Winter | Simply Abundant Living

Planning Your Spring Garden

SeedPacks Have the seed catalogs started arriving yet? No? Well…they should begin to hit your mailboxes fast and furious soon. Seed companies know that we gardeners need something to dream about during the long months of hibernation.

Once you have a sizable stack, it’s time to grab a hot cuppa and snuggle down in a cozy chair to leaf through and dream a little. What better way to get new ideas and cement plans for the garden you will begin in a few short months.

As you page through the beautiful colors and spreads, notice that most catalogs give additional growing information on disease resistance, new and improved hybrids, the length to maturity on vegetable crops and often the proper growing conditions for the plants. When you combine this useful information with your own experience in your own garden, you are in a great place to choose great flowers and vegetables for the upcoming growing season.

Try not to get too carried away and don’t order more than you can plant. Make a wish list and then sit on it for a few days. Go back to it and look at it again realistically to make sure what you plan is doable. You might just try a few new things each year, while sticking with the old favorites that grow well year after year.

It is never too early to start planning your upcoming garden. When you order seeds by mail, ordering early will ensure that you have your seeds when you need them.

Spring will be here before you know it…

Getting Through the Winter

cozy-fire-susan-roberts Do You embrace winter or do you strive to just get through it? I admit I tend toward the latter in as much as I detest being cold and wet…so I do avoid going outside as much as possible in the winter. My husband is one of those people who (although he doesn’t like the cold either) feels he MUST have fresh air each day or he gets into a physical funk. Although I can appreciate the logic behind this…I still prefer hibernating.

So…this leaves me inside…and THIS is where I begin embracing winter! Inside…left to hang out all day long…this is when I can tackle put-off projects, start new ones, reorganize that cupboard or closet that has been bothering me, rearrange the furniture, do some deep cleaning, or…just sit and cross stitch or crochet. Yes…I am a homebody who is happiest when the pulls of life are not tugging at me in all directions outside of my cozy home. A day I do not need to venture out is one of the sweetest, in my book.

Do you have any winter projects you are tackling this winter? I’ll share a few of mine:

Cross-stitching a baby sampler
Crocheting an afghan
Piecing baby’s quilt and making the crib set
Reorganizing the kids’ rooms and shuffling some kids around to different beds/rooms
Deep cleaning (begins in approximately one month)
Planning this year’s garden

That’s about it…but really…that’s more than enough to take me well into spring. As soon as spring is in the air I’ll be totally consumed with everything gardening!

What’s on your winter TO-DO list?

Feeding the Birds – Choose the Best Bird Food

There is a huge variety of bird food available. It can be hard to decide which to choose. This should help you select the right type of food for the birds you want to attract. Keep in mind your feeder style too.

Black-oil sunflower seed attracts the greatest variety of birds. It is small and thin-shelled and this makes it easy for small birds to handle and crack. Striped sunflower seeds are bigger with thicker seed coats.

Although sunflower seeds are the all-round favorite some birds prefer different foods.

Blackbirds like corn and doves like white millet or red milo. Doves are ground-feeders, though…so keep in mind that they need their food on the ground.

Watch the commercial seed mixes you may be tempted to buy, though. They are usually a blend of sunflower seeds and other less appealing “filler” such as millet, oats, wheat, flax, buckwheat seeds, and red milo.

These mixes may seem to be a bargain, but a lot may end up being wasted because the birds pick out the sunflower seeds and leave the rest. You may try making your own birdseed mix instead. Put about 25 pounds of black-oil sunflower seed, 10-pounds of white millet, and 10 pounds of cracked corn into a clean trash can. Stir with a broom handle and you’re good to go!

Remember to store your bird food carefully. If you buy a lot of seed it needs to be kept in a dry, cool place…safe from rodents. Check often for mold and throw out any seed that is questionable.

Chickadees, Titmice, Nuthatches: Sunflower, Safflower, Suet
Finches: Sunflower, Safflower, Millet, Niger
Cardinals, Grosbeaks: Sunflower, Safflower
Sparrows, Blackbirds: Sunflower, Corn, Millet
Jays: Sunflower, Corn, Milo, Suet
Woodpeckers: Sunflower, Suet
Orioles, Tanagers: Suet
Pigeons, Doves: Corn, Millet, Milo
Indigo Buntings: Sunflower, Millet, Niger

Feeding the Birds

Do you have a bird feeder in your backyard? Bird watching is becoming more and more popular among Americans. Recent surveys show almost half the households in the US feed wild birds with birdfeeders in their yards.

It’s not hard to see why…feeding birds allows us to bring them close so we can see them better. They can bring entertainment and something interesting to focus on during a long, cold winter.

It’s not only good for us, though. By setting up a backyard bird feeder we can make birds’ lives easier, too. Winter can be especially hard for birds and finding food can be difficult during periods of extreme cold.

So…just what should you serve your birdie friends for dinner? And how would it be best served? There is a lot to choose from as far as food types and feeder types. It can be hard to choose what kind of food to serve and exactly how.

Today I have some basic info about feeder types that may help you decide what will best for you and your little feathered friends.

Tray or Platform Feeder:

This is any flat surface for spreading bird seed. Trays attract most species of wild birds, but the disadvantage is that they offer no protection against squirrels, chipmunks, or precipitation. Also the seed can become soiled by droppings from the birds. A roof will provide some protection from the weather. Be sure your tray feeder has drainage holes.

Hopper or House Feeder:

This is a platform feeder with walls and a roof. This feeder protects seeds against the weather, but not against squirrels. It keeps seed cleaner also. Hopper feeders attract most feeder birds. Hopper feeders can be mounted on a pole or hung from a hook or a branch.

Window Feeder:

This is usually made from clear plastic and suction-cupped to a window. This type of feeder attracts finches, sparrows, chickadees, and titmice and is nice because it allows close-up views of the birds as they feed.

Tube Feeder:

This is a hollow cylinder made of plastic with multiple feeding perches. Tube feeders keep seed clean and dry and they are somewhat more squirrel resistant. The birds attracted depend on the size of the perches under the feeding ports.

Thistle Feeder:

This is a special tube feeder with extra-small openings to dispense tiny thistle seeds. Thistle is also known as niger. These feeders attract finches mostly. Thistle “socks” (fine-mesh bags) can be hung for birds to cling to extract the seeds.

Suet Feeder:

This is a wire-mesh cage or plastic-mesh bag that holds suet. This type of feeder can be nailed or tied to a tree trunk or suspended.

Next: Choosing the best bird food

Let it Snow! Keeping Busy Inside

Happy Monday to you! We here in the midwest are bracing for our first significant winter storm that is predicted to begin this afternoon some time and last until tomorrow afternoon. It is supposed to begin with sleet and freezing rain and then change into all snow and end up dumping up to a foot of snow on us!

I actually love being snowed in! There is nothing more cozy than being warm inside with hot cup of something and watching the beauty of a snow storm.

This got me to thinking about another list! You know me…gotta love those lists. So with no further delay…here is a list of things to do during a snowstorm!