The Birds Are Back - Saving Money with 50 Pounds of Corn

Norma Boeckler mentioned how many sunflower seeds her birds had eaten already. I figured correctly that our birds would be hungrier once the cold weather arrived. But this is hardly winter. We have morning frosts that melt away, supposed snow that melted on arrival - never saw it. The days are sunny and warm with  brilliant blue skies.

However, the hard frosts have killed off the insects that move, cutting back on the menu for birds. I work across the street from a seed and feed shop, where the prices are far lower than a hardware store's, with greater variety.

I will buy a bag of corn ears for when our grandchildren will stop by. It is fun to see a squirrel sitting at his chair and eating his corn. In fact, when I stopped filling them last summer, empty cobs were carefully laid out where I would see them, near the regular bird feeders, not at the foot of the tree. That made me laugh, but not hard enough to spend $7 for a bag of corn ears.

That ends up being the price of 50 pounds of corn. I wanted that for two reasons:

1. Squirrels are going to fill up on sunflower seeds if they have no corn.
2. Bluejays really enjoy corn kernals, and I like bluejays.

I was spreading around corn and getting limited attention from the birds. I bought a large bag of black oil sunflower seeds and generously spread them around the Jackson Bird Paradise and the feeders near the house. I also spread some Walmart peanut butter on a metal holder.

The sunflower seeds were ankle deep (for a bird) in the hanging platform. The sun was out and the birds arrived.

• First five goldfinches sat there eating away, very happy. A house finch joined them.
• Second, a chickadee or two landed on the platform. Some birds began to line up on the Jackson EZ Bird Swing.
• Third, a woodpecker also stopped by for food.

Last summer I found some attractive, slender stumps to plant in the Jackson Bird Spa area. The stumps provide a four-season place for feeding, since birds and squirrels feel more safe when they have a perch. They also photograph better.

Each day I put corn or sunflower seeds on the stumps. I will add peanut butter today.

That Spa expanded into the Paradise, which normally includes a large platform for feeding, several baths, and the potential for nests in the blocks holding up the clear plastic platform. I needed to move all the baths to the back half of the backyard, because all the cardboard was threatening to blow away in the wind. Now the cardboard is quite soggy, so the danger has passed.

The suet is old but still being eaten. When I get near the meat market again, I will buy a few pounds of suet to share with the birds. Suet is perhaps the cheapest food of all, because a pound goes a long way and is loved by all insect-eating birds.

Planting the Blackberries

Sassy and I took our morning walk, and it was cool and breezy, ideal for planting. When I get help with the blueberries later today, it will be very hot and humid, but in the shade.

Every time I start digging, I think of the Russian tale, How Much Land Does a Man Need? He gets to walk around the perimeter to earn free land, but he over-reaches and dies from trying to get back to the starting point.

I had gallon pots of blackberries, the ones coming out of every window of the Ichaboat, so I only needed six of them.

One of the most pleasant occupations is re-arranging a little of God's Creation to have a new effect. I had plants galore in the back, including a vine with unusual growth, ampelopsis I think - not poison ivy. The vine is subtle. From a narrow stem it reaches up for sunlight and spreads in every direction. I snipped that initial feeder and the whole vine began wilting. False doctrine is like that - find the weakness and everything dies with it, but the seeds spring up later to try again.

The idea is to have a solid green fence that also bears fruit.

I planted a Beautyberry near the original Jackson Bird Spa.I am building up bird and insect friendly plantings near the spa.

The rain kept the baths full for a time, and they were really dirty. The Community Pool was used by starlings - even on rainy days. They gave back some of the seed and suet they have been eating, and I fertilized and watered the sunflowers they will soon be eating from.

The abundance of stored rainwater means I could give favored plants a boost. The wilted big store plant recovered right away with rainwater.

I soak plants before digging them in, if I have time. Otherwise I add rainwater afterwards.

A reader sent me a story about water for birds in the hot weather. They showed a typical bird bath, really just a sipping bowl. I have 12 of those - very useful. The two community pools are appreciated more. The birds like to get plenty of water around their feathers, wash the grit off, and shake dry. Then they preen in a private location up in the trees or on the fence.

Birds take dust baths, whether to eliminate bugs or - who knows. I have seen groups of birds getting their baths in the dry ground. There are little clouds of dust. If all the birds do this, that would explain the amount of soil at the bottom of the pool.

Rustic Fence Has Birds Lining Up for Their Baths in the Community Pools

This is the famous Yale fence, where undergraduate men gathered."The tradition of the Fence began in 1833, when the picket fence fronting the Old Brick Row was replaced by a rail fence on which one could comfortably lean or perch. 
It soon attracted students in great numbers
for the sharing of news and idle chatter."

