Sara's Garden MarketSustainable Living, Gardening, Flowers, and Food

The House Finches that have nested in my entry way hanging basket for the past 4 years are BACK!

I had seen the nest pop up virtually over night because we had some cold weather and I was bringing the basket in the garage over night so it wouldn’t freeze. I went to move it one night and the nest was just there! I didn’t know who had created it though. No eggs we in the nest yet. So I had to leave it out and hope the Fuchsia in it wouldn’t freeze.

Now there are eggs. I don’t know how many because I haven’t seen them personally, but the momma is in there constantly so she must be sitting on her eggs. 🙂 The birds are very skiddish right now but eventually the get the idea that we are not going to hurt them and they stick around the nest even if we are outside.

I had the hanging basket for about a week before the nest was there. The first time it happened we had gotten a May Day basket from my husband’s grandma and that’s what they nested in. So I know they like to nest around May 1st, so ever since then I have made sure to have something for them to nest in by May 1st. One year I missed the date and they nested in the Juniper bush in front of the door!!! We couldn’t use the front entrance for a good month because that nest was so out in the open we were afraid they would abandon it if we were too close.

I can’t wait to be hearing little baby bird chirps out my front door! It should take about 14 days or so.

Gotta run, hope to get some pictures up on this bare sight soon!

~Sara

I was just reading my Farmer’s Almanac for this year and found out the meaning behind the term “Victory Garden.”

In 1588 Queen Elizabeth sent riders out into the country side to tell the folks out there to prepare for war. One of the main things that was told to everyone through out the land was to plant extra food in their home gardens because without it they would be going hungry. This is was part of the reason the English were victorious over the Spanish invasion!

Likewise during WW2 the department of agriculture told people to start home gardens (which at that time were few and far between here in the U.S.) to relieve the demand for food in the grocery stores. Many families took this advice and ate better (and a lot healthier) for it!

So, the Victory Garden is just that – a sustainable way for families to maintain themselves during times of war. Thinking about all of the ways this effects the whole country is amazing to me. A war can be won due to sustainable living, in particular – gardening for our selves and not relying on the grocery stores to be there for us.

This is just as true now as it was back then. Gardening this way can conserve energy and also keep us healthier!