texture. Slightly sweet. Like a cross between a potato and a sweet potato. Cooked they have the texture most cooked roots have, meaning it's less grainy than potato and more of a smooth texture. They sell them at a lot of grocery stores now, a place like Whole Foods might have them. I wanted them growing so I got some from a local farmers market and a food co-op and I also bought other weird roots they sold like burdock (gophers ate it) and ginger that was sprouting (it's still growing in my kitchen) and an heirloom tomato that was the worst tasting tomato ever (it grew true to seed, the tomatoes that grew were just as bad tasting.) Sometimes grocery stores are a better source of plants than seed companies, I also like to do the same thing at Asian markets and because of this we have a Chinese winter melon growing.

[@moisesm9602]

@@adriennefloreen ohhh interesting. I would love to try them now. Thanks!

[@adriennefloreen]

@@moisesm9602 If you can't find them in a store and order them online, order ones meant for eating not ones from a seed company. Some seed companies are selling just like one or a few roots for amazingly high prices, they're the same ones being sold for food, repackaged.

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

My hamster loves this video.

[@philhenderson1595]

You can’t do a real history of sunflower seeds without a mention of David Der Hairabedian. Founder of David and Sons (now David) Sunflower Seeds. His packages were carried all over Europe by allied troops in WWII.

[@alexanderscherer4537]

I literally shook with excitement when I saw the new video dropped. LOVE this channel!

[@Susan.I]

I didn’t know sunflowers were native to North America. Ours are growing wonderfully!!

[@MissBabalu102]

Kansas is The Sunflower State. I wonder why...

[@kathryncasey4114]

My sunflowers are already harvested for this year. Now it's too hot to grow more.

[@grovermartin6874]

I've read that Native American tribes across the Great Plains used sunflowers a lot. I believe I read that in a book called Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden. It was a delightful and eye opening series of interviews of a Lakota Sioux woman by an anthropologist in the early 1900s. It begins sounding pretty mundane, but the anthropologist must have taken excellent notes, because all of a sudden, you could almost hear the cadences and tones of her speech. One of my favorite books ever.

[@JohnnyAngel8]

@@kathryncasey4114 In the northeastern US, they don't flower until later in the summer. They are used a lot for autumn decorations.

[@kathryncasey4114]

@@JohnnyAngel8 Once temperatures get above 110 not even sunflowers survive. (early to mid June). This isn't a good place for sunflowers but I really like them so I grow them anyway. This year one that was only three inches tall produced a flower. Twelve feet is the tallest I have been able to grow. That's it in my picture. I can't help but love a plant with that much attitude. I like people who make the best of a bad situation too.

[@kristinahuchison2511]

I just love sunflowers! They’re my favorite flower and I love growing all sorts of different colors! I read that different varieties of sunflowers were actually native in other areas of the world. Only problem is when they make their seeds, gold finches and other birds like to eat them, so you have to save the seeds for next year. I normally have tall ones, but I have quite a few short ones that aren’t more than 2 ft. But yeah I believe sunflower oil is actually very healthy too. I even read somewhere they help reduce radiation. Sunflowers are just so amazing and beautiful! 🌻 💛💚

[@kariannecrysler640]

I have heard that sunflowers are good to restore soil. Things like corn can use up nutrients in the soils and sunflowers 🌻 can repair it.😁

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

Yes. They're used as cover crops sometimes because their tough roots break up compacted soil and they create a lot of biomass in the stems and leaves, which are usually tilled right back into the soil to add organic matter back into it, after the flowers heads and/or seeds themselves are harvested. This is great for farmers because they get a useful crop and improve the soil for next year at the same time. Sunflowers also pull toxins and heavy metals out of the soil. That's awesome for an area that was polluted or contaminated somehow, because it really helps bring the soil back to a healthy state and those contaminates won't be polluting the groundwater anymore. The seeds are pretty inexpensive in bulk, they're non-GMO and you don't have to sign any contracts with seed corporations to use them, you can save your own seeds for next year and the plants are easy to grow - they don't require a lot of fertilizer or watering. So sunflowers are a very efficient and "green" way to keep the soil healthy.