I was pleased to see the birds take to the rustic fence in the backyard. The cardinal was using it, even balancing on the wobbly upright branch, before we built it across the yard.

The fence consists of the dead tree we cut up and the young tree our helper cut down. The branches from the young tree are still attached, and so are the leaves. It was growing into the house's foundations, so it was better to cut it, tree huggers. Our helper dragged it a block.

More rustic and a lot less weedy than this one.

I learned in Midland that birds will gather on branches near the ground. We had a large pile near the curb, for bulk pickup. The truck did not come for some time, but the birds sat there chattering like the happiest critters on earth, oblivious to car traffic.

We used to gather discarded Christmas trees and toss them in the snow near the compost bin in Midland. Birds like extra protection and warmth. I bought garbage bags of popcorn after a local event and kept it for the birds. Soon we had a choir of birds singing praise whenever I entered the backyard.
We had very heavy snowfall right after I cornered the market on popcorn.

The intensity of color in the sunlight cannot be captured in a photo.

Birds on the Fence
Why do the birds not stay up in the trees? some are asking. The birds like a low perch that gives them a good view of the insect life in the grass. In our yard that also includes a view of various food sources, 12 bird baths and 2 community pools. They overlook sunflowers ripening, mulched beds teeming with life, seeds, nuts, suet, and fruit.

Casual observation shows that the contented chirping of birds will bring more species to the same pile of brush. A little bit of preparation yields a lot of benefits.

Today we had three starlings splashing in the first community pool. They like to push their wings under the water and let the water flow across their bodies. They splash around together and get plenty of bathing time.

I do everything possible to enhance bird food, bathing, and shelter. They reward us with a constant show. The platform feeder, finch feeder, and Jackson EZ Bird Swing create a constant display of birds and squirrels eating, swinging, and trying to establish dominance, just outside our window.

Opening the back door or back gate means seeing 20 birds launch into the air at once. If I stay outside a few minutes, some of them come back to be the first at one of the feeders. I often see a goldfinch, cardinal, or robin from a short distance away.

Mutual Help
Helping one group of animals will also nurture another. Plants for butterflies and hummingbirds will also feed the bees, who really feed everyone.

Logs for birds will shelter toads and generate more critter life for everyone by rotting into the soil.

Leaf litter for the soil is also a blanket for beneficial insects throughout the winter. When the warmth and rain of spring end the leaf litter, the hatching and emergence of immature insects feed the birds.

Compost builds the earthworm population, because building and spreading it means distributing the earthworm egg capsules as one singular bonus.

Compost also builds beneficial soil life by nurturing the bacteria, fungus, and soil creatures that battle and feed while capturing nutrition for the top 12 inches of soil where the plants and trees feed.

Variety in plant life means more creatures can live in the yard. Butterflies favor certain plants, such as the Swallowtail on the parsley, the Monarch on the Milkweed and Butterfly Weed. Various bloom times not only keep the bees fed, but the kinds of blooms attract a variety of wild bees, which are far more varied than just the bumble bee and honey bee.

The often despised weeds are intermediaries in many ways. Tap roots bring calcium up to the surface - usable calcium, unlike crushed egg shells. The entire gardening world wants to crush eggs shells for the soil, but they do help birds and earthworms, just not the soil directly.

Weeds also provide a constant supply of pollen, nectar, and seeds for bees and birds.

Leaf litter and dried grass are building materials for bird nests, as well as building blocks for healthy soil.

Radish seed pods are mild with that typical radish flavor.

Radishes germinate fast and help the gardener with planter's remorse -
"My plants will never emerge. Oh, there are the radishes. I have hope again."

A Cardinal Tweeted Me Today

Today I went out to the backyard to check on food and water supplies. I had an extra kiddie pool in the wild garden, but it was too deep - as is - to use for birds. I kept water in it so the pool would not fly away in a storm, but the water showed it was not used. I did not even see the mud that would suggest a raccoon cleansing his food.

I grabbed a Cutco knife and cut the entire pool, to make the sides half as tall. The birds have loved this at the Community Pool. Today two starlings were splashing around and having a great time. The pool is always filthy with bird dust and short on water, and I check it twice a day. Catching the birds having fun, looking from the bedroom window, is quite entertaining. Often I see birds flying straight toward me to reach the bird swing, the platform feeder, or the finch feeder.

I was filling the new pool at the Jackson Bird Spa when a cardinal showed up, only 10 feet away, watching me.

Male cardinals are very shy and often bathe far in the background. They let females eat first to see if the coast is clear. Having a male cardinal so close is a genuine thrill, because of the trust and the beauty of the bird.

