Cold nights

Proper frost.  Not the first.  We got a squash-killing frost Sep 30.The outdoor sunflowers are finished.  They didn't tip over like the GH sunnies, growing strong stems from living outside.  I spread them out on top of the wood stove (hmm, it's cold and I could stand to start a fire but now I can't), because if I spread them out on the floor again, then...Dum dum dadum. Here come(s) the mice!(bride).I experimented with ripping the backs off the heads, since there's kind of a hollow stem and air pocket.  My theory is that less organic matter to get soft and mouldy means faster drying seeds. My entire take of homegrown sunflower seeds this year will be approximately one day's wild bird ration.  I feed the birds 7 bags of black oil seeds in the winter.  That's a fair chunk of Saskatchewan sunflower field.  I want to get good at growing them - lots of them, but so far am bad at it.  I love the fractal quality of the seed heads.  Magical.OMG, peanuts!  They look like real little peanuts.  I couldn't wait to open them.  Inside they're jammed in like peas, the pod is soft and wet, and they taste not much like a peanut.  They taste like a raw bean.  Fun preliminary success with the experiment of the year.  I think they'll be much happier in the greenhouse next year.I think this cold spell might have put paid to the fruit flies too (calloo, callay!).