Carrots and Kids

Make a Bird Nest Building Buffet

Things have been extraordinarily stressful at Carrots Cottage this last week and a bit, but one of the most soothing things I've found is watching birds in the garden.

I stand at the kitchen window sipping coffee, thumbing through a very old copy of The Hamlyn Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe. It's old, priced at £1.75, but we got it in a charity shop.

There's not as many feathered visitors as I'd like but we've had dunnocks, great tits, chaffinches and bullfinches as well as the usual robin, blue tits (currently building a nest in the box as they do every year), blackbirds, sparrows and the ever present pigeons who, I know, are just waiting for me to sow some peas.

Nest building is going on aplenty. Every time I see a bird in the garden they either have something in their mouths or are eating at a feeder.

So I thought I'd help them. We collected some moss, clipped the hairy dog and cut up some wool. I wondered how to make this tip top material available for the birds.

The garden's currently in disarray thanks to a major patio building project so I wouldn't have any where to place yoghurt pots or dishes of wool. Plus, they'd blow away. Oh, I know there are doubtless countless posts and tutorials on making such a thing but y'know, I couldn't be bothered to look. Sometimes you just want to get on and do it your way.

So I fudged my own idea.

If you fancy having a go here's what you need:

• a small piece of wood
• a drill
• hook for hanging it up
• nesting materials
• pieces of wood or nails for the birds to perch on

We (well, Hubby, I was deemed too accident prone) drilled holes all the way through the wood then the seven-year-old stuffed them. Our holes could have been bigger I reckon but they're full of material.

I've hung it up near the most popular feeders but have yet to see a bird visiting their buffet. "It's not like it's been posted on Facebook love, the birds aren't telling each other there's a load of dog hair for nests at number xx," commented Hubby.

Hmm, well I hope they're not going to be fussy. This is prime nest building material here.

:: Today on Birdoosh I'm talking about Monday mornings and routines ::

Book Review: Garden Crafts for Children

When I was very kindly asked by the publishers if I would like to review Garden Crafts for Children by Dawn I was a little trepedatious. My bookshelves groan with children's gardening activity books. I even have a beloved favourite. Could this latest addition add anything new?

While I did come across the dreaded planting in a welly boot activity (a pet hate of mine), I was also pleased to see some new to me crafts too.

What I liked:

• the alpine wreath. Never mind the children, I'm making this for me
• tyrannosaurus garden. This is something my five-year-old will love. Just need to source a tyre
• stop-motion bean pot. I loved this new take on growing a bean down the side of a glass. This will be gracing our kitchen table very soon
• I liked the design of the book. It's aimed at children and I could happily give it to my seven-year-old knowing she'd be able to follow it thanks to the clear instructions and pictures

What I wasn't so keen on:

• Generally I liked it but the above mentioned welly boot craft could have been omitted I reckon (but that's probably just me)
• If you already do some gardening with your children you may find that you're familiar with some of the activities such as miniature gardens, pine cone feeders or growing cress but I think you'll find a few gems that are new to you as I did.

It is a lovely book and would make a great present for a beginner gardener (or family) or perhaps for a grandparent eager to do more with their little ones than feed them cake during visits. You could even team it with some of the materials to make one of the activities - now that would be a lovely present. And don't worry that you haven't got a large garden, or any garden at all, as there is plenty to offer mini would-be balcony gardeners too.

:: I was very kindly given a copy of this book for free ::

How Safe Is Your Allotment?

Allotments may seem innocuous and wholesome but, if you think about it, they're quite dangerous places for the lone gardener and for children.

Nowadays I mostly visit alone which doesn't bother me from a safety point of view, although a blog discussion about solo allotment visits did make me think. I'm very clumsy so it does cross my mind occasionally about how I'd fare if I was to have an accident.

But what I'm now wondering about is how safe your allotment is for children? I'm not one of those who think that such places are not really for children. For some it's the only place they'll have to get their hands in soil.

I suppose allotments are not really safe places for kids. Some people might use chemicals on their patch, next door's dog doesn't look too friendly and those troughs to catch the water drips from the tap are quite deep.

Then there's stakes with tops left uncovered at children's eye level, poisonous rhubarb leaves and no doubt lots of other things I haven't thought of.

But that's ok. There are dangers everywhere (particularly walking to and home from school we're discovering, where we've witnessed two parents mount the kerb close to us).

When we're at the allotment my children have a fair degree of freedom. There's a wood behind into which they disappear. And when they're actually with us, we make sure they don't wander onto anyone else's plot. That's as much about manners as it is about keeping them safe.

I started thinking about this after reading the Guardian's gardening Facebook page where editor Jane Perrone had asked for ideas on how she could use a bath she'd inherited on a new allotment (I don't think I can link to it, sorry).

The ideas were interesting and varied but a couple of people said, for health and safety reasons, they wouldn't turn it into a pond. Someone even suggested that she got rid of it.

As a mother who has visited her allotment with crawling babies and inquisitive toddlers I was a bit surprised at this.

No one has a pond on our small site but there are the water troughs in which a child could easily drown. And it's never occured to me they should be removed. My children are my responsibility and I wouldn't expect allotments to be a safe place for them. So we keep a close eye on them and instill a few rules.