[@TheMuskokaman]

Love sunflowers. I grow them every year next to my house. My Mammoth Russians grew to a height of 15' even, 2 years ago. So I'm trying Pike's peak this year to see if I can beat my old record. Right now at 1 month they are between 2' & 3' tall so who knows what another 75 days will bring..

[@silence-humility-calmness]

fun anticipation

[@mariahgrimes207]

I had an “ accidental “ sunflower just pop up one day. It happens to be in a great spot, so I just let it grow to see what would happen. It’s at 16’ right now! Just saw it first on April 14! The flowers are really small though. I found that disappointing. But that’s ok. I have really bad depression and this humble sunflower had me jumping out of bed every morning to check on it🙂

[@melissashupe5732]

OOOH! Have you tried the Mammoth variety? SOOO big!

[@TheMuskokaman]

@@melissashupe5732 Yes, many times. That is what I referred to in my comment above "Mammoth Russian" sunflowers" Too bad you can't upload photos in comments on KZbin or I could show you many pics from years past of my sunflowers blooming mammothly at or above the 2nd floor bedroom windows of my house. Quite remarkable plants. Even won me a few ribbons at my local fall fair 🙂

[@melissashupe5732]

@@TheMuskokaman Pardon my excitement and misinterpreted quick read while watching a video. Horrible multitasking on my part. Embarrassed. Million pardons. Thank you!

[@miguelpadeiro762]

Praise the sun🙌🙌🌞🌞

[@cherylcallahan5402]

*Fire of Learning mystery of the Sunflower 🌻 appreciate your commentary Listening 🌟 from Mass USA TYVM 💙*

[@AshesAshes44]

Sunflowers were the first plant I ever grew. It was first grade, and my teacher gave us small peat pots full of soil and three little sunflower seeds. It was a proud day when I brought the sprouts home and planted them in the garden. They grew many, many hundreds of feet tall and I've been gardening ever since! 🌱

[@francescharters6697]

I've been growing sunflowers for a long time They are 1 of my favorite flowers The video was really informative thank you!

[@hylacinerea970]

sunflower oil is also important to many with dietary allergies, olive oil is not perfect for frying many foods. and if someone is allergic to corn, peanut, and soy-- sunflower is the next, and often only option.

[@Ariel2736]

Hello Can you make a video of the history of Mexico? Been trying to find a really good one but they are short and too general, and you are the only channel to make such detailed videos with obscure but relevant info. Thank you!!!! :)

[@Cindyscrossstitch]

Sunflowers are my favorite flowers. I grow them all over my yard. There are so many varieties. The birds and bees love them as well as neighbors and people who drive by🌻🌻🌻

[@spooderdoggy]

Appreciate your video work in history very much. Thank you!👏🏻

[@Lapantouflemagic0]

I'm growing sunchokes and it's pretty nice. it takes so little effort to grow that you will actually need to weed them out to stop them from growing. even if you collect all of the tubers, some tiny root fragments will still have enough fuel in them to start a new plant the next year. the main problem with this plant is that the tubers are a bit difficult to store because they tend to dry up. Putting them in the fridge in an airtight container with some water at the bottom seems to do the trick. you can cook them like potatoes, but it is best to eat them WITH some potatoes otherwise they make you fart as if the fate of the world depended on it. sadly my cultivar is literally whatever I could find, and they don't bloom.

[@midnight8341]

Eeeh, depending on where you live and whether or not that specific species is native there, you need to put up root barriers around your growing plot. People forgot that elsewhere and the plants spread like crazy and became invasive species. And, as you said, they're pretty hard to erradicate.

[@grovermartin6874]

@@midnight8341 Unless raccoons find them, I'm sad to say.

[@midnight8341]

@@grovermartin6874 raccoons are not native to most continents, though. And willfully introducing a second species to get rid of an invasive species didn't quite work out for Australia...

[@grovermartin6874]

@@midnight8341 True! I was not advocating introducing a species; the local ones found me.