He kept looking at me and tweeting. All the birds know that there will be fresh water and food when I leave the backyard, especially fresh water. The cardinal came down from his roost nearby in the tree, next to the spa, where I was, and landed on the new rustic fence, which we fashioned out of the dead tree. He tried one branch sticking up, then another.

I finished filling up the new pool, set up watering in the Jackson Aqueduct, and went inside. I left the spa the same, except for the new pool. Birds are very suspicious of changes. I will move the shallow pans around the yard, under the aqueduct, to allow more places for birds to bathe or toads to hydrate.

Cardinals decorate the greys and whites of winter,
and they seem quite droll when they eat their seeds so easily.

Nurturing cardinals in the summer
means enjoying them all winter.

Creature Convention Center - A Big Hit with the Birds and Mrs. Ichabod

"You feed them?"

My wife Chris (aka Mrs. Ichabod) was amused by my plans for Creature Convention Center. When the first version tumbled down, I said, "My dreams were too small!" (Notre Dame reference)

I realized the soft ground argued against vertical height, and the birds did not need a skyscraper. Why, we have new building in the area that is prit-near seven storeys high.

I used two sheets of plastic, 60" by 30", separated by concrete blocks from Mrs. Wright's yard. This gives us three levels, many nooks and crannies, and plenty of space on top for food and water. The middle layer is more protected from rain, which really mattered last week. Our extra storm alone gave us 3 more inches of rain and turned the soggy yard into a rice paddy.

I had to re-position version 2 of the CCC, because it was too close to the house to observe from the bedroom window. Now the Jackson Bird Spa and the CCC are linked by a mulched lane, where the first version tumbled down.

The view out the bedroom window is now:

• A bird feeder for finches and chicadees, a few inches away, on the right.
• Jackson EZ Bird Swing, just to the left of the feeder, a little above eye level.
• Hanging platform for food, to the left of the swing.
• CCC - down below, next to the Butterfly Bush.
• Jackson Bird Spa - the mulched area just beyond the CCC, between the trees. Ten bird baths.
• Pounds of suet hang everywhere. Seed everywhere. Plenty of food in the mulch.

The birds were quite wary of the bird swing, for several weeks. I expected that. They adopted the feeding platform and CCC immediately, perhaps because they already felt safe in the general area, well fed and watered.

The platform and swing give birds a high, safe view of the yard. They need the view to watch for danger and to spot critters in the soil. The goldfinch that landed at my feet was working the soil for a long time. That is what gives the birds that interesting look as they turn their heads left and right to scan for food.

The squirrels use the platform, CCC, and window ledge for food. Instead of eating all the food, which will happen in one small feeder made up of sunflower seeds, the squirrels hop around, feed, and let the next group take over for a time. The birds often eat around the squirrels, a short distance away.

The Results Are In

Mrs. Ichabod now realizes there was method in my madness (Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2 - for those who went to a WELS school). 

We have constant entertainment to watch through the window and the cheerful sounds of birds (except for the scratchy squeaky grackles). Their noise attract more birds, and they all take turns.

When the sun sets, the animated shadows play on the wall behind my computer. I can watch the birds in silhouette as I pretend to work.

In a big rainstorm, a baby squirrel will sit on the window ledge, oblivious to us. Squirrels are smart alecs - they know the power of window security).  He holds his damp little parasol tail over his head as he eats the sunflower seeds and corn left there. The birds do not like to land on a slant, so that is his alone. The big squirrels avoid the ledge too.

Of course, I did all this for the grandchildren. That is one great advantage of being a grandparent. I can have fun in my second childhood because I get to see the world again through the eyes of a child.

Mrs. Ichabod said, "How can anyone glance at a garden and remain an atheist?"

Luther saw birds as God's professors, because they wake up every morning singing cheerfully, not even knowing where the next meal is coming from. Having nothing to eat, they praise God first.

Very few of them store food. Blue jays store acorns, but they actually create oak forests by "hiding" the acorns that are most promising for germination - better than smart scientists can. Squirrels also aid in the spread of the trees they need and enjoy.

But birds start out each day hungry, listening to their hatchlings chirping for food. Without complaint, the birds fly off to work and return with worms, grubs, and insects for their scrawny babies.

We watched blue jays out of our Bella Vista window, growing from naked and skinny to fluttering their baby wings, to gone. The parents never attacked me when I got near the nest, because I was dropping off piles of sunflower seeds for mom and dad. Instead the parents watched me approach the bush where the family lived, dump the seeds, and depart. I never heard a screech, never felt a dive-bombing and pecking attack.

