Kentuck Company Offers Free Sunflower Seeds

Fri., Sept. 12, 1997

By Susan English susane@spokesman.com

We’ve admired the giant sunflowers at the Spokane Interstate Fair and decided it’s painless enough to try to grow our own big flowers next summer.

Toward that effort, we are giving seeds from Sunflower Farm a try. The Kentucky firm promises its seeds are an old variety of sunflower that grows 8 to 20 feet tall and produces huge heads.

And best yet,the firm is offering a free trial packet of 10 to 12 seeds.

To get your own free seeds, send a long self-addressed envelope with two stamps on it to Sunflower Farm, P.O. Box 629, Burgin, KY 40310. Additional packets are a buck each.

Need some advice?

The new “Old Farmer’s Almanac” is out and filled with facts, figures and predictions. The Almanac editors claim it’s been published for 206 years, and the 1998 updates include fashion predictions (stiletto heels are hot, although we’re not certain how that fashion statement fits in on the farm) and home news (use green for decorating this year).

The 1998 “Old Farmer’s Almanac” is $3.99 and widely available ($4.95 for a bookstore version with 64 additional pages).

Drip, drip, drip

Anyone with a vehicle that drips oil constantly searches for a product to either clean up or soak up the oil so it doesn’t get tracked from the driveway into the house.

A California company is offering a new mat - Abzorb Oil Mat - made from the same material used to clean up offshore oil spills.

The company - PCI Products - claims the 3-by-3-foot mat ($15.95) absorbs a quart of oil, and the 3-by-5-foot mat ($19.95) absorbs a gallon. There’s $4 shipping for either mat.

For information or to order a mat: PCI, 4195 Chino Hills Parkway, No. 360, Chino Hills, CA 91709; (800) 8699633.

Kudos to the gardeners

Two local garden clubs walked away with awards from the 62nd Gardeners of America national convention held in Spokane in late July.

The Gardeners of Cheney were honored for the best Class B Newsletter (51-100 members) and also received the Outstanding Youth Gardening Award.

The Gardeners of Spokane won the Class A (100 or more members) Newsletter Journalism Award.

While we’re in the garden

Mark your calendars with “A Garden Affair” Sept. 27 and 28 at CenterPoint, 1408 N. Washington. The annual event includes seminars, educational displays, youth contests and a fall flower show titled “An English Garden Setting.” Admission will be $3, which will benefit the SCC Horticulture Scholarship Fund.

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