I will trade purple and white Datura seeds or check out my trade list for more! Let me know @ defrancoluv2ryd@msn.com . Thanks, Christine

Thanks much for this, Dave. I just seeded another flower bed yesterday and have been thinking seriously about bird netting. I'd have to find some way of holding it a few inches off the ground, yes? What do you think about laying a frost blanket down over the soil? Presumably I could lay that right on the surface. Then I'd peek underneath in a week or two and if anything has started to germinate, then remove it. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping to be surprised, but five weeks is a long time. It seems that most seed-gardeners don't typically have this problem. I guess my question is: why here in my gardens and (mostly) not elsewhere? I certainly have many birds nearby (I'm guessing it's either the sparrows or finches), but everyone has birds. I'm trying to figure out what it is in my particular environment and context that would cause my garden seed-beds to be attacked by birds in March and April (I'm in Boston) compared to seedbeds that don't get devoured? Is there some predisposing factor that I need to consider?

I just learned that there are quite a few nectar drinking birds. I noticed on my blooming Cape Honeysuckles, several different birds seriously sipping away.

The most common type of common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) for micro greens is oilseed sunflower used for making sunflower oil. The seeds are also used as bird feed since they are meatier and have a higher oil content, giving birds more nutrition. Seeds of all varieties of Helianthus annuus are edible to humans.