Earth Pathways Showcase

My son and I harvest sunflowers, in the light of a warm, September afternoon. Excited by the layers of treasure nature provides from this beautiful flower we planted in the springtime. The cycles of the seasons, held within our hands as we gently lift the future seeds for next years glory safely into a tissue.

“Wow, I think my sunflowers have grown again”, exclaimed the enthusiastic toddlers voice every day he was greeted by the majestic golden faces in our garden. Bees danced around them with joy and stopped to nestle among the pollen heavy heads. As we watched them every day, it was clear to see that bees loved them as much as we did.

So the wheel of nature brings us around to autumn and it is time for the birds to enjoy the bounty. The abundance of sunflower heads are now food to carry them through the colder months. We weave flower heads into branches in the Damson tree, where we have seen a family of blue-tits visiting through the year since fledging.

My son takes some individual seeds and places them with great care, into an old spiders web between branches of a small fir tree, just about his height. Backwards and forwards for more seeds, one at a time, he talks about how happy the birds will be to eat all of the delicious seeds and I smile at the beauty and generosity I witness, both within future generations and from Mother Nature herself.

Plant Sunflowers © Lucy Quinnell 2014