[@knightshade6232]

Here in the tropics we grow sunflower 🌞 whole year round, and its our go to snack.. if their no popcorn

[@willbilly8738]

Sunflowers and relatives make for amazing food crops. I know you mentioned the Jerusalem artichoke which is absolutely delicious but my favorite has to be yacon. It also produces an edible tuber but it’s very crispy and can be an eaten raw with a very sweet fruity flavor

[@laureeeent]

Mr of Learning, fantastic series!

[@extremosaur]

Can you cover chicory?

[@BigScreamingBaby]

I've been waiting for this one

[@davidchunkyonion]

You always do a great job.

[@Mote.]

Thank you, Justin, for teaching us fun and important history

[@rafaelcalderabebber1198]

A radiant flower

[@chrisshorten4406]

Another glorious video! Who knew sunflowers were so important to history?

[@ScarletRebel96]

Dude I literally just bought sunflower seeds at a texan Walmart less then a hour ago haha

[@bigboy379]

They saw you and put out the video.

[@harrietharlow9929]

This is very interesting video. Now I know more about this versatile flower.

[@nobleharvey9935]

Your humor and cadence remind me of Walter Kronkite, thanx for the memories! This was an enjoyable experience 😉 keep up the fantastic work 👏

[@bigboy379]

Great content as always, thank you! Sunflower oil is awesome!

[@ArtingInMuhPJs]

I just love this channel. 🌻

[@CarlosSpicyWang]

PRAISE THE SUN

[@sherishaffertheartistandmy7948]

Very interesting! Thank you!

[@LikaLaruku]

I hadn't seen or heard of sunflower oil until after the 2010s. I thought it was a new product. I have a cultivar of dwarf sunflowers in my back yard that won't grow any wider than my hand.

[@midnight8341]

Where exactly do you live...? I can't remember not having sunflower oil in literally every supermarket around. Well, give or take a pandemic panik-buy season...

[@dogslobbergardens6606]

An interesting thing about that is, if you plant regular tall sunflower varieties in small containers, they'll stay small but still produce smaller but mature flowers and seeds. I have some black oil sunflowers - which normally reach up to ten feet, with a flower 8 or 10 inches across - in small flower pots that are only about a foot tall with flowers about three inches wide. The specific dwarf varieties you mentioned will stay small even planted in open ground, though.

[@patricklynch9574]

Russian Mammoth sunflowers awesome.

[@zacharychastain3681]

I have a patch planted this year! I'm excited to see how they do!

[@Lapantouflemagic0]

i definitely can see the appeal, but i wouldn't want something that enormous. the seeds i found in stores were a crappy cultivar with a weak stock/roots, and they always keep bending and falling over. i think i would prefer smaller, colorful flowers that can stay properly upright.

[@mrsbluesky8415]

In Virginia when I was a kid there were fields just covered in sunflowers. I think they were just growing wild w no one taking care of them so my mom would pick and bring them home. Mom is gone now and whenever I see sunflowers it reminds me of her.

[@samatha1994]

Interesting video. Sunflowers look great.

[@braukorpshomebrew6039]

I grow sunchokes. I would love to see you make a video about them!

[@sludgefactory241]

Good stuff!

[@Susan.I]

I love sunflowers! We grew some this summer!!

[@rebelusa6585]

new world gave us so many wonderful plants. sunflower are official flower of kansas.

[@naughtiusmaximus830]

The Dutch 50 guilder note was spectacular.

[@laureeeent]

I did enjoy this video.

[@Benni777]

Hey, can u do a video on how Pickles came to be so popular? I know they come from cucumbers, but there has to be a history from consuming just cucumbers, to then picking them into, well, pickles! ☺️

[@gomahklawm4446]

A LOT of things used to be pickled so they'd last through the winter etc. As to why pickled cucumbers stuck around....idk.... pickled eggs are pretty popular in some places. They are sure to make one gag.

[@LeeGee]

@@gomahklawm4446 Lots of things are still pickled, which makes the American use of the word "pickle" so strange. Picked paprika, melon, cauliflower, eggs....