If all birds sang like me and the grackles, life would be tough in the morning and no lyrics would be written about them. But the Creating Word fashioned them to be examples, teachers, harbingers of joy. We lost a dear friend on Sunday, David Pearson, married to a Moline classmate. I hope the birds comfort and remind her often of the Savior's words.

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Plant Food Falls Free for the Taking - Creature Convention Center

A crepe myrtle bush, like all plants, creates its own free mulch,
which most people rake away so they can add the damaging fertilizer
they just bought at the gardening center.

Early spring means the trees are shedding pollen, maple tree seeds, various bud coverings, and the normal debris one expects, from twigs to large branches.

Those cleaning out their gutters are thinking, "This is disgusting. Maple trees are growing up there." In fact, that was an annual site at our home in Moline. A giant maple tree showered its leaves into the gutters in the fall, rained down its helicopter seeds in the spring. The kids loved catching the maple seeds and enjoyed the next sght. We saw rows of perky maple trees in our gutters, in neat rows -healthy, green, and growing.

The slimy dark mass in the gutters should give people pause before they despise it, scoop it out, and throw it away. How does the dark slime manage to create a nursery for so many trees?

Answer - rotting leaves absorb moisture easily, and hold it well. Dust and pollen add to the mix.  The leaves never dry out in the spring as the rain falls. The maple seeds flat spin into their compost, which is ideal to hold and nurture the little trees.

I pruned the crepe myrtle bush with my finters alone, taking twigs away from the branches, to give the bush the Lyle Lovett look. The bark is attractive, so I can understand the reason for this treatment, leaving the lower part free of growth. All the trimmings landed on the wood mulch, adding to the food supply for the roots, as the pile decayed into the soil. I have been adding grass clippings, mushroom compost, bush trimmings, and wood mulch to the base for a year, and the pile continues to be worked into the soil by God's soil creatures - earthworms, springtails, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes.

Creature Convention Center
The Jackson Bird Spa has been a bit success with birds and squirrels. I mulched an area under the trees for baths and feeders. Birds like to search for food in dry mulch rather than soggy soil, and our soil was muddy for a long time. Besides that, wood mulch is a natural environment for enticing more soil creatures to breed and come to the surface as food for birds and spiders.


All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all

The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning,
That brightens up the sky;

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one;

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all

The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows for our play,
The rushes by the water,
To gather every day;

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Mrs. Wright had concrete blocks only a few feet across the fence from the spa, so I asked to use them. They were once a way to keep her dogs from going under the fence, but both dogs passed away  recently.

Our helper came by to help move the blocks (toss over the fence) and build the Creature Convention Center. A few hours later, it tumbled into a heap.

Like the founders of Notre Dame, when the school burned to the ground, I said, "We dreamed too small."  I put together a new version with the blocks, more stable and closer to the house - too close. The third version will move out from the house so we can look down on the birds and squirrels enjoying food and water there.

The idea is to have nooks and crannies for food and shelter, various levels for food, a screen layer to keep food dry, and space for baths.

Logs for Food and Shelter
Our landscaper neighbor, a former Army Ranger, cut an enormous number of excess branches from five of our trees. That left several large logs and quite a few small ones.

Creation and nature lovers know that a log is food and shelter for many creatures. One will go near the Spa as a convention perch. Birds love to have a place two or three feet off the ground to use for safety and critter spotting. One log is has an upward sweeping branch, and I saw a bird using it already.

Smaller logs will go around bushes. As the logs rot into the soil, the wood will host more food for the bushes.

Don't plant sweet corn in kale weather.
Funny - people are afraid to plant peas in the cold, ideal weather for peas.

Sweet Corn Days
A butcher and I agreed that tomatoes and corn do nothing when planted early. They need warm, sunny days or they just sit there, refusing to grow. That makes tomatoes more vulnerable to cold temperatures and corn more likely to rot in the soil or be harvested by critters.

I have seen wild strawberries with lots of flowers, but no fruit so far. I suspect the fruit does not form so easily in the cold

Meanwhile the roses, far more cold hardy than people suspect, are bursting with buds and blooming, about 10 flowers so far among the KnockOuts.

Some sunshine will help wild strawberies fruit.
The bees are already working the rose blooms.

All Creatures Great and Small - The Bird Spa Loves Them All

All things bright and beautiful, 
 all creatures great and small, 
 all things wise and wonderful:  
 the Lord God made them all.

1. Each little flower that opens, 
 each little bird that sings, 
 God made their glowing colors, 
 and made their tiny wings.  
 (Refrain)

2. The purple-headed mountains, 
 the river running by, 
 the sunset and the morning 
 that brightens up the sky.  
 (Refrain)

3. The cold wind in the winter, 
 the pleasant summer sun, 
 the ripe fruits in the garden:  
 God made them every one.  
 (Refrain)

4. God gave us eyes to see them, 
 and lips that we might tell 
 how great is God Almighty, 
 who has made all things well.  

