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| Sassy supervised me outside until a few drops of rain fell. She went inside. |
The soil was getting just right for planting when rain began rolling in, as predicted. At the same time, I was hoping for the straw bale plants that were already shipped. Late in the afternoon, the cool breeze that precedes rain began blowing.
The Jackson Bird Spa was already muddy, so I decided to mulch the area, as much as the shredded cypress allowed. No one can ever have too much mulch, compost, or manure.
I had bags of newspapers, which seemed to be surplus during the snow, but they suddenly became handy. Newspapers absorb and give up moisture easily, so they have to be held down as the first layer of Jackson Mulch.
Damp leaves dry up and blow away, leaving the newspaper layer vulnerable to breezes and blowing away. The best solution is wooden mulch on the newspaper layer, followed by compost or mushroom compost to hold down and decompose the papers.
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| My squirrel proof feeder is now adjusted to benefit the small birds, and we get a charm of goldfinches constantly eating there, just outside our bedroom window. |
I threw down the newspapers in a rough circular pattern, where I normally walk. I raked cypress mulch on top and a little mushroom compost to hold down the edges. Four bird baths were placed on top the mulch and filled.
The mulch itself will serve as a bird feeder, by attracting and supporting bugs, arthropods, and worms.
The bird baths will be easier to clean and fill on the mulch.
The birds have:
- Four bags of suet (kidney fat).
- Several layers of food, from the mulch to the filing cabinet and drawer, to the tree-hung suet bags, to the squirrel feeder, used mostly by starlings.
- A random pile of sticks and twigs for perching and nesting material.
- A variety of seeds - sunflower, corn, and peanuts.
I can use some crockery to shelter the toads. An upside-down flower pot is also good for spiders to hide in (Sharon Lovejoy).
Another Lovejoy idea is to use garbage can lids as liners for shallow ponds. I do not want the effort of a regular pond, but a larger area than the little baths might be especially attractive to a diversity of animal and insect life. Instead of digging it in, I would created a bed of mulch - an above ground pool.
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| The Creation is filled with abundance, and the Savior provides even more abundance through miracles. |