Make Use of the Rain!

It's raining here and sounds like it's the beginning of a 36-hr downfall.  Looks like our river will be close to our backyard by the end of this week... ;(  But on the lighter "brighter" side, just because it's raining doesn't mean you can't make use of it.  There are a few garden accessories that are great for rain days.  

 

This Loving Frogs on Swing with a glass rain gauge on each side is the

perfect lawn decor for your lawn and garden.  It stands just over 19" high and is even more adorable in person.  

 

Birds love water and love your bird baths.  A new rainfall will provide fresh water for them to bathe in.  

 

Garden planters full of vibrant colored flowers and plants love their water.  When it is going to rain be sure your garden planters are in an area outside where they'll get plenty of water.  If you get rain often, you don't have to worry about how much they are getting because it's probably plenty.  

Winter-Proofing Your Planter Pots & Containers

If you live anywhere like MN where the winters can be harsh you are bound to run into problems with your garden planters unless they are properly taken care of.  Believe it or not there are some things you can do to increase the longevity of your pots and planter containers in the long winter months. For one you should not leave soil in the containers over the winter months.  Your flower pots and planters may be more likely to crack.  And while you're at it you could clean your containers with a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water before you put them away for the winter months.  When storing your garden planters and flower pots stack them carefully on top of each other and store in a dry place.  Garden planters area  wonderful addition to any lawn decor and you can add whatever plants and flowers you want to it each spring.  So if you find a flower pot or planter that you want to last year after year, doing these little things may just help you accomplish that.

Feeding Wild Birds in the Fall

The autumn season is just around the corner but don’t take down your bird feeders just yet.  Wild birds tend to rely on bird feeders for their secondary and maybe even primary sources of nutrition.  Keeping bird feeders up through the autumn months is just as, if not more, important as any other season.

         

   

Bird watching is an ever-growing hobby in the United States; therefore, bird feeders are a popular topic when it comes to bird watching.  Some people question keeping their feeders out through the autumn months due to fear that wild birds will not migrate or just think birds will not use them as much.  However, there are many benefits to leaving your feeders out through the autumn months for both wild birds and you.  

One common misconception people may think about leaving their bird feeders out through the autumn season is that birds will not migrate.  This is called a ‘misconception’ for good reason.  Birds will eventually migrate when they are ready.  Leaving your feeders out is only helping prepare them for their long migration journey.  Taking your feeders down too early confuses them and may leave them struggling to store up enough body fat for their long journey.  This in turn will make for a hard migration.  Therefore, leave your feeders out at least for two weeks following the last sight of a bird at your bird feeders.

Wild birds develop a daily routine of visits to bird feeders and other natural sources of food and nutrition.  Most birds may rely on your feeders for a secondary or even primary source of food and nutrition.  At this time of year their natural sources of food may have somewhat or completely depleted.  To prepare them for migration, wild birds will stock up on body fat; therefore, you will see them more often at your bird feeders this time of year.  With that said alone, it is important to keep your feeders out through the autumn months.

Leaving your bird feeders out through the autumn months may attract other migrating birds and potentially invite new birds to your feeding area the following year.  Migration is a long and exhausting trip for wild birds.  For those birds passing through your backyard, they will appreciate the sources of food in your bird feeders through the migration season.  If your feeders are made available they will most likely make them their usual lay-over every migration season.  Not only does this benefit migrating birds but you will get an opportunity to maybe see new wildlife that you may have not seen before.  This is an exciting time for bird watchers.

It’s always important to keep your bird feeders clean just as you would during the summer months.  Some people think they will not be used as much so why clean them.  However, the cleaner your feeders are the more wild birds you will most likely attract during the migration season.  

So think twice about taking down your bird feeders early.  Remember that rather than a disservice, wild bird feeding in the autumn season provides opportunities for bird wildlife during the migration season.  Bird feeders are a vital food source in the autumn months for those birds who have been accustomed to using the bird feeders you provide as well as migrating birds.  If you do decide to take them down during the autumn season try waiting at least two weeks after your last bird visitor.  Leaving your feeders out also extends your bird watching pleasure.