[@AlexanderRay92]

Picking became popular because it is a way to preserve food, particularly vegetables through the winter, I believe. Traditionally, pickling was a form of lactofermentation, and you can still buy pickles in this style though most store-bought are pickled in vinegar instead. It is kind of weird that people use pickle as shorthand for pickled cucumber, though. My favorite is pickled carrot!

[@hannibalburgers477]

>Salt protects stuff >Makes meat dry faster and tastes good >Cover meat in salt >Works well >Cover fruit in salt >Doesnt work >Put fruit in water with salt You invented early vinegar You invented early pickles What is there to not understand nyukka

[@h.huffen-puff4105]

Thank you.

[@wlanvintigar]

Ours are growing wonderfully!!

[@NIkki-ox1ej]

This was my wedding flower !! 🌻

[@cnrsfilms]

I was wondering when you would mention the part where they became a prominent power source against a hoard of zombies.

[@Mujangga]

Le Professeur Tournesol lui-même serait fier de vous pour cet excellent vidéo.

[@Kevin_Street]

Thank you for this video! It explains why they have so many sunflowers in Ukraine.

[@josephschaumberg4136]

Wow cool plant

[@sarcasmo57]

Very interesting.

[@CoralReaper707]

How could you forget the most important piece? That piece being a sunflower singing "there's a zombie on your lawn".

[@joangordoneieio]

I grow the giant ones every summer to feed the birds with during winter. In New Mexico where I live the wild ones line the roads come August.

[@LoisThiessen]

An interesting fact about sunflowers is that the blooms turn to follow the sun throughout the day. If you look at a ripe sunflower head, you will see that the stalk is twisted as a result of this phenomenon.

[@Research0digo]

8:12 Yaaaay! :D Pennsylvania Dutch is actually Pennsylvania Deutch (German), though Menno Simmons did preach in the Netherlands. The gorgeous hand made carriage you see at 8:13 is most likely used by an Amish family, however.

[@dmitrimikrioukov5935]

Sunflower seeds are the most popular snack in Russia and sunflower oil is the most popular type of oil there.

[@yungsteaksauceakalilwasher6571]

Same here in Turkey

[@LeeGee]

Seeds are popular in Hungary but the oil is horrible

[@constantinethecataphract5949]

Seeds are popular in Greece too but we prefer olive oil

[@vaalor6829]

I'd say sunflower oil is THE oil in Russia. 95% of oil we use is sunflower oil. Olive oil is very expensive here and is used mostly for high-class stuff, mostly in restaraunts and by wealthy people, not by common folk. All other types of oil (corn, pumpkin, linseed, etc.) are very rare and consumed by only a few enthusiasts.

[@thespecialduck5030]

i love the food vids so much

[@DIYSolarandWind]

Awesome

[@bakedbean37]

For a few years, on a north facing wall here in the north of England, I had a perennial sunflower (I never knew this was a thing) growing out of a joint on a cast iron drainpipe about 8 feet up . It only ever saw the morning sun very fleetingly and even less of the evening sun and yet still it grew and managed to flower each year. Just. How on earth it ever got there will remain a mystery but I suspect dinosaurs were involved. Another remarkable specimen is one that I watched one year on the odd occasion that I passed growing in the gutter of an island just off a roundabout. I was absolutely delighted to see it actually survive and make it all the way through to fully flowering in such an incongruous location. Ain't nature amazing?

[@invisiblejaguar1]

Remind me of my childhood :-)

[@jessicajayes8326]

Love sunflower seeds, also love how sunflowers can absorb radiation.

[@andreyradchenko8200]

A good vid, but you missed one other use: the seeds are used as base ingredient one of, if not the most, popular variants of Central Asian dessert called 'kozinak'. It's pretty much just a mass of seeds stuck together in caramel or honey and dried to a solid state. It's very sweet, but sometimes hard to chew through.

[@roberttelarket4934]

I’ve always been terrified of these giants!

[@kathryncasey4114]

Boo ;-)

[@edwardgomez5616]

We have wild types of sunflower all around in N.C

[@hassanminbaghdad]

your voice is so beautiful

[@freehugs9223]

That is a big sunflower 🌻

[@dr.michaelr.foreman2170]

The tallest I have ever grown was 14 feet. However, this year, I am growing a much shorter sunflower - one meter tall.

