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The red-shafted flicker woodpecker in my garden.

Now that the temperatures are starting to drop and a lot of the work has come to a hault in my garden, I’ve turned my attention to attracting feathered critters into my landscape with the use of bird feeders.  Birdwatching may sound mundane and boring but once you start attracting birds into your cold weather garden it is far from dull and is often called a free ticket to the theater of nature.  Once you add fresh water and some bird seed you are guaranteed to always have a show. 

With the cooling temperatures birds need an extra addition of fat to help them survive so adding suet cakes is an important accompaniment to their fall and winter diet.  I am  so happy to have the ilusive red-shafted flicker woodpecker (shown above) frequently visit my garden since I’ve set out out the fatty suet cakes and bird seed.   If you’re not one to use animal products (most suet is beef kidney fat) you can easily make a big batch of vegetarian suet cakes and store them in the freezer for future use.  I found an easy recipe at www.suetbirdfeeder.net:

Wintertime Vegan “Suet”
The birds won’t miss the meat and your kitties will love to watch the action!

2 cups peanut butter
2 cups vegetable shortening
2 cups flour
6 cups cornmeal

Melt peanut butter and shortening in a large pot.
Stir in flour and cornmeal.
Turn dough onto a waxed paper lined 13×9″ pan.
Cut into rectangles for use in a suet feeder.
Suet can be stored in a freezer.

Here’s another easy project that I’m going to try soon.  All you need is a toilet paper roll, some peanut butter and bird seed!  Easy right? I’m sure the birds will love it.

Have you heard of peanut butter bird seed balls?  I made a bunch last year and they were gone in no time.  Hopefully I kept a lot of birds alive with all the fat I fed them! Click on the image for the Bird Seed Balls recipe…

 I hope these recipes and tips have inspired you to attract birds to your fall and winter garden.  What birds to you attract to your yard in the colder  months? I’d love to hear from you and even see photos.  You can share them with over on my Facebook page or via Twitter.  Tweet tweet!

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Does your garden look like this?

Gardeners, do you ever have a happy dirt dream and then wake up in the morning, look out your window and see your garden covered in a thick layer of white mulch?  Do not be disheartened.  There’s plenty you can do to get ready for spring.  One thing I’m excited to share with you is sowing seed in the winter.  This project is economical and wonderful for those that don’t have a greenhouse.  So grab yourself a coffee with Irish Cream and let’s have a winter garden party! 

Wikipedia’s definition of winter sowing is a method of starting seeds outdoors in winter.  This is generally done with seeds that require a period of cold stratification.  The method takes advantage of natural temperatures, rather than artificially refrigerating seeds.  Winter sowing involves sowing seeds in a miniature greenhouse outside during winter, allowing them to germinate in spring.  Users of this method have had success in most hardiness zones. 

With that in mind, let’s make some mini greenhouses! 

Step 1:  Choose your seeds.  Wintersown.org has a list of seeds good for winter sowing and that will germinate well in your little greenhouses. 

Step 2:  Rob your recycle bin.  Milk jugs, soda bottles, lettuce containers are all exceptable for planting in, just make sure they are washed and clean.  Poke holes in the tops and bottom of the container.  (use a sharp razor blade, be careful, wear gloves).  Here’s what I started with…Notice the, ahem, bloody mary bottles and water jug are cut around just enough to make a “hinge”. 

Step 3:  Label your containers.  All you need in a piece of duct tape and a permanent marker. 

Step 4:  Fill your containers with 2-3″ of potting soil and sow your seed. 

Step 5:  Seal up lids and the cut around the water jugs/bottles with a little duct tape. Next, store the containers in a protected area that will be safe from pets and too much rain. 

Step 6:  Wait.  If all goes as planned, the seeds will start to germinate as winter comes to an end.  As the days start to warm up and the seedlings start to grow, check to see if they need water and widen slits on top of the container for more air flow.  You don’t want to bake your little seedlings.  In due time you’ll be able to set your plants in the garden when your soil is at the right temperature.  Here is a helpful planting guide thanks to gardeningbythemoon.com.  For more inspiration check out these Google images on sowing seed in the winter. 

If your are interested in sharing tips, trends, and asking questions about gardening, please join in #gardenchat on Twitter every Monday at 9pm EST.  Also, don’t miss the very special event called #supersowsunday Sunday, Feb 6, 2011 where we’ll be talking seeds while the game is on! 

Happy planting!  Thanks for joining me in my FIRST garden party!