Golden oasis: Sunflowers soak up the summer sunshine

Facing the sun with their petals outstretched in a golden halo, the sunflower is worthy of its bright moniker.

And just as the flowers follow the sun, many farmers are following a blooming sunflower agritourism trend in Virginia.

Although sunflowers aren’t a major commodity in the commonwealth, several farms have begun cultivating them to diversify their operations and increase agritourism opportunities. Some harvest the flowers for their seeds while others open their sunflower fields for picturesque photo backdrops, botanical mazes and cut-your-own experiences.

Bridging the seasons with sunflowers

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY ALICE KEMP

When you hear the name Chesterfield Berry Farm, sunflowers probably aren’t what come to mind.

But when traveling down the farm’s winding dirt roads in midsummer, you’ll be captivated by 15 to 20 acres of brilliant sunflowers presenting a stunning sea of yellow.

“We were looking for something to come in after strawberry season,” explained Aaron Goode, the farm’s owner.

A local spot favored for U-pick strawberries during the spring and a fall pumpkin patch, the farm diversified into sunflowers to expand its summer attractions alongside seasonal sweet corn. This is the third year Goode has cultivated sunflowers, and visitors can browse vast rows of varying heights and colors, from garnet-red Velvet Queen to funky, almost fuzzy Goldy Honey Bears. Bicolored sunflowers, reminiscent of a sunset with deep orange petals tipped in gold, add to the striking scenery.

“We plant about 15 different varieties,” Goode said. “We have branching varieties with multiple blooms and then the single stems with one big bloom.”

Props interspersed throughout the blossoms complete the picture-perfect setting for family photos and selfies.

And visitors don’t leave emptyhanded after capturing their new memories.

“We give them shears, and we have a water station,” Goode said. After customers cut their perfect blooms, “they put flowers in a bag in a cup, and we tie it up for them.”

To ensure a lasting experience for the farm’s few thousand visitors, Goode makes two plantings—one in early spring so flowers are ready midJuly, and another during summer to coincide with the bustling pumpkin season. The sunflowers thrive in

Virginia’s heat and the farm’s welldraining sandy loam soil, Goode said.

While the fields were planted with customers in mind, they aren’t the only ones attracted to the yellow blooms.

“The honeybees love them,” Goode said. “They get something out of them too. There are a lot of bees in the fields, but they don’t bother you.”

Goode doesn’t harvest the sunflowers for seeds, but those remaining don’t go to waste. Once they’ve passed their peak, wildlife takes over. Birds, squirrels and other creatures enjoy feasting on the seeds and stems before the fields are cleared, readying the ground for the next planting.

Sunflower spectacle draws thousands to Beaver Dam Farm

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY NICOLE ZEMA

Earth dwellers craving an otherworldly farm experience can find it when exploring the towering rows of 600,000 densely packed sunflowers at Beaver Dam Farm. It’s transformed into a 20-acre planet of blazing yellow blooms and airspace buzzing with pollinators.

Sun-drenched blossoms form an endless horizon line on the Botetourt County farm, at times obscuring the familiar view of earth.

Beaver Dam hosts the largest sunflower festival and vendor show on the East Coast, scheduled for Sept. 8-17 this year. Up to 20,000 visitors—they’ve come from 35 states—orbit the vast fields every summer and fall.

The mission is overseen by Candace Monaghan, a fourth-generation farmer with a dairy background.

As the dairy industry started to decline in Virginia, farmers were forced to sell out or diversify operations, so Monaghan’s family switched to raising beef cattle.

On a whim, they planted black oil sunflowers in an empty field in 2015.

“My father, Preston, always liked sunflowers, and wanted to see if they grew well,” she recalled. “They did grow, and a few people stopped to take photos and ask if they could pick a few to take home.”

She proposed establishing an annual sunflower festival, but Preston was apprehensive.

“He wasn’t thrilled about the idea of lots of people walking through the fields, but then he agreed to give it a try,” she said.

Monaghan promoted the one-day event through social and local media. They expected 300 visitors; about 1,600 showed up.

The event eventually evolved into a

10-day festival. Over 120 vendors sell handcrafted goods and treats. Guests can lose themselves in the rows of color, stopping for selfies at quirky photo stations. The festival also features wagon rides, a farm animal petting area, live music and catered sunset dinners.

“One of my favorite parts is watching everyone’s faces when they enter the gates and see all 600,000 sunflowers for the first time,” Monaghan said.

From planting to bloom is only an eight-week time frame.

“While they grow quickly, they also do not last long at all,” she explained. “Once the flower blooms it only lasts a short 10 to 14 days before it has wilted. Some years we will get enough rain to make the flowers grow, and some years they may be stunted because of lack of rain.”

Nothing is wasted. When the sunflower moisture content drops, a combine is used to harvest the seeds that are stored, transported and cleaned before being bagged for birdseed.

Sunflowers pack nourishment from petal to root

There are about 70 species of sunflowers, according to the Farmers’ Almanac, often incorporated into the diets of people and livestock.

Sunflowers are used for birdseed, but most are processed into oil. The green stalks are chopped into silage and used as cattle feed.

The seeds contain calcium, phosphorus, a host of vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids.

To collect seeds before the critters, cover the ripening sunflower head with a loose-fitting paper bag. They are ready for harvest when the petals wilt and seeds turn brown.

Eat seeds raw or roast them in a single layer on a cookie sheet in a 300˚ oven for 30 or 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. For extra flavor, add a teaspoon of melted butter to a cup of seeds with your favorite seasoning.

Sunflower petals are edible, used in salads or as a garnish. Leafy parts can be eaten raw or sautéed, baked into chips or steeped for tea. The celery-like stalks are a crunchy dipping snack.

Sunflower sprouts or shoots add a fresh, nutty flavor in salads and sandwiches.