[@theobserver9131]

I used to buy big bags of birdseed grade sunflower seeds to cast all over my yard, feed some birds and then the seeds the birds didn't find would grow. My yard was basically a field of sunflowers. I lived in a suburban residential area in Florida at the time, and most of America being members of the useless yard cult, hated my sunflowers. I also had gourds growing up my trees. My yard looked something like a Dr. Seuss fantasy land. I eventually got pushed out of that neighborhood. Mostly to my benefit I think. Poor brainwashed grass cult freaks. I am now living in rural Virginia, and people could not care less what I grow in my yard. Thank you for reminding me about wonderful sunflowers!

[@ryankiesow8440]

It's much better o turn the land back to native flowers and hardgrasses

[@ElicBehexan]

Gee... maybe I should go out back and cut some of my sunflower 'volunteers' and see what I can eat.

[@edwin5419]

Yet another thing I've discovered about my Mennonite ancestors. Super cool

[@allanrichardson9081]

I wonder if these tall, straight plants could have inspired the story of Jack and the beanstalk?

[@Lady_Chalk]

Sunflowers are my favorite. Unfortunately, the way my townhouse is angled, including the privacy fence in the back, I can not get enough sun for them. Oh and the HOA wouldn't want me growing them in the front yard.

[@nickeichstaedt9379]

I believe it

[@maggiegarber246]

Well, I like this video. I am a Kansan, from The Sunflower State.

[@ethanmcdonald5899]

I have some out back around 13-15ft

[@TheBuilder]

now that you explain it, it seems very believable

[@sidilicious11]

30 feet! I can’t even!🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

[@MagdaleneDivine]

Who knew. I never ever thought about sunflower having history. It's my favorite perfume tho

[@RealBradMiller]

Thirty feet and an inch?!? That's crazy!! I wonder how it was supported.

[@yellowcatmonkey]

whoa😮not even once was eating seeds mentioned..or i might have missed it😸as a russian citizen i can tell you that every grocery store here has them on shelves with the other snacks like chips/croutons usually or beside nuts. they're eaten roasted with salt right in their husks-shells and sold in bags same as potato chips. many russians eat them husking them like squirrels either with their mouths' help (gradually shaping their teeth in the process) or just using hands(less common)😸

[@TedJohnson85]

and more....!

[@tribudeuno]

China’s most famous contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei, has spoken about the sunflower’s importance in China. It was used by Chairman Mao for propaganda in posters for the flower following the sun in its daily arc, with Mao represented as the sun that the people should follow. Ai Weiwei speaks of sunflower seeds being used as a staple during the Cultural Revolution when famine of other crops were not available. He said that people would always have a pocket full of sunflower seeds, and pull them out to share with a friend while in conversation. He said that many Chinese have a chipped front tooth from biting the seed to crack it. During the last decade, one of Ai Weiwei’s major art works was to have artisans of China’s porcelain industry to make like 100,000,000 porcelain sunflower seeds, each hand painted, flying them to England and depositing them as an art installation in a huge hall of the Tate Museum…

[@greenoftreeblackofblue6625]

Love food lore.

[@markkallstrom5672]

Kallstrom Sweet Corn , For the first time in 2022 , Im growing 55 acres of sunflowers , here in Ephrata , Washington . U.S.A.

[@jacoballred]

Just remembering baseball games eating sunflower seeds and hot dogs.

[@gerrimilner9448]

i have eaten sunflower seeds since i was little this was considered odd as they were only available in shops run my non naitives, at the time, these days most supermarkets sell them. its a good few days since i ate just seeds, but i used sunflower oil to cook diner last night (its 7am)

[@tonyleukering8832]

There are many species of sunflower, some of which are shown despite NOT being the cultivated species.

[@rogerknights857]

I just bought an eleven-inch diameter metal sunflower from Amazon and attached it to my porch pillar to cheer up passersby.