  

Wind Spinners In The Wind

As I've said before these Wind Spinners are the best quality and beauty you will find on the internet for the best price!  These Stainless Steel Wind Spinners not only look beautiful in the wind or the slightest breeze but they have OutdoorMama's Lifetime Rust-Free Guarantee!  With the holidays and birthdays coming up in your life consider buying one of OutdoorMama's Wind Spinners.  With the great selection to choose from you are guaranteed to find something that will be perfect for that hard-to-buy person. 

Or treat yourself to a Specialty Wind Spinner such as a patent-pending Solar Light Wind Spinner or a Gazing Ball Cut-out Wind Spinner.   

Restored Old Solar Lights

My grandpa is moving out of his house and I was helping him get rid of some things (by taking them to my house...not really getting rid of) and I saw these solar lights kind of dismantled along the landscaping that has not been tended to for quite some time.  So I asked if I could take his solar lights and see if I can clean them up and getting 'em looking new again!  I didn't expect them to work still, mostly because they just 'looked' like they have seen their days.  I brought them home, washed them up real good and was able to put most of them back together.  I placed them along our sidewalk and vwalla...not only do they look bran new but all of them work!  What a great feeling to take something that looks broken and fix it up at no cost at all!  Now we have a beautiful lit up sidewalk to enjoy when we come home at night or sit on our patio!

Gold Rush Weekend Pictures

As I mentioned before, this past weekend was the first Gold Rush event I set up a stand.  We displayed mostly our wind spinners and a few items from our lawn and garden website www.OutdoorMama.com.  We were not sure what to expect but did have some success.  We drew a winner for a 12" Blue Eagle Head Wind Spinner and got rid of all our business cards.  I hope to see more people join the group and find OutdoorMama to be the place they can shop in the very near future!  Along with the wind spinners we had a lot of frog decor, garden statues, a bird bath, bird feeder, stepping stones and more!  

 

As you can see in the background of the pictures the type of things people were after at Gold Rush are antiques.  It's one of the biggest antique show around this area.  We love looking at all the antiques and hope that one day we will have a bigger house so we can start collecting antique furniture.

Gold Rush 2010

We are doing our first Gold Rush this year!  We got there later than the majority of the vendors to set up our things.  It's our first vendor experience so we don't quite know what to expect.  Our tent is up and our wind spinners are ready to be hung on anything and everything including our display racks, hook stands and from the pcp piping under the top of our tent.  Our lawn and garden decor pieces are hiding under a tarp and ready to be bought from the crazy Oronoco Gold Rush crowd!  Wish us luck:)  Pictures to follow...

Types of Bird Feeders – Hopper, Suet and Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders (Part 2)

In an earlier post this week I posted an article I wrote about three popular bird feeders and here is a sort of follow-up on the next three most popular types of bird feeders. Hope you find this information useful and if you know of anybody who might find it helpful share it!

If you are new to the bird feeding community you will benefit from this information.  Feeding wild birds is a growing hobby in the United States and for good reason.  What better way to witness wild life than right in your backyard with the help of bird feeders. There are many different types of bird feeders, however, you will learn about three here: hopper feeders, suet feeders, and cage or squirrel proof bird feeders.

Hopper Feeders

Hopper bird feeders, also called House Feeders, have a platform upon which walls and a roof are built, forming a hopper.  A gazebo feeder is considered a hopper feeder.  Hopper bird feeders are popular because they are practical and functional as well as can be decorative.  These bird feeders are efficient to clean and maintain.  With hopper bird feeders, it is important to do regularly cleaning. The hopper is built to protect seed against the elements, however, few hopper feeders do a good job of protecting seed from rain, and the seed can become moldy. Birds can eat from at least two sides if not all sides of a hopper bird feeder, which is why it is so accessible to a large variety of birds.  These bird feeders are versatile in a way that they can be set up as hanging bird feeders or be pole mounted.  A good choice of bird food for hopper bird feeders is mixed wild bird seed or black oil sunflower seed.  A disadvantage to this bird feeder is that some wild birds will pick through the seed looking for only their favorite and leave the bird feeder a mess and wasted bird seed below.  Wild birds that are mostly attracted to hopper bird feeders are: chickadees, nuthatches, red bellied woodpeckers, mourning doves, cardinals, finches, jays, sparrows and yes the ‘most of the time’ unwanted starlings and blackbirds. 

