Journaling for the ecofeminism class! :)<\/p>\n
Regarding how the plans for the yard go, and my place in nature: I’ve put up two bird feeders — one for hummingbirds and one for seed eaters — out front as I continue to map out what changes and\/or additions I intend for the yard. The seed eaters absolutely tear<\/em> through the birdseed! I think I’m going to just fill it once a week, so I don’t become the sole source of food — and also so I can afford to continue feeding the birds.<\/p>\n Reading up on the National Zoo page to remind myself of the hummingbird nectar formula<\/a>, I’m pleased the hummingbird feeder is the kind where they can perch and drink, which saves them some energy. Astonishing how much sugar they need in their nectar water, though: 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water. I feel a little bad when reading about why red food dye should not be added, remembering how carefully, as children, my sister and I measured out water and sugar for the hummingbirds — then added 1 drop of red food dye per cup. About all I can say in our defense is we researched the best we knew how, and we meant well — even if we didn’t know then that it was bad for them.<\/p>\n For the planting side of things, a lot depends on what I can find, and how much they cost. I’m also trying to pick plants that are sturdy natives that don’t require a lot of water or attention, and which are attractive to at least two of the following: bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, or other birds or insects. I’m trying to stay flexible due to the varying needs I have, so at this point I think I’d like to put in one or two wild lilac<\/a> or skunkbush sumac bushes against the house, and see if I can get them to grow enough that I can get them to spread along the entire side. I’m not sure yet what the ground cover will be, but I do know I’d love to buy as many sticky monkeyflower<\/a>, blue bedder penstemon<\/a>, California fuschia<\/a>, and sage<\/a> as I can afford — for their attraction to wildlife, their native sturdiness, and the beautiful flowers. If I can’t afford all this I’ll try seeds instead, of course. ;)<\/p>\n For my two big clay planters I’m thinking some herbs in one and succulents in the other. I’ve found a page on the internet which talks about how to make a really pretty looking little herb container garden, and the most recent issue of Sunset (I think that’s the name?) has an article on some truly gorgeously colorful succulents. While I suspect the particular succulents that look so beautiful will be out of my price range, I don’t see why I can’t at least try planting a few nice ones, after all. I’d also like to plant a burst or two of fescue<\/a> next to the container-pots, since that’s just a really pretty looking grass.<\/p>\n Next on the list: going to OSH to learn enough to try healing the rosebushes and the wounded evergreen tree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Journaling for the ecofeminism class! :) Regarding how the plans for the yard go, and my place in nature: I’ve put up two bird feeders…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,33,32,6,23,1,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craftiness","category-ecofeminism","category-education","category-environmental-thoughts","category-ma-phd-programs","category-uncategorized","category-year-of-50-new-things"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3700"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3709,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3700\/revisions\/3709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stormtiger.com\/collie\/bestiary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}