Grasshopper - "I'm ready for my close-up."

I would steal the first verse of this Anglican hymn for book titles, but James Herriot beat me to it. We watched the entire series - All Creatures Great and Small - during a Netflix binge.

The hymn happens to describe perfect gardening - all creatures great and small. We have two neighbors who tried various poisons and have suffered the consequences.

The primary cause is work and expense: the result, an impoverished garden. One can hardly imagine all the work involved in created a rose garden full of weeds. It took various herbicides plus landscapers cloth to diminish the roses and favor the weeds. Creating raised beds was a lot of
work for the man with good intentions, but each additional step was harmful rather than beneficial.

All creatures, great and small, were fashioned for a purpose. Our knowledge of Creation can enhance the work they do by design. One example is the Jackson Bird Spa. 

The total experience consists of:

• The spa with seven birdbaths and many levels of food, various seeds plus three bags of suet.
• The food and baths resting on wooden mulch and a newspaper layer below, which fosters critter life for the birds, keeping food dry and the soil moist.
• The window feeder for small birds, and the adjacent Jackson EZ Bird Swing.
• The aerial aqueduct (soaker hose on the fence), creating dripping showers for plants, birds, toads, earthworms, slugs, bacteria, protozoa, and fungi.
• Bits of string and lint for bird nests.
• Mulched zones under the entire fence, also covering the vegetable and Three Sisters gardens.

Everyone's backyard will have birds, squirrels, and other creatures from time to time. Ours is alive with many birds and squirrels - feeding, drinking, splashing, vying for position at the food or baths - all the time. A starling may land on the file cabinet only to find a squirrel popping out to assert his dominance over the food scattered inside.

Dustmites are a good reason to change pillows.
They live on the skin cells we shed.

Starlings will check out baths and pick one, only to have another one land and take over. So the second choice becomes the alternative bath. Then a third lands and looks for a place in line or jumps in to force one out. The one shoved out may fly directly to the window to feed on suet bags.

If the starlings take off with the scout bird, the doves will dither and just go behind a tree, then return to feeding. Squirrels often feed at the same time, or one sits on the filing cabinet  and dares any bird to interrupt his eating.

The birds invited to the Jackson Bird Spa include - cardinals, mourning and rock doves, blue jays, goldfinches, purple finches, chickadees, starlings, grackles, and woodpeckers. If I put seed on the window sill, a baby squirrel will come to feed there. 

I expanded the spa to make some spots useful for toads. I still need some crockery around the yard for toad shelters, but shallow water and frequent watering is a good beginning.

The pests eaten by all the birds, toads, and spiders is astonishing to consider. Anyone who doubts this should read just one example from the observations of nature enthusiasts.

People kill insect-killing spiders with insecticide.
Does that make sense?

Toads Eat:

The common toad usually moves by walking rather slowly or in short shuffling jumps involving all four legs. It spends the day concealed in a lair that it has hollowed out under foliage or beneath a root or a stone where its colouring makes it inconspicuous. It emerges at dusk and may travel some distance in the dark while hunting. It is most active in wet weather. By morning it has returned to its base and may occupy the same place for several months. It is voracious and eats woodlice,slugs, beetles, caterpillars, flies, earthworms and even small mice.

Toads eat slugs and many other creatures.My toads will get broken clay vases, not castles.

Jackson Bird Spa Expansion - Stolen Leaves Are Sweeter

The Jackson Bird Spa is party central in our neighborhood -

nine feedings stations and seven places to drink or bath,

twigs, sticks, string, and lint for their nests.

When I came home from Walmart today, Mrs. Ichabod asked about the two huge garbage pails I had in the car. "They aren't garbage pails. They are rain barrels with birdbaths on top."

In the trunk I had some mulch for the Jackson Bird Spa expansion. I left newspapers out in the rain, which finally stopped. They are far easier to spread when soaking wet, and breezes do not blow them away. I expanded the area to be covered and mulched on top.

I put the garbage-can-lid birdbaths upside-down in the mulch and filled all the baths. These Rubber Maid lids were especially shallow and very large, which birds appreciate. They are not going to step into deep water, and I want toads to have a pleasant area with plenty of water.

I never looked for toads before, but I had one under the faucet last summer. I also saw baby toads here and there, without thinking much about them being such a blessing - eating slugs and insects.

