The Story of Riistavesi 2022 Giant Sunflowers

If you happened to visit Riistavesi, a small village located in the Eastern Finland with a bit more than 2000 inhabitants, you might have noticed something out of ordinary this summer. In the middle of the village next to a small historic hut important for the villagers, on a field owned by the resident association Riistavesi-seura, you couldn’t get away without noticing these sunflowers larger more than double the size of an average person.

The sunflower field originated from the idea to show compassion to the people affected by the events in Ukraine. Typical for growing giant vegetables is to cherish only couple in your own garden, but due to a high demand for giant sunflower seeds, it was more interesting to grow them on a larger area. Mikko Utriainen, the father of the idea, doubted starting a field in his own garden, and ended up suggesting collaboration to Riistavesi-seura, where the idea was received enthusiastically.

The seeds were sown during the month of May, and 300 saplings were planted in the beginning of June. The soil of the field is old farmland known for its abilities to retains moisture, which was perfect for the sunflowers. The soil was cultivated, fertilized and maintained by volunteers from Riistavesi-seura and the village community.

The crops were harvested during the period from August to September and the largest flower was entered to the annual Giant Vegetable National Championship 2022 organized by the Finnish Association of Giant Vegetables, Jattikasviyhdistys. The largest flower won the contest with a diameter of 44.5cm and the tallest stemmed flower was placed the fourth with height 451cm.

Farming is not easy in Finland due to the uncertain weather conditions and short growing season. According to Mikko Utriainen, last summer was ideal for the giant sunflowers due to optimal rainfall, in the end, the field was only irrigated one time the whole summer. Mikko Utriainen lists some advice for the following season, including earlier sow even in the beginning of April, so that more seeds could be collected in the end. On the other hand, timing the best grow in July and August would then be more challenging and the flowers wouldn’t become so tall, Utriainen doubts.

In December 2022, the seeds are being distributed in Riistavesi for the villagers, and sold in Maastricht, The Netherlands, to collect money to support Ukraine. Mikko Utriainen hopes that people in Riistavesi and everywhere else would grow even larger flowers from these seeds and would participate in Giant Vegetable Championships in 2023.

02/07/2022

13/07/2022