What's New This Week

Cold weather, that's what's new. Record breaking freezing temps and snow. You wouldn't think there would be much going on in the garden, would you?

Oh this pan? It's sugar water (1part sugar to 4parts water boiled for 1 minute) cooling for the hummingbirds. Don't forget those feeders if you are feeding the hummingbirds. They could be frozen.

Building Birdhouses

Spring is fast approaching and with it comes the birds looking for nesting places. Consider what birds bring to our lives; music, antics, and life in addition to being natural pest controllers. Where there are birds there is a balance in the environment.

Building simple boxes are easy to do with a few simple tools. The only considerations to keep in mind is where to place them and the materials to use. Do not use pretreated wood of any kind. Do not paint the inside of the birdhouse.

The type of birds that will be attracted to the birdhouse will depend on the size of the opening. The smaller the hole the smaller the bird. Large hole large bird. This also applies to the space inside the birdhouse. A large bird will not use a birdhouse that is too cramped and a small bird will not use a birdhouse that is supersized.

This page gives all the information you need to build simple birdhouses for all types of birds. It includes all the opening measurements and dimensions for the birdhouse itself. Once you have this information the rest is up to your imagination.



Building a Birdhouse
http://kimsey.stonepics.com/birdhome.htm

What's new this week?

And Now A Moment For Garden Humor ...

What do you get if you divide the circumference of a pumpkin by its diameter? Pumpkin pi.

In my yard this week ...

And Now A Moment For Garden Humor ...

"Why do potatoes make good detectives?
Because they keep their eyes peeled." ~Unknown

A Farmer's Market Comes To Shoreline

http://shorelinefarmersmarket.blogspot.com/

"Shoreline Farmers Market
A cornerstone of a sustainable community is the Farmers Market. Our great city and surrounding communities could benefit from a market in so many ways, now we just need to figure out how to make this happen!"

So, what is happening in your yard today? Take 5 minutes, right now, and go take a look. You may be surprised at what you find.

02/05/2011 Meeting

The first meeting was to gather information about what we want out of the club.

The general feeling was to keep the format open to all gardening has to offer. We would like to promote healthy, environmentally safe and clean gardening in all of Shoreline. To share information with other gardeners and to teach as well as learn from each other. Let this be the venue in which we can all come together for a common goal, as a community.

We agreed that we would like to have seed and plant exchanges as well as sales of plants to earn money for the club. Have guest speakers, garden tours, and whatever else the group would like to do. A facebook page will be set up to share information about the club in addition to this website.

Did you know the city of Shoreline has been certified as a Wildlife Habitat? The whole city. That's an awesome thing we are doing here. With the push for green sustainable gardening in every community around the country, we encourage each of you to join us as we learn from each other. Wouldn't it be something if we could make Shoreline a model city for community supported gardening? I think it would be awesome.

Meetings will be the first Saturday each month. 1pm Sky Nursery. More info to follow as it becomes available.

For more info regarding Wildlife Habitat certification in Shoreline:

Boni Biery, the woman behind Shoreline's Wildlife Certification
http://www.shorelineareanews.com/2010/11/boni-bieri-woman-behind-shorelines.html

City of Shoreline certified as Community Wildlife Habitat
http://www.shorelineareanews.com/2010/11/city-of-shoreline-certified-as.html