Posted on 05/20/2023 6:49:21 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Thank you Diana!
A friend of mine discovered that sprinkling diatomaceous earth on the nest and baby birds increases their survival rate. The DE kills bird mites and other insects, she said blowflies, that can kill the babies.
Thanks, Pete!
That’s how you tell with peaches, but it’s when the squirrels start eating them.
At least the peaches will ripen in the house. Not so with blueberries and raspberries. A green blueberry is not half bad but I wouldn’t eat a bowlful.
A couple years the nesting Coopers hawks solved the berry and bird problem. So would my cats if I let them out.
I do plant for hummingbirds. Right now the native honeysuckle is blankets of bloom.
I never knew this! Thanks!
What brand is that with the TM by the different kinds?
I wish I had any kind of fruit tree here in my yard, or edible nuts, even. That would be a new adventure for me.
Besides the fig tree, we have a pear tree and several citrus trees, but never get any fruit from any of them. Plenty of mesquite beans, which are supposed to be edible, but I’ve never tried them.
The Sonoran Desert is generally not a great place for fruit trees.
I tried building bluebird houses over the winter as we have many down here. Mr.Bluebird must be carrying a tape measure with him because all are unoccupied.
For all you “happy gardeners” out there - I haven’t heard this in ages & it made me smile:
Garden Song ~ David Mallett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRO2_S1rdSs
Inch by inch, row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe
And a piece of fertile ground
And inch by inch, and row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below
Till the rain comes tumblin’ down
And pullin’ weeds and pickin’ stones
Man is made of dreams and bones
Feel the need to grow my own
‘Cause the time is close at hand
And rain for grain, sun and rain
Find my way in nature’s chain
And tune my body and my brain
To the music from the land
Inch by inch and row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe
And a piece of fertile ground
And inch by inch, and row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
And someone warm them from below
Till the rain comes tumblin’ down
Plant your rows straight and long
Temper them with prayer and song
And mother earth will make you strong
If you give her love and care
An old crow watchin’ hungrily
From his perch in yonder tree
And in my garden I’m as free
As that feathered thief up there
Inch by inch and row by row
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe
And a piece of fertile ground
And inch by inch, and row by row
Someone bless these seeds I sow
And someone warm them from below
Till the rain comes tumblin’ down
We have several different Bluebird houses, and the one that they choose most commonly is this Peterson style house.
https://www.dutchcrafters.com/Amish-Poly-Peterson-Blue-Bird-House/p/54509
Tips for building your own Peterson style here. https://feltmagnet.com/crafts/bluebird-house-slant-front
They’ve also built nests in this one every now and again.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/10-875-in-H-Cedar-Wood-Variety-Nesting-Box-Bird-House/1000184213
This one is pretty similar to the third one that they’ve used sometimes.
We also have one on a post that we bought from Wilds Birds Unlimited, but the House Sparrows fight for that one, so the bluebirds never choose it. I keep it regularly cleaned out so the sparrows never lay eggs in it.
More tips on where to place the bluebird houses here.
https://bluebirdlandlord.com/where-to-place-a-bluebird-house-the-best-location/
In my yard, the one they pick the most often faces a little bit southeast, and the others, variations of southeast. They only choose one box at a time. I think because mine are too close together.
Our yard is heavily wooded, so these are placed with the woods behind them and the lawn area open in front of them. I can see all of them from our windows, which makes it convenient to see when they begin feeding the babies. Their mealworm feeders are located near out deck, too, so I can refill those quickly and easily. Hope any of this helps.
Here we can tell if the figs are ripe when they all drop to the ground at once, making a huge sticky mess - and are immediately descended on by bees and other insects.
Got some new recipes for this year so hope to get ‘em before the birds, insects and inevitable slop to the ground.
I want to know where the bees are. Seen none yet, unusual.
If there fruit that should work in the desert it would be a fig, provided it has enough water. Tolerates a lot of heat. Note that there are two types of figs, common, and smyrna figs. Common figs do not need a wasp to pollinate them, smyrna figs do. You want common figs.
There is a place called Son Mut Nou, Montserrate in Mallorca. What they do is to give each tree a space that is about 40' x 40' and do not let anything else grow in that area. When They plant they dig down 4 or 5 feet and plant the tree. They cover the roots, and water and it begins to grow. As it gets taller they fill in more of the hole until it is level with the rest of the orchard. They prune it until the limbs are 5-6 feets above the ground. They have rain about 2 months a year, and after that first couple of years they do not water the trees. The tree needs to develop and send out roots to get the water it needs. Here is a video of this fig orchard which looks like a desert!
0:39 / 2:24 Son Mut Nou, Montserrat Pons fig trees
For more information go to "https://www.ourfigs.com/"
I’m west of Tucson at about 2100’ elevation. Our fig tree did OK last year in a big pot, though the birds ate the figs, of course. I planted it in the ground in March and am watering it deeply about every 10 days; so far so good, but I’ll have to water a bit more when the heat really gets here. I hope the roots grow outward enough for the tree to thrive. The soil here is really poor, mostly sand/clay and quite hard.
I don’t think it stays cold enough long enough during the winter for most fruit trees to do well.
Everyone knows about mission figs. There are a lot of other varieties:
https://figbid.com/
Good luck!
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