Good morning friends. I hope you will come and support the Milan Area Historical Society and Milan Garden Club with the Hack House Open House and Plant Sales coming up next Friday, May 6, Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8.
This is a 3-day event – The Annual Hack House Museum Open House,
Milan Area Historical Society will be selling beautiful, full, Hanging
Northville Garden Walk, 27th annual, sponsored by the Country Garden Club of Northville, a branch of the Woman’s National Farm & Garden Association. Featuring six Private Gardens, Vendors, Gleehead Bakery goods. Wednesday, July 13th, 2022, 9:00am-4:00pm. Advance $12. Tickets available June 11th Gardenviews, 117 E. Main and EventBrite.com. On day of event $15. tickets also sold at our new staging area in the Green Space (Corner of Wing & Cady St.) behind Northville Library. Proceeds support local and national horticultural organizations, Civic Beautification and Northville HS Scholarships. cgcnv.org 734-788-9935
Chris E. sent me an email which included information on Sunflower seeds to help Support Ukrainian. I took a copy of the posted email. The links in the photo below will not work because it’s a copy of the live post. However, I added their link below the image. Just click it will take you to the page of available seeds to order. It shows in green.
I am the first to declare I am not an expert in bird treat projects; but with an excess of mixed birdseed to use– I needed to explore my options.
Checking the web provided a lot of conflicting info. Most say NOT OK to feed items that contain sugar, salt or too much protein, which could make the birds dependent on “our feeding.”
As you see in the photo above- I chose a very simple project; Pinecones & Peanut butter.
Instead of throwing the pinecones into the fire pit; I took leftover elastic cording from Christmas and tied a loop around the tip of the cone. The natural curve of the seed bract will be a perfect seat for the Peanut butter & bird seed–the cord will allow me to hang it.
This project is simple and a great one to do with the grandkids……but it is messy. With the cones all tied with cording- the next step is to apply the Peanut butter to hold the seed. I used a spoon but whatever works……..to shove the Peanut butter down into the open spaces.
This project is best for winter; the cold temps prevent the Peanut butter from melting off the cones. Just for this project, I used Peanut butter with no salt or sugar & luckily it was priced for closeout.
Following the Peanut butter, holding the cones over a bowl to catch the excess, I spooned bird seed over the cones. I did not use any fruits or nuts this time—just “no mess” bird seed.
No pun intended……..Here are the finished cones.
Once done, & temps still cold, I will hang them alongside my bird feeders; the squirrels will devour if I put them on the bushes or trees.
I am expecting blackbirds, woodpeckers, sparrows, nuthatches, chickadees & titmice to enjoy. Once the cones are picked clean, I will remove the cord & toss into the compost-the squirrels will find and finish cleaning them up. Did you do any bird feeding projects this winter? please share your photos with the blog……..g
What a great meeting our Horticulture Club had today. We discussed places we’d like to visit. Many had websites available. I took the information and visited a few of the sites. Thought I’d share the links. You should be able to just click on these links and it’ll take you to the sites.
Here we are in mid-January and it feels more like early spring. Can’t say I miss shoveling the white stuff but right on cue………..look who came to pay me a visit.
I can’t help but smile from ear to ear when the bright colored bluebirds grace me with a visit.
They are just precious-a bright spot in the white of winter.
Let me challenge all of you to observe the feathered and non-feathered creatures in your yard—–snap a photo and send it on……..the blog could use some “cuteness.” gk
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! In the grip of the coldest temps so far this winter & the cancellation of our January meeting- as a precautionary Covid hiatus; along with receiving too much bird seed at Christmas (darn kids); I decided to tackle a project & share it with you.
Homemade bird seed cakes: The recipe I used, required minimal supplies. Bird seed- (Your choice). You may add nuts,raisins, or currents if not in your seed mix. (Great way to clean out the pantry) Water, Plain Gelatin, & molds.
FIRST: put 1 1/4 cup of the bird seed mixture in a bowl-set aside.
The above photo shows several shapes of molds-made of metal or glass. Use silicone, plastic, cookie cutter, clay pots or any other “shape.”
I sprayed the mold to ensure ease of removal and found the deeper the mold, the better the end result. This mold worked well.
Put 1/4 c of water in a saucepan-add 2 pkg. of the unflavored gelatin to the water.
Over low heat, stirring until the gelatin has fully dissolved. (doesn’t take long) Once dissolved, remove from heat and allow to cool for one minute before adding the bird seed.
Mixing well, to ensure all the bird seed is coated with gelatin.
Take the mixture & place into the mold.
firmly press the mixture into the mold and set aside to harden– allow for at least 24 hrs.
How you “hang” the seedcake is part of the final design. Many ways to “offer” & the type of bird you want to feed may determine that. To hang from a branch or hook, while soft,make a hole to thread ribbon or twine thru; or place a loop of twine between two layers of the mixture. You can just insert into a suet feeder.
Once hardened, gently remove from the molds and offer to the birds……..I found the heart shape to be too thin and slid them into a suet feeder. The star I hung by a loop of twine from my feeder pole. The squirrels would have had a quick snack if I dare to hang from a branch. Full recipe follows…………..
Monroe County Master Gardener Association 