A twofer! Great info on fall gardening and birds

Feeding Birds Fat in the Winter
As part of frugal living and recycling… when it came to my son frying bacon we decided to do it the old fashioned way and save the grease in a glass jar. We’ve been saving and saving and now have a jar full of bacon grease. We thought it could be used to feed to the birds who overwinter here. They need fat to give them enough energy to get through the winter.
 

 
Yesterday, we bought a bird feeder… It was on clearance too. Pretty nice and sturdy looking and seemed like it could do the job we intended for it.
 

 
To go along with the fat, we’d of course need some sunflower seed. Birds like the kind with oil in them because again that provides more fat that they can burn as fuel. Thought I’d start with a 17 pound bag. It’s been a few years since I’ve fed the birds and I don’t know how many we’ll attract here in Kansas. Some of the other states that I’ve lived have had large populations of birds who loved to stop by and munch on the sunflower seeds…and it wasn’t limited to birds either. I remember one particularly big squirrel who used to shoo the birds away with a swish of his large tail.
 

 
After a bit of consultation… we agreed to just spoon the fat onto the outside tray rather than thinking it could seep down through the bottom openings if it was layered like lasagna. Seems like it’ll be much less messy this way. We’ll see how this experiment goes…! : )
 

 
We already had a stand onto which the feeder can hang that we used in the summer for flowers and a hummingbird feeder…
 
Having it by the garden makes for a nice scene to look out onto from the dining room table too. I love the way the sun shines on the vegetables and casts long shadows this time of year.
 

 
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes with the birds as the days get colder and the birds need to rely on provided sources rather than natural sources for their food supplies.
 
I wrapped some of the tomatoes in newspaper that I had picked before the first hard frost. Today I was checking on them and had some lovely discoveries… Look at how bright that one tomato has become with quite a few others on their way…
 
Think we’ll munch on that one for lunch… looks yummy.
 

 
I’m also trying to dehydrate greens today along with bananas and strawberries. The bananas are so good this way; and the strawberries are good as a snack or on top of breakfast cereal. The greens make a very healthy and tasty snack to munch on at work with very few calories associated with them—but all the flavor and the nutrition.
 

 
This fall/winter gardening thing has become a new passion… I just love to look at it growing. The temperatures are not so overly intense in the fall as they are here in the summer. And the produce tastes so great. I feel healthy when I’m eating this food.
 

 
How are you enjoying your fall days? Got any great secrets to pass along? I love  reading your comments. You have lots of good ideas and use ways and methods that are so very clever. It’s amazing how brilliant you all are…
 
Bon appetit : )
 
 
 

Posted by KnowYourTruth.com at 11/13/2011 3:37 PM | Add Comment

Starting Fire with Steel Wool and Ferro Rod
Here’s a quick (3:17 minutes) video on how to start a fire using steel wool and Ferro Rod. You can pick up the ferro rod at any outdoor equipment store and the steel wool can be obtained from your local grocery store. It’s a good idea to have some on hand so you can start a fire in the event of any number of types of emergencies. If you haven’t ever done this, this little video provides a great example of how to go about doing it. Even a novice can make this happen following the easy tips in this video.
 
click here for video