With all the choices these days, it can be confusing to know what type of bird food to buy. Bird food and bird feeders can be purchased at gardening stores, hardware stores and even at grocery stores. Different birds eat at different levels – some feel more comfortable eating on the ground, while others prefer to eat higher up, so place a variety of feeders at a variety of heights to attract a larger variety and number of birds. Keep a journal and record which feeder attracts what types of birds.

Before purchasing a bird feeder, examine it closely. You should buy a bird feeder that is rain and snow resistant so that the food for the birds will remain fresh. Also, try opening the bird feeder to ensure that it is easy to fill and clean out. If the bird feeder requires too much work to fill or clean, chances are you won’t do it and then you won’t attract as many birds as you would like to.

Here’s a break down of the different types of food available for birds.

Bird Seed: Bird seeds are the most common food placed in bird feeders. While there are many different kinds of bird seeds, black sunflower seeds are the most common because the majority of birds will eat them. If you do place bird seed out for birds to eat, make sure that the seeds are unsalted. Also, store bird seed in a cool, dry place to ensure the freshness of the seeds.

Suet: Suet is when berries, seeds and other ingredients have been mixed into meat fat. Suet is popular with nuthatches, chickadees, blue jays and woodpeckers and is commonly offered to birds in the winter. Be careful if you put suet out in the summer, as the heat can turn the fat rancid very quickly. To create your own suet, first melt the meat fat, which can be bought at your local butcher shop. Next, add berries, seeds and other ingredients to the fat and mix well. Remove the mixture from heat and allow it to harden.

Nectar: Nectar is a water and sugar mixture that is offered to hummingbirds. To create your own hummingbird food, bring 4 parts of water to a boil and add 1 part sugar. Stir and allow the mixture to cool before filling hummingbird feeders. Change the mixture every three to five days in order to prevent bacteria and mold from growing. Hummingbirds are readily attracted to the colour red, so in the past it was common practice to add red food colouring to homemade hummingbird food. This addition is unnecessary as most hummingbird feeders have a red base, which is sufficient to attract hummingbirds. If you want to ensure that hummingbirds will come to your feeder, plant some flowers with red blooms nearby or tie red ribbons to the hummingbird feeder.

By: Joanne Jones

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Everyone – including the backyard gardener – who wants to grow food in a way that is sustainable and that respects the natural environment can benefit from using the federal organic guidelines from the Organic Food Production Act that took effect in 2002. These federal standards for organic cultivation were designed by people with a profound knowledge of how to produce food ecologically.

With the home gardener rather than the market gardener especially in mind, what follows here is an overview and some highlights of the standards and regulations. For more details, visit the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) website: http://www.ams.usda.gov. Click “National Organic Program.”

~~Soil~~

In an organic gardening system, soil health is fundamental to success. Even though natural fertilizers and other inputs are used in organic gardening, they are minimized by regular additions of organic material to feed and improve the soil. This material can come, for instance, from tilling in cover crops and from using approved soil amendments such as compost.

Raw animal manures are not to be used as soil amendments within six months of harvest for root crops. For crops where the edible part never touches the soil, raw animal manures are not used within three months of harvest. Sewage sludge is absolutely banned. Crop residues can be chopped into the soil, but not burned.

~~Pests~~

Biological pesticides can be used, but should be viewed as a last resort. Before spraying a pesticide, organic gardeners can use predators of the pest species, develop habitat to encourage the natural enemies of pests, and use controls like traps and non-synthetic repellants.

~~Diseases~~

Prevention is the idea. Plants grown in healthy soil are naturally resistant to disease. Crop rotation and selecting the right varieties also contribute to disease control. If, however, there is still a problem, visit the USDA web site mentioned above and select from the National List of biologicals and botanicals that are permitted to certified organic growers.

~~Weeds~~

The federal organic standards allow no herbicides. Control weeds by tilling, hand weeding, mowing, etc. Also, natural mulches (e.g. straw) are useful.

~~Seeds and Transplants~~

These must also be organic for the crop to be labeled organic.

The backyard gardener who is interested in growing organically for the nutritional and environmental benefit rather than for the purpose of marketing, probably doesn’t need all the nitty gritty details of the Organic Food Production Law.

Just use the basic guidelines and act with respect for nature, and you’re on the way to producing organic food. It’s well worth it: healthier for people and healthier for the environment.

By: Judith Schwader

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