Decorate Your Trees While Feeding Birds and Wildlife

Feeding the birds has never been so fun. Decorate your trees with homemade garland and wildlife friendly ornaments.

Fruit Garland

Decorate outdoor trees with a fruit garland of cranberries, orange & apples slices. Supplies needed include cotton string and a large sewing needle. Alternate different fruits to make your own design. Remove string from the tree when fruit is gone, to prevent girdling the branches.

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

Supplies needed: pine cones, cotton string, peanut butter, bird seed and a spoon. Tie 8-inch string around pinecone and  make a loop. Cover pinecone with peanut butter. Roll peanut butter pine cone in birdseed. Make several and hang on tree branches. Remove string when birdseed is gone.

Suet Cakes

You can purchase suit cakes or make your own.

Recipe for homemade suet (source Penn State Extension)

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup vegetable shortening

4 cups cornmeal

1 cup flour

1 cup sunflower seeds (optional)

Suet can be frozen in blocks and placed in suet feeders. Or use cookie cutters for making different shapes. Place large cookie cutters on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Fill cookie cutters with suet mixture. Put in freezer. When hard, pop out of cookie cutter, place in suit cage bird feeder and hang in tree.

Enjoy, MJ Frogge

Obsessive Tidiness Disorder

Does anyone you know have Obsessive Tidiness Disorder? British Entomologist Douglas Boyes discusses this in his 2018 blog. Please take a few minutes to read.

Obsessive Tidiness Disorder or: How we can learn to stop worrying and love nature’s messiness

Douglas unfortunately past away recently, but his message is one we all need to hear and think about.

Education, sharing our knowledge and leading by example is the best way to help our pollinators and wildlife. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Share the benefits of being less tidy.

MJ Frogge