After a miserable winter, it would seem that spring is finally upon us. That means sunshine, plants in bloom and birds, at least for my backyard. Every year I aspire to have some form of a garden (or at least a weed free area for plants to grow) and bird feeders.
I love the variety of birds we get in this area. Back home in Boston, I usually only saw pigeons and seagulls. Here in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, I am visited by robins, sparrows, mourning doves, grackles, starlings, blue jays, cardinals, finches, and the occasional hummingbird. As much as I love birds, I don't want them nesting on my house, which is something we battle every spring. This year, we had a problem with sparrows perching on the fan on my back porch and using my patio table as a toilet. I came across an article on the internet that claimed that gardeners and farmers used CD's on their fruit trees because birds don't like reflective objects. So I decided to give that a try. I taped a CD to each blade of the fan (reflective side up, of course) with double sided tape and waited.
Three weeks later, it's a success! No one has seen any birds on my fan and my patio table is grateful. Of course, my husband thinks once we turn on the fan, the CD's will fly off and decapitate someone. I think that's a bit extreme, but I'll let you know....
Experiment #2 involved growing plants from seed. I have always enjoyed trying to grow different plants from seed. When I am successful, I don't enjoy trying to transfer seedlings to the ground or a pot. Big box stores do sell mini pots that you transfer to the ground or a bigger container, but I thought there had to be a better way. Solution? Eggshells. Most everyone has eggs in their house. You either compost the shells or throw them away. So I saved a carton and filled them with rinsed half shells, put some dirt in them, some sunflower seeds, and water. And waited. After a week, I was rewarded with this:
Once they get big enough, I'll plant them in the ground. Here in this area, I've always been told to wait till Mother's Day to plant anything in the ground. That is usually when we're past the danger of frost and hopefully that holds true.
Experiment #3 started this morning. Again, I've read online (probably on Pinterest) that it is very easy to grow root vegetables from cut ends. I was cutting up some celery for chicken stock and ended up with an end from the bunch of celery. So into a clear custard cup it went with a little water. I will keep you updated on how this experiment goes.
Have any experiments you've tried around your garden or home? Let me know how they have turned out!
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