Suet Feeders

Suet bird feeders are special feeders that hold a nutrient rich bird food called suet.  Suet is packed with energy-rich nutrition because of its high fat content.  Suet can be store bought or homemade.  This special bird food keeps birds warm during cold temperatures which makes it the perfect bird food for winter weather.  If used in the winter, place the bird feeder in the shade.  Most suet bird feeders have a wire or plastic cage surrounding the suet to keep it in place and come in many shapes and sizes.  Suet bird feeders will attract birds that will not come to other types of feeders.  You may start to have problems with starlings or blackbirds at your suet bird feeder eating all the suet in a very short period of time.  If this does happen try using pure suet with nothing mixed into it or use suet only mixed with nyjer and/or safflower seed.  An upside-down suet bird feeder where only clinging birds are able to attach to it may work as well.  As always make sure to keep this type of feeder clean.  Suet bird feeders can attract a variety of woodpeckers, the northern flicker, chickadees, red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatch, purple finch and blue jays, to name a few.

Cage/Squirrel Proof Feeders

Cage and squirrel proof bird feeders may be right up your alley if you have squirrels in your yard.  Believe it or not squirrels can become a problem if you do not have a bird feeder that is designed to keep squirrels out.  Squirrels can pose a couple problems including eating all the bird seed and damaging your bird feeders.  Most squirrel proof bird feeders are heavy duty yet provide little access for squirrels to get to the seed.  Squirrel proof bird feeders keep squirrels out by making any perch area weight sensitive in the effect that when the squirrel attempts to jump on it they will drop to the ground.  Cage feeders allow only birds to have access to the bird food leaving the squirrels at bay. 

With all the different types of bird feeders out there to choose from, take this information with you when making a decision.  Hopper feeders, suet feeders and cage/squirrel proof bird feeders provide a great selection to choose from.  Start enjoying the wild life in your backyard using wild bird feeders. 

Bird Feeder Tips

 

Hopper-Woodlink Going Green Feeder w/Suet Cages

If you are in the market for a Wile Bird Feeder these tips may be useful:

1. Decide what kind of wild bird(s) you want to visit your backyard.

2. What type of bird feeder will attract those wild birds?

3. Not all birds are able to eat from all bird feeders.

4. Most wild birds have a style of feeding and food preference.

5. Take size into consideration.  How often will you have to refill the bird feeder?

6. Climate will sometimes dictate which type of bird feeder is appropriate.

7. Maintenance and cleaning.  Is it easy or difficult to clean?

8. Aesthetics are sometimes important for people.

9. Pests of all shapes and sizes will undeniably play a part in the selection.

10. Viewing area.  Do you want to bird watch right outside your window or in your backyard?

11. The total number of bird feeders you want to have and take care of.

12. The price of the feeder and the seed that needs to go in it.

13. And most importantly, quality.  You want a bird feeder that will last AND do what it's supposed to!

New Bird Feeder and Wind Spinner Stands Are In!

We have new Wind Spinner and Bird Feeder hook stands available!

Audubon by Woodlink Bird Yard Hanger

Gardman Deluxe Feeding Station Kit

Droll Yankees Shepherd's Envy Pole

Erva Double Arm Adjustable Shepherd Staff Pole

Any one of these hook stands would make perfect hosts for all the bird feeders and wind spinners you want to hang or display.  If you display your wind spinners from a hook stand that is placed where it can catch the breeze you will be enjoying the glistening beauty they illuminate!  Hook stands are great to hang bird feeders and some bird houses from because you can place them where squirrels can't get access to them and sometimes you can adjust the height of the hook stands.