There’s a reason we feed our black sunflower seed whole.
Some of it we grow here at Lower Blakemere Farm. The rest we buy direct from our farmer mate Michael.
And every black sunflower seed we use is UK grown and bought direct from the farm.
We harvest it, clean it and leave the husk on.
That’s it.
Finches and other seed-eating birds are brilliantly designed to deal with the rest. They pick up the seed, crack the husk and eat the oil-rich kernel inside.
Black sunflower is particularly good for this because its husk is thinner than traditional striped sunflower, making it easier for birds such as finches and tits to open.
And inside is a naturally high-energy food, rich in oils and protein.
SO WHY NOT TAKE THE HUSK OFF?
Sunflower hearts are good bird food. There’s no argument about that.
They’re easy for birds to eat, they suit birds such as Robins and Blackbirds that can't easily open whole sunflower seeds, and they leave less mess underneath the feeder.
But they have also gone through another stage of processing — the seed has to be dehusked before it reaches your feeder.
And in Britain, sunflower hearts are commonly imported. Some come from European countries such as Bulgaria and France, while sunflower hearts in the wider market can travel considerably further. A huge amount come in from China.
Meanwhile our whole black sunflower has been grown on a British farm.
Farm → seed → feeder → bird.
We spend plenty of time talking about ultra-processed food for ourselves.
We're not suggesting sunflower hearts are “ultra-processed” — they're not.
But the same thought applies:
Why process a perfectly good food more than you need to?
A finch doesn't need us to take the husk off.
It already has the equipment.
THE BIRD DOES THE DEHUSKING. NOT A FACTORY.
And there's another reason we like it.
Buying our sunflower this way means we know where it came from.
100% UK-grown black sunflower.
Bought direct from the farm.
No anonymous commodity seed.
No unnecessary processing.
No unnecessary trip around the world.
Just a really good seed, grown by British farmers and fed to British garden birds.
It won't suit absolutely every bird and we're not going to pretend that it does.
But for finches, tits and the other birds equipped to crack sunflower seed, we think there's something rather wonderful about leaving them to do exactly what birds have evolved to do.
Grow it. Harvest it. Clean it. Feed it.
Then let the bird do the rest.
