Farmers Almanac

Current Moon Phase

Waning Gibbous
79% of full

Farmers Almanac
The 2012 Farmers Almanac
Farmers' Almanac

Feed Wild Birds Naturally With an Edible Wreath

Wreaths are beautiful on our front doors and when gracing garden gates and even the sides of sheds. Adding even more loveliness than a wreath is having a wreath that attracts and feeds wild birds. In fall and winter I love watching each wild bird as it comes to eat the sumac from the wreath I have made and hung on our door.
To make the natural bird feeder wreath, start with a grapevine wreath for the base. September is the ideal month for collecting natural, organic materials for a wreath. Gather from nature or your garden any combination of these dried seed heads from sumac, elderberry, millet, sorghum, sunflowers, yarrow, or purple coneflower for your wreath. Attach the dried materials to the wreath with floral wire and picks or just poke the stems into the grapevine. The fuller the arrangement, the more beautiful it becomes. Hang your filled wreath where you can be sure to sit and watch the birds feed now through winter!
Note ~ An added warning, don’t be tempted to hang this wreath indoors. After a month or two, moths may hatch! I made this mistake and suddenly one day our bedroom was filled with flying moths!

For more gifts from the garden ideas, you’ll want a copy of Deborah Tukua and Vicki West’s resourceful book, Pearls of Garden Wisdom. Sold here at FATV or at www.hollycreekbooks.com.

If you notice a hole in the upper left-hand corner of your Farmers' Almanac, don't return it to the store! That hole isn't a defect; it's a part of history. Starting with the first edition of the Farmers' Almanac in 1818, readers used to nail holes into the corners to hang it up in their homes, barns, and outhouses (to provide both reading material and toilet paper). In 1910, the Almanac's publishers began pre-drilling holes in the corners to make it even easier for readers to keep all of that invaluable information (and paper) handy.

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