Feb. 16, 2008 - Indigenous, edible gardening
Something I think about during winter is gardening. It may seem strange to ponder on such a topic, but when all one sees is a blanket of white for seven months, spring and gardening often comes to mind!
The visits of various types of birds to our yard has been a topic of recent discussion for my family. We have a birdfeeder with wild bird mix in it. One year we had a suet feeder but we didn't see any birds eating at it. (We probably scared them away when we opened the back door!)
Most birds visit our yard because of our trees, shrubs and garden plants. The vegetation provides year-round protective cover, spring nesting sites and winter food. It is important to retain trees and choose to plant indigenous, edible garden plants.
Every year we plant at least one more shrub and new garden plant to benefit birds and insects. For fertilizer I use aged 'manure tea' made from duck litter. I don't spray weeds and I don't use insect spray. I depend on beneficial insects to munch up the 'bad bugs'.
We see a surprising amount of fauna visiting our suburban yard. The birds are drawn here because of the availability of food, foliage and water. I'm happy because not only do nature study opportunities come to our door, but I know that the birds can safely snack on what grows in our yard.
A few years ago my husband snapped this photograph of a female Ruffed Grouse eating the edible berries on a smaller tree in one corner of our front yard. We watched this bird for one half an hour. This gave us time to look up and learn more about Ruffed Grouse, including whether it was male or female and it's colouration (grey phase).
...Without learning of the importance of indigenous, edible gardening, we wouldn't have had this wonderful experience!
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