Rain Barrels
I thought of capturing rain from altering the down spouts, but I had second thoughts after wrestling with one of the spouts today. Reworking the spout means additional work, which is a violation of the Maynard G. Krebs Prime Directive - Do not create extra jobs in the garden.

Instead I will leave the downspouts alone and capture rain from the roof runoff in the backyard (no downspouts or gutters there).

There are two ways to have great water for special treatment of plants. One is to fill a barrel and let it evaporate the chlorine out of it for at least 24 hours. The other is to collect the rainwater and use it before it generates a population of mosquitoes.

My mother always stored water before using it in the classroom. All the teachers wanted to know why her flowers were so bountiful and theirs were so poor. She just smiled. Moline water was so bleachy we did not need whiteners for our teeth.

The Crown Imperials are beginning to show.
Giant aliums are next.

Stolen Leaves
I watered the straw bale garden, which is going to produce gushy soil around it. The benefit of straw bales is that watering them will motivate the roots to go down deep. The disadvantage is the need to water often and stay out of the mud.

We began with a good base - heavy ragweed growth, pumpkin vines, and tomato vines mulched into the soil, which had plenty of wood mulch. Newspapers were on top of this, and straw bales on the newspapers.

Lacking was an area to dress up the sloppy look of leaning bales and newspapers under them like old nappies.

I know our veteran on the corner wanted his leaves gone, and his brother was taking several more months to finish the job. Sassy and I went down with the wheel-barrel and nicked them in  two trips. If no one saw the trips, the brothers will wonder how the leaves disappeared after abiding so long on the corner of the lot, killing the grass.

Autumn leaves, piled up, rained and snowed and sleeted on, are dark, wet, and somewhat slimy. They are pure food for the soil. Leaves harbor beneficial insects, soil creatures, and earthworms. Microbes and larger soil creatures (yea, even slugs) will shred, digest, and fix all that food in the root zone.

Yes, I smile at at Lowe's customers carting bags of inorganic fertilizer out to their cars. They probably bag their leaves and have the city pick them up. Endless withdrawals from the soil cannot be made up with inorganic salts.

So I piled my treasure along the base of the straw bales. Overflow of water will facilitate additional decomposition. The leaves will settle down in a few days, so I will add a bag or two of wood mulch,  on top - as I did at the base of the crepe myrtle bush.

I mulched the crepe myrtle all last year, and the mulch kept going down. What does this mean, class?
Answer - the soil creatures below consumed the trees leaves, bush leaves, mower grass clumps, and wood mulch, feeding the roots of the bush and giving us the most glorious crepe myrtle in the area.

We pruned the top of the crepe myrtle and got a second bloom when all others stopped. Why? They did not prune for a second bloom. The seed pods formed and lasted all winter and fed the birds. We mulched all the pruned branches by cutting them up into twigs. They decomposed into the soil.

Sunlight Plus + Organic Additions = Soil Health
The renewal of the soil comes from a combination of solar power and organic additions.

Solar power makes the plants grow, create complex compounds above and below the surface, and build the soil by turning energy into useful nutrition.

Organic additions build the soil by adding a wide variety of food for soil creatures to turn into food for plant roots. Just as the birds show up for suet, peanuts, corn, and sunflower seeds, the soil creatures arrive to consume manure, plant leftover, mulch, leaves, and grass clippings.

Great blooms, but this crepe myrtle could use a lot of pruning.

The Lyle Lovett pruning of the crepe myrtle bush
puts all the flowers on top, the branches below bare.
Little Ichabod laughed.

How Does the Garden Grow? Sow Abundantly and Reap Abundantly - 2 Corinthians 9

Susan Wilkinson photographed this common grackle,
a member of the corvid (crow) family, very smart and great at grubbing.
I spotted one eating the peanuts thrown out on the mulch.

Several asked about the gardening today. We had a fine mist raining part of the day, but more rain was predicted. When the going gets wet, the gardeners go straw baling.

The strawberries already perked up from one day of rain, I planted them the day before. The potatoes were cut but not planted. Today I took a very large plate of potatoes out and wedged each one into the straw.

Since the potatoes would be soaked by the garden hose first, then the rain, I decided to sprinkle some seeds on top the straw. The surface is so even and such a good medium for planting, that I reckoned a number of plants would spring up. I sowed some carrots, dill, hollyhocks, and parsley, and borage was already there from the day before.

On the sides of the bales I pushed in goblin gourd seeds. The idea is to have vines trailing out of the sides. The rain moved in at night and provided a long, thorough soaking for all the new plants and seeds.

Straw was a pain to wrestle into the limo, a big mess to clean out. However, if the potato harvest is good, the straw bale garden will grow next year.  With careful planning, Mrs. Ichabod will insist on what I want to do. Fortunately, she adores roses and loves having the ones I also enjoy. I found some $5 roses on sale from Gurney's and she said, "Get them!"

