Sunflowers

Sunflower seeds seem like an unlikely cornerstone upon which to establish a food culture, but they have the capacity to make a big impact.

The Chinese dissident artist’s sunflower installation at the Tate Modern will have a NY version at the Mary Boone Gallery starting this Sat, Jan 7.

In February 1996, Phytotech, Inc., a Princeton, NJ-based company, reported that it had developed transgenic strains of sunflowers, Helianthus sp., that could remove as much as 95% of toxic contaminants in as little as 24 hours. Subsequently, Helianthus was planted on a styrofoam raft at one end of a contaminated pond near Chernobyl, and in twelve days the cesium concentrations within its roots were reportedly 8,000 times that of the water, while the strontium concentrations were 2,000 times that of the water.

Helianthus is in the composite, or Asteraceae, family and has edible seeds. It also produces an oil that is used for cooking, in margarine, and as a paint additive. H. tuberosus was used by Native Americans as a carbohydrate source for diabetics.

A Buddhist monk is spearheading a campaign to plant thousands of sunflowers to extract radioactive cesium from the soil around Fukushima — and lift the spirits of local residents.

This year the Information Point for Centronuclear and Myotubular Myopathy is celebrating its 10th birthday and as a way of marking the occasion, we are asking people to grow a sunflower.

Why a sunflower?

Sunflowers have been prominent in the design of our website for some time now. They were chosen for the cheery and positive outlook they convey, growing to such dizzy heights, as if they are on a mission to touch the sky and nothing can hold them back. 

So, if we planted vacant lots with sunflowers, what could we do with all those sunflower seeds? Aside from educational value as a school project, the biofuel yield hardly makes that a smart choice.

What about making and marketing Mountainair's Own Sunflower Butter?

Cinnamon Sunflower Butter is pretty much the greatest thing since, well, uh… Peanut Butter. It’s delicious on toast and spread onto apples or bananas. Or you can eat it the Klassy way, like me, and stand over the sink eating it off a spoon. It's a fabulous way to change up your favorite recipes that use peanut butter

from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen

We’ve featured a lot of Sanderson’s 1950s designs (mentioning another one only the other day), but we haven’t given as much attention to their later designs such as the Palladio Sunflower Wallpaper.