Sprouting unexpectedly

I used to sprout mixtures of seeds (alfalfa, clover, radish, fenugreek, etc.) for salad and sandwiches, and also the heftier mung beans for Asian recipes, in jars with wire mesh lids. For some reason, I gradually stopped sprouting the smaller seeds – and I have no idea why – and I eventually made dahl out of the mung beans.

Sunflower seeds were something I never thought about sprouting, but I did have a nice handful of sunflower sprouts the other day, thanks to...

these little stinkers. 

It seems they do not always take the sunflower seeds they have stuffed in their cheek pouches back to their burrows.

No indeed.

They bury the seeds. In this case, one of them buried the seeds in the lovely topsoil Richard spread to fill in the gaps behind his new decorative wall, right where I planted some tomatoes (which got a late start and are not very far along)...

 and the subsequent watering I gave the tomatoes caused the seeds to sprout.

Richard noticed them sprouting and so I pulled them up carefully and put them in a bowl with the tomatoes from the whiskey barrel garden

 and a drizzle of balsamic. Very tasty too.

I have had always had a hunch that at least some of the sunflower seeds they take away were being wasted. And I wasn’t wrong. But, they are so cute and provide so much entertainment – especially when two of them accidentally meet at the feeding station – that I don’t mind too much. Especially if I get something good to eat in the bargain.