the garden-roof coop: Search results for suet wreath

Friday, March 1, 2013

DIY Suet Wreath

Male and Female Downy Woodpeckers
Tufted Titmouse

I recently conducted a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give: Creating a Bird Garden

But - this class was all about creating bird-feeders and I came up with a few originals and I experimented with several I found on the Internet. For this DIY suet wreath, here the link to one of the best tutorials I found: Create a Suet Bird Seed Wreath

I've been making my own suet for years and I am sure the birds prefer my homemade version over a purchased suet cake... In fact, I've never had a bluebird visit a suet feeder at my property unless it contained my homemade recipe! In addition to coating pine-cones with my suet mixture, I've been experimenting with some other options to offer this food supplement. Here's my recipe and the link to what I've came up with so far... DIY Suet Feeders

Suet Recipe
1 cup lard ~ You can render your own suet from beef fat (it's an all day process), but I prefer purchasing lard, which is pork fat.
1 cup chunky peanut butter
Melt the lard and peanut butter together, then add:
3 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
4 cups birdseed

For the suet wreath, I added the following to the basic suet recipe:
1 package unflavored Knox gelatin dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water

Add the prepared suet mixture to a greased Bundt pan. I also picked up a helpful tip from the tutorial above and added a wire ring insert. - Place half of the suet mixture into the pan, add the wire ring, then the remaining suet. Pack the mixture down thoroughly into the pan with the back of a metal spoon. Refrigerate overnight. Allow the wreath the return to room temperature and it should be easy to remove from the pan. I added braided strips of burlap to use as a hanger. This wreath holds up much longer than you would expect and the wire ring insert helps to keep it from falling apart.

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Outdoor Wednesday
I'd Rather B Birdn'
Wild Bird Wednesday
Nature Notes

Sunday, January 20, 2013

DIY Winter Wreath Bird-Feeder

I'm preparing a class for the Master Gardener chapter that I'm a member of on making bird-feeders utilizing natural sources, recycled materials and re-purposed items. Of course the best bird-feeder is what nature provides: nuts, seeds and fruit from native trees, shrubs and wildflowers (and native insects)... Here's my hand-out for my "bird" talk I give: Creating a Bird Garden

A couple of Tufted Titmice ♥

But - this class is all about creating bird-feeders and I've been trying a few DIY feeders I've found over the Internet. This feeder I especially like because it's cheap ($3.50) and it provides a variety of food sources: birdseed, suet and natural seeds/berries. Here's the link to the original: Winter Wreath Bird Feeder

Supplies:

Grapevine wreath - $2.50 (Wal-Mart)
Splatter guard - $1.00 (Dollar Store)
Jute (minimal cost)
Suet (minimal cost - made my own)
Cuttings from trees and shrubs; pine-cone (free)

How-to:

Cut three pieces of jute about 50" in length. Divide the splatter guard into thirds. Make three small holes through the screen and connect the splatter guard to the wreath with the jute (the screen will hold birdseed in the finished feeder). I did end up spray painting the edge of the splatter guard brown because the shiny silver was annoyingly obvious.

Bring the three strings up and tie into a loop. Braid the remaining string and tie another loop (which will hold the pine-cone).

Tuck cuttings from native trees and shrubs into the wreath. I used American holly, winterberry, chokecherry, and red cedar. The cuttings can change with the season: native grasses, seed-heads from wildflowers, sunflowers, etc...

Hang a suet coated pine-cone in the center of the feeder - hang the feeder - watch the action!