I think the youth are not getting involved with nature, not because they do not want to, but because today’s technical lifestyle just does not give them many opportunities to do so. Youth have a curiosity about nature and it is part of their learning experiences. As parents and adults, how often do we help them to explore nature? Sometimes, in today’s world, we hesitate from fear about their safety.

Gardening is a way to encourage children to learn about nature and how things grow. Just having the kids pull weeds is not the way to encourage them to learn. Start at the beginning of the growing process by having them help you prepare the beds, plant the seeds and potted plants.  I have found that using potted plants works the best with the kids. They get to plant them and see the results of their work and not have to wait for the seed to grow.  The kids then enjoy watching the plants that they planted into the ground themselves grow. If you have the room, you could even give them a small area to plant as their own garden.

Take them out with you as you check on the progress of what you and your children have planted. This helps them to feel they are a part of the growing process and to take ownership with you for the garden. As you work together in the garden, you will be listening to them tell you their stories.  And it is a time for you to pass on your own stories and knowledge to them.

Time spent working in the garden together will be remembered for a lifetime, unlike the highest score gotten on a video game. Have fun together and love each other.

Click here to watch a video about kids and gardening.

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Nesting Material

Bluebirds and Martins from your nesting boxes. English Sparrows and Starlings will often attach and kill Bluebirds and Martins on a nest of eggs. Now is the time to trap and eliminate them. I recommend the use of the Songbird Essentials 2 compartment Sparrow Trap. Place it on Martin poles and other places like buildings where you want to eliminate Sparrows and Starlings. It works best if you bait the outside of the chambers with a small amount of Sparrow nesting material. You can also use popped popcorn. Keeping live Sparrows in the center compartment of the trap helps to attract more.

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Order

The prevention of noxious weeds is one more reason I prefer whole black oil sunflower seeds only for my feeders. In addition, black oil sunflower seeds attracts a wide range of birds and the majority of seeds are consumed at the feeder resulting in minimal waste.  When some seeds are dropped, the ground feeders and squirrels will usually get the seed.  If some seeds do sprout, a sunflower growing is easy to see and pull and is not considered noxious in the wild.  When I clean up the shells under the feeder, I place the shells in my composter, worm bin or rake it in to my flower beds.  The shells provide good areation and nutrition to the soil.  My favorite feeder for black oil sunflower seeds is the Squirrel Buster Plus Feeder.  This feeder allows the smaller birds to have their feeder and I have a different feeder for the larger birds.

Thistle or niger seed for the finches is the other whole seed I use.  It is prety unlikely that the birds will transport seeds in droppings to India, Nepal or Ethiopia where thistle seed is primarily grown commercially.  The Squirrel Buster Finch Bird Feeder is the perfect niger or thisle seed feeder.  In the North West, you will attract American Goldfinches, House Finches, Purple Finches and Pine Siskin most of the year.

One other thing we bird lovers can do is choose foods that won’t sprout such as peanuts, sunflower hearts, and high quality suet cakes.

Just a couple more ways for each of us to be happy birders and be good stewards of nature.

Female Downy Woodpecker

While in my back yard this summer, I became aware of an unusual and repetitive bird call.  At the suet feeder was a female Downy Woodpecker.  She was not as flighty as usual.  She continued to make her intermittant call nearly oblivious to my presence.  As my eyes searched the surrounding fence and trees, I saw a second Downy Woodpecker, certainly as big as the female.  The second one stayed on the post of the fence.  Finally, in desperation, the female took a bit of suet in her beek and flew to the one on the post.  You guessed it.  The female was trying to coax her fledgling baby to come to the feeder to get his own suet.  It took two full days before the fledging finally started to go to the feeder himself!  Even mother birds have to be consistant and diligent with their children!

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