Ingredients:

1 seed packet 12-foot ‘Russian Mammoth’ sunflowers
1 seed packet 6-8 foot ‘Joker’, ‘Valentine’, and/or ‘Velvet Queen’ sunflowers
1 seed packet 1-to 3-foot ‘Big Smile’, ‘Elf’, and/or ‘Teddy Bear’ sunflowers
1 seed packet ‘Heavenly Blue’ morning glories
1 seed packet ‘Suyo Long’ cucumbers (optional)
1 seed packet ‘Purple Peacock’ or ‘Rattlesnake’ pole bean (optional)

Equipment:

2 40-pound bags of organic compost or aged manure
1 roll of twine
One bale of straw or 3 bags of bark mulch (optional)

Breaking Ground
Select a nice flat area in full sun. Outline the area to be planted, which should be a square or rectangle bed any size from as small as 5*5 to as big as 14*14. Following the outline, loosen the soil with a digging fork leaving a 2-foot entrance at the south end. Add compost generously and fork compost into top 10” of the outlined bed. Smooth bed to an even surface and plant seeds. The sunflowers need about one foot between plantings, while the climbing vines and small sunflowers can be sown in between the sunflower seeds. Plant all seeds twice the depth of the seed in spring after the danger of frost has passed. Water gently but generously and keep moist until the plants are well established. One can pre-soak the seeds the night before in water to aid germination. For optimal growth, feed your plants every few weeks with a half-strength blend of liquid kelp and fish emulsion. Once the plants are about a foot tall, feed every four weeks with a full-strength organic fertilizer.
Mulching the inside area with shredded bark or straw can create a nice safe play surface. The children can turn the area into a kitchen by making dishes and utensils from acorns, walnut shells, milkweed pods, and bamboo. Use large tree stumps for tables and smaller ones for sitting stools.
If the sunflowers need extra support, drive a few bamboo stakes in the ground and tie the plants to them. Once the morning glories reach the top of the sunflower stalks, loosely tie a length of twine just below the head of the tallest sunflowers. Carry the lengths of twine across the house and tie them under the heads of the sunflowers on the opposite side. The morning glories will climb across the twine making a roof to close in this sacred space for children to observe and discover. Cut lots of bouquets as cutting stimulates more growth and more flowers. Enjoy the wonder and beauty!

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