In My Library: Birding Books
Many of you are avid readers, like me, you are probably interested in what other people have on their bookshelves. While I was looking for a book the other day, the thought hit me that you might be interested in seeing what books I have gracing the shelves in my home. This will be a series, every now and then I’ll feature a few of the books on my shelf and tell you about them, where I got them, if I love them, etc.
Growing up, my parents were interested in birds. We had a bird book in the house and I can see where sightings of different birds were jotted down in the back. My parents gave us the book, but it was old and the photos were fairly faded. Proper identification was difficult at times. As a result, Mr Chiots and I have purchased a few new bird books to help up identify the feathered friends we see.
These books go with us as we travel, just in case we spy a new and interesting bird. They certainly come in handy. We love them both for different reasons. Stokes Birds is full of vibrant photos making it easy to identify birds. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America is filled with detailed drawing that note the differences between birds of of the same family groups. We also have a bird ap for our iPad, we use it often when searching to identify birds we can only hear.
Do you have any good identification books?
The Series:
In My Library – part 1
In My Library – part 2
In My Library – Part 3
In My Library – Birding Books
In My Library: the Edible Garden Edition
If you do want to purchase any of these books or anything else from Amazon, use my Amazon Link, I’ll earn a few pennies to help pay for my now outrageous hosting bill for this blog!
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Planning
This is the fourth installment in the 5×5 Garden Challenge Series. Every Wednesday I’ll be posting about the challenge, covering topics that will help all the new gardeners get started. If you haven’t heard about the challenge head on over to the 5×5 Challenge Website, we’ll also be putting up a page here that pulls in all the 5×5 Challenge posts.
When it comes to gardening, taking the time to plan where everything goes will save you some hassle and confusion in the future. If you’re new gardening and you only have a small space it’s not quite as necessary, but it’s a good habit to get into. That way you don’t end up with too many plants for the space that you have. It also helps you to take into consideration the area needed by each plant.
Last week I sat down to plan out where everything would be going in my 5×5 Challenge Garden. I put the tall tomato vines in the back with the zucchini plants going in front of them. If I have space I’ll tuck basil on the sides of the bed beside the zucchini.
Planning things out will also help if you want to plant in succession. So when the scallions are finished producing in summer, you can plan on planting lettuce or spinach in their place. When the lettuce is done in early summer, perhaps beans or radishes can be planted in their spot. Taking a little time to plan will save you much frustration and streamline things later in the gardening season.
Do you make a formal plan for your garden?
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The Outhouse Coop
We had this little outhouse in the new triangle garden area. Since we decided to get Dailon his own flock of laying hens, we needed a coop for them. We also wanted to use the chickens to work up the soil in that area.
Dailon got to work turning the outhouse into a little coop. He gutted the building, rebuilt the back wall with salvaged lumber and built exterior nesting boxes with outside access.
The inside was whitewashed to freshen it up and roosts were made from trees and a new coop was born, for only a few dollars. It’s not posh and polished like many coops you see, but for the money we spent it’s a bargain – and it certainly has it’s own charm and history!
At the moment, we’ve putting our main flock of chickens in the fenced in area to keep them out of the edible gardens until my new fence arrives. They’re doing a great job of working up the soil already. No doubt, Dailon’s flock of Golden Comets will be happy hens in this new rustic coop.
Have you repurposed anything in the garden recently?
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Cultivate Simple 29: Stew 1.0
An honest and unrehearsed discussion about trying to live a more simple life. This is episode 29 and today we are talking about everything.
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
What’s For Dinner?
Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms
Books of the Week
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:28 — 57.3MB)
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Quote of the Day: Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd
Vegetables beckon and intrigue us in a way no fish or piece of meat every could.
The beauty of a single lettuce, its inner leaves tight and crisp, the outer ones opened up like those of a cottage garden rose; the glowing saffron flesh of a cracked pumpkin; the curling tendrils of a pea plant; a bunco hot long white-tipped radishes; a bag of assorted tomatoes in shades of soft scarlet, green and orange is something I like to take time over. And not only is it the look of them that is beguiling. The rough feel of a runner bean between the fingers, the childish pop of a pea pod, the inside of a fur lined lava bean case, the cool vellum like skin of a freshly dug potato are all reason to linger. And all of this even before we have turned the oven on.
Nigel Slater Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch
This time of year I’m especially happy to start seeing the beauty evolve in the vegetable garden. It’s exciting to see the first pink tops of radishes forming in the dark earth.
The colors of all the brassicas are particularly intriguing, this year I’m enjoying the unfurling of ‘Purple Peacock’ Broccoli.
The ‘Scarlet Frills’ mustard is calling me to harvest it in order to add color to our spinach salads. And the Red Sales lettuce’s color is growing deeper with the intensity of the sun.
What vegetable are you enjoying visually at the moment?
