Astonishing Sunflower Pin Cushion

 It's hard to imagine sunflowers as an unpopular plant. I think most people love them, none more than Cindy T..She sewed up this darling sunflower pin cushion with matching sissors holder...Although one can see it, Cindy attached the sunflower pin cushion to a spring from a beds boxed springs..

I found this very interesting, so am sharing...Native Americans in the U.S. have been using wild sunflower for food and medicine for at least 8,000 years. Archeological evidence suggests that Native Americans began cultivating and improving the sunflower as early as 2300 B.C. Thus, sunflower cultivation may predate cultivation of the "Three Sisters" of corn, beans and squash. The seeds of sunflower were usually roasted and ground into a fine meal for baking or used to thicken soups and stews. "Seed-balls", similar to peanut butter, made from sunflower butter made a convenient carry-along food for traveling. Roasted sunflower hulls were steeped in boiling water to make a coffee-like beverage. Dye was extracted from hulls and petals. Face paint was made from dried petals and pollen. Oil, extracted from the ground seeds by boiling, provided many tribes with cooking oil and hair treatment. Medicinal uses included everything from wart removal to snake bite treatment to sunstroke treatment.

Hope all enjoy this little history lesson..The Ol'Blogger