The peas and spinach did not survive our radical winter, with such extremes of cold and warmth. The very early planted sunflower seeds did not germinate, so that may have been the cold or the squirrels eating them. I planted a wide row in the back with plenty of seeds. Squirrels think it's all about them.

Doing well:

• Garlic bulbs planted last fall are springing up.
• Daffodils are almost ready to bloom.
• Tulips are above ground, just behind the daffodils for blooming.
• Crown Imperial bulbs have sprouted, but not the giant aliums so far.
• The old rose garden looks almost 100% green and growing leaves.
• No new roses have arrived, but they should soon.
• Butterfly bushes and the crepe myrtle bush are still dormant.

I will prune the roses back about 2/3rds when it is dry. Contrary to the fears of dabblers, pruning will spur cane and root growth. The most damaging pruning is no pruning at all. The dead wood builds up and the flowers go to seed. Roses love to be pruned, mulched, and watered. No other care is needed. 

The bird population has increased since I build up every possible way to attract them. I am not spending much on food. Suet lasts a long time and is very inexpensive at the meat market. I scatter seed to watch the varied species according to their Creator's design. 

By Norma Boeckler

Birds want water most of all, for bathing and drinking. As I mentioned before, a robin was willing to approach me because the shovel left on the ground held some rainwater. She drank from it and walked away, the most daring of the larger birds. Soon I will have garbage cans collecting rainwater from the two downspouts and the lids serving as ponds at the Jackson Bird Spa. One might go in the far backyard for the shy creatures, like cardinals, that avoid the crowds.

The male birds are singing to establish their territory, find mates, and build nests. This is a good time to put string and dryer lint out for their nesting. I leave twigs for them. My random stick pile is one place, part of the Jackson Bird Spa. Pruning the crepe myrtle adds twigs and bits for the front yard nesting stash. What does not make it into a nest becomes food for the fungi and bacteria in the soil. 

The Apostle Paul said to the Second Corinthians - 

9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

The spider tirelessly catches insects that would eat our flowers and crops.

This applies to treating the birds well, promoting microbial growth in the soil, and planting seed, fruit, and flowers. Some things will fail, and the failures are larger on a bigger scale. But the harvest is so abundant that the non-growth does not matter.

Random success is great fun, when one afterthought turns into one of the best experiences. When I walked Sassy past the veteran's home, I recalled, "He has all kinds of materials I can use, and he was worried about how to reduce his pile of paving stones, and other materials." 

I even covet his leftover autumn leaves. He is using Jackson Mulch for his rose gardens this year, after seeing how mine grew without weeds and without pests.

He is going to prune my trees soon, to let more light into the front and back yards. He is after his brother to remove the last of the leaves, and I may help with my wheelbarrow. They are ideal for the straw bale area, where we have to walk to water and care for the plants.

As Sharon Lovejoy has noted, gardening means being eager to get in the morning and see what has changed.

Mulching the Bird Spa

Sassy supervised me outside until a few drops of rain fell.
She went inside.

The soil was getting just right for planting when rain began rolling in, as predicted. At the same time, I was hoping for the straw bale plants that were already shipped. Late in the afternoon, the cool breeze that precedes rain began blowing.

The Jackson Bird Spa was already muddy, so I decided to mulch the area, as much as the shredded cypress allowed. No one can ever have too much mulch, compost, or manure.

I had bags of newspapers, which seemed to be surplus during the snow, but they suddenly became handy. Newspapers absorb and give up moisture easily, so they have to be held down as the first layer of Jackson Mulch.

Damp leaves dry up and blow away, leaving the newspaper layer vulnerable to breezes and blowing away. The best solution is wooden mulch on the newspaper layer, followed by compost or mushroom compost to hold down and decompose the papers.

My squirrel proof feeder is now adjusted to benefit the small birds,
and we get a charm of goldfinches constantly eating there,
just outside our bedroom window.

I threw down the newspapers in a rough circular pattern, where I normally walk. I raked cypress mulch on top and a little mushroom compost to hold down the edges. Four bird baths were placed on top the mulch and filled.

The mulch itself will serve as a bird feeder, by attracting and supporting bugs, arthropods, and worms.

The bird baths will be easier to clean and fill on the mulch.

The birds have:

• Four bags of suet (kidney fat).
• Several layers of food, from the mulch to the filing cabinet and drawer, to the tree-hung suet bags, to the squirrel feeder, used mostly by starlings.
• A random pile of sticks and twigs for perching and nesting material.
• A variety of seeds - sunflower, corn, and peanuts.

