birds

26 Feb
2013
first peas of the spring

Here comes spring!

I know. I know. It’s still February. Some of you are digging out from yet another snowstorm, while others are already enjoying homegrown harvests from your year-round gardens. And then, of course, it’s high summer for you Southern Hemisphere types. But, here in the United States, in USDA Zone 7a, ...

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3 Feb
2013
birdhouse in the snow

It’s time to plant some … birdhouses!?

It’s a perfect wintry morning. Snow flurries are drifting past the window, I’ve got a warm cup of coffee and hand, and there’s the promise of a hot bowl of Superbowl chili later today. Not bad, as far as lazy wintertime Sundays go. But, I’m not thinking about snow or ...

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23 Jul
2012
baby blue jay

Water for birds

For nearly two-thirds of the United States, this has been a painfully dry summer. As of last week, 64% of the continental United States was covered by drought. If recent trends continue, that number will be higher this week. Drought isn’t good for anyone. It’s bad for gardens and gardeners, ...

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9 May
2012
Please Help Save Stadium Woods at Virginia Tech

Help save Stadium Woods

We’re taking a little departure from gardening today. I hope you’ll forgive me. In fact, I hope you’ll do more than forgive me. I hope you’ll join me. Here’s the deal. There’s this forest. It’s filled with oaks. Really old oaks. And, this forest — Stadium Woods — sits smack ...

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7 May
2012
blue potato sprouts

Monday morning garden stroll: #1

How do you start your days? Mine nearly always begin with a stroll through the front yard vegetable and flower garden. I check for deer damage. I look for newly opened flowers or ripening fruits. And, lately, I’ve been picking a few strawberries for breakfast. The ones the catbirds leave ...

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2 May
2012
Will fishing line be enough to keep the catbirds out of the strawberry patch?

Strawberries, catbirds and fishing line

Let’s just go ahead and file this post under “the neighbors must think I’m crazy.” As if they didn’t have enough evidence already (there was that time I washed the inside of my mailbox, for example), yesterday they got to watch me stringing fishing line through my strawberry patch. This ...

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16 Aug
2011
Carolina wrens are frequent visitors to the garden, where they forage for all manner of insects.

It’s not a garden. It’s a habitat.

Yesterday, I saw a hummingbird in the garden. It’s the first one I’ve seen since moving into the house last October. She helped herself to some nectar from the native butterflyweed plants before buzzing off to her next stop. Pretty excellent way to start the week. She wasn’t alone either. ...

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