I can use some crockery to shelter the toads. An upside-down flower pot is also good for spiders to hide in (Sharon Lovejoy).

Another Lovejoy idea is to use garbage can lids as liners for shallow ponds. I do not want the effort of a regular pond, but a larger area than the little baths might be especially attractive to a diversity of animal and insect life. Instead of digging it in, I would created a bed of mulch - an above ground pool.

The Creation is filled with abundance,
and the Savior provides even more abundance through miracles.

Birds and Squirrels Flock to the Jackson Bird Spa as the Snow Falls

The squirrels in Bella Vista were almost as aggressive
as the raccoons.

I bought several new foods at the Walmart Supercenter (a locally owned market) - just before the stormy weather began. Although we did not get feet of snow, we did have a lot for this area - five inches of accumulation.

Alex and I already had already squeezed four pounds of suet hanging in mesh bags. I filled the bird feeder near our window with a finch mix - thistle and hulled sunflower seeds. I placed the squirrel block on the wooden filing cabinet in the trees - a combination of corn, sunflower, and other seeds. I had several lumps of dried meal worms to add to the Jackson Bird Spa.

I added water to shallow dishes once a day.

All the creatures were so hungry that they ate together. The squirrel sat on the corn block but various birds harvested loose corn below. Later a male and a female cardinal worked on the block.

Finches and cardinals came to the finch mix in the feeder while starlings swung on the suet bags hanging from it.

The Jackson EZ Bird Swing saw more activity.

Our birds included:

• Thirty or more starlings at one time.
• A pair of cardinals.
• Purple finches and chickadees at the feeder.
• Some tiny birds at the feeder - too shy and quick to be identified so far.
• Mourning doves on the ground.
• Downy woodpecker at the suet, when the starlings left it alone.

I shoveled snow for our neighbors on each side, and we had the cleanest walks on the block, thanks to early salting. The early bird has the least amount of work when it snows. Filtered sunshine and salt combine to reduce the load - instead of ice building up under the footsteps of procrastinators.

Better Than C. S. Lewis - Secret Plans for the Jackson EZ Bird Swing Released to the Public

When dawn, the rosy-fingered child of Morn appeared, Sassy Sue was inkling her need for food. She acted as if she wanted to go out in the dark, but stopped at the watering jug, which is also next to food barrel.

Do you want to go out?

No motion.

Do you want some water? Have some.

No motion.

Are you hungry?

Sassy smiled that I figured her out so fast - for a human.





I got Sassy some breakfast and blogged. The thaw began in earnest, so I decided to pick up some meds and stop at Lowe's, to repeat the glorious experience of the Jackson EZ Bird Swing. I am not sure if I copied the idea or figured it out.

This Jackson EZ Bird Swing parts are simple to buy, inexpensive, and simple to install, assuming a wooden overhang.

1. Measure from the eaves or wooden structure to the mid-point of the window from inside. A good place to observe the birds is halfway down the window and a little distance from the feeder.
2. You will need two chains cut to the length measured above. The exact length is not crucial because...
3. A metal pole with screw threads hangs from the two chains. Extra length of the pole is good for stability in hanging. The diameter has to fit through the links.
4. Two screw hooks are needed to hang the chains down from the wood. They will not bear much weight. so I get large, thin ones. The hooks are secured  to allow the pole to reach through the chains with several inches at least on each end.
5. I secured the pole to the chain on each end with electric tape, to keep the pole from coming out, but that is unlikely with the threading and the gentle action of the swing.

Why does this work so well?

Birds do not stay on a feeder too long. They like to fly from a perch to the feeder and then to their perch again. The small ones feel safer taking a sunflower seed away and opening it up. Chickadees pound it open with their beaks, holding the seed in their feet. If the little ones open the seed on the swing, that is the best show in town.

A cardinal will sit at the feeder and do the work with their beaks alone. They seem to be grinning as they man-handle the seed.

The swing is an ideal resting place. The birds can observe everything around them, and they are away from obvious danger, such as a bush hiding a cat. They may eat or preen or relax on the swing.

Once they are used to humans nearby, they become oblivious to being watched. The bird-watcher can be inches away.

Some enhancements.

• Drape lint and twine around suet baskets hanging from the feeder. Birds will come to it for nest material. Dryer lint can also be  packed into empty suet baskets.
• Place seed on the window sill. Often baby squirrels will sit there and eat, and so will smaller birds. My ledge is narrow, so that excludes larger animals.
• Throw bonus amounts of food around the base of the feeder. Extra activity draws more birds, and more will land on the sill and the bird swing.

The squirrels have left empty corn cobs below the two feeders they use - a message?