What do you think? Should you manage your plot with an eye on the saftey of curious children? Or is it the parents' duty to ensure they are kept safe? Perhaps allotments and children don't mix...

{Sowing Sweet Peas With My Sweet}

That cusp between two seasons, when you can feel it tipping over into something fresh, is one of my favourite times. I think I love all seasons but I love them best at their beginning.

So, invigorated by spring's arrival, I have actually been sowing seeds. This may not sound like news to anyone else but I am usually playing catch-up.

And, of course, as soon as my fingers dug into the compost there was my eager little seven-year-old helper who worked alongside me sowing sweet peas. It was bliss.

It's not too late to sow some; I can be found online at Tesco Magazine extolling the virtues of gardening with your children which could result in a fragrant sweet pea teepee this sumer. That's blissful too...

{Finding My Bliss}

Perhaps I shouldn't admit this on a gardening blog, but for the whole of 2011 I fell out of love with growing my own.

That's not to say that I hated it. More like I couldn't work up any real enthusiasm. I was busy in January working on things that didn't light my fire and instead of sending me running, open armed, into the garden it made me feel a bit downbeat about everything.

So I took the decision, some might say stupid, to give up work entirely. And except for the odd paid for blog post that is what I did.

I slowed down and turned my attention fully to the home. Boring for some. A rejection of feminism some (not I) might argue but for me and my family it was utterly the right thing to do.

And this passion for all things home, for doing more things myself, for eating a more healthy, wholefood diet has seeped into lots of areas including the back garden.

The wonderful weather this past weekend did have me if not running, then briskly walking into the garden, mug of coffee in hand to Sort It Out.

As I bossed around my "helper" (he who made much of the mess with some garden alterations and let it all sit there messily throughout winter), I exhaled deeply.

Yep, I was finally reuinited. Welcome back gardening bliss.

 

{Re-connecting My Children With Nature}

One of the areas of our life that I've let slide recently is connecting the (younger) children with nature. I'm not sure why it's happened. Maybe it's because it's winter or maybe, as is the case in families, other things have grabbed my attention and I've taken my eye off one of the many balls I'm juggling, just for a while.

I'm not sure if it comes across in the blog but I'm not a huge fan of some children's gardening activities. I mean, I love gardening with children and I try to think of plants they would like to grow but, really, the growing-flowers-in-wellies kind of activities leave me cold.

Sometimes that kind of gardening feels a bit contrived and patronising. It's a bit like cooking with children - making endless fairy cakes gets boring; I like to get mine cooking a range of things that are tasty, not aimed specifically at them.

Having said that, I need them to be outside for an hour a day and during the recent half-term this involved endless trips to the park.

But I want to reconnect them with nature a bit closer to home too. Going to the park is not always possible (or sometimes I just can't bear it) so with the promise of spring I'm turning my thoughts to the outdoors.

Here's my list of Things To Do To Get Back To Nature:

• Get the children planting the usual child-friendly veggies and flowers at home and at the allotment (but especially at home)
• Make a Nest Building Buffet for the birds (I have no idea what this is really called but involves putting out suitable material for our feathered parents and will have to be done SOON)
• Find space in the back garden for a digging pit. Mud pies and worm hospitals here we come
• Incorporate more sensory plants for the children to pick (like Lamb's Ears)
• Finding a patch or very large pot at home for them to grow herbs perhaps for the bath or maybe salad leaves in - either way I'd like them to grow something really useful for the family.

This isn't a comprehensive list and nor is it my definitive one. It's just one to kick-start a more outdoorsy time. If you have any good ideas, I'd love to hear them.

{Stuff}

Here's a list of things I have been doing or thinking. Sometimes only a list will do.

• Sowing sweet peas: we did some gardening at school which involved making our own pots out of paper (by wrapping newspaper round jam jars) and planting two seeds per pot. Some were straight out of the packet and others had been soaking in water as an "experiment" to see if pre-soaking makes any difference. I think not

• Wholefood eating: I have just started a three-month online course with Heather about wholefood eating. I am so excited. I did her 30-day vegan one in the summer and LOVED it

• Writing my new blog: I feel very excited about this too (although quite vulnerable about showing it. I mean, a blog about that). There are only three posts so far but many more to come. I had a stressful great time designing it and making it look how I wanted (with thanks to Liz who gave me a code for padding, whatever that is, and suggested a few tweaks). Oh and if you fancy a peek it's here

• Looking forward to half-term: yay! Although a week early this year, we are so ready for it. The little children are tired and I am a bit weary of making sad five and seven-year-olds go to school when they just want to stay home and play. There will be lots of Lego, parks and cake in our week and no homework

• Reading: I go through phases although always try and read one fiction book a month, even if it is for book group. Currently reading On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin and John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. Oh and HUGE congrats to Dawn who's just had her first book published about gardening with children. 

So, as winter trundles on and the snow falls (well, it is here), what are you up to?

:: I'm not sure if the link to my blog is working. I suspect not. This is Typepad's fault and not a cynical ploy by me to get you very curious about the new blog. I'm hiting publish anyway just to confirm my suspicions. Actually, maybe this is a sign...

:: Edited - the link now works! It was me *blush*. My new blog is called birdoosh.

{eggs}

We used to have back garden hens. They were enormous fun, until a fox made off with the lot of them. A friend had loaned us a broody chicken which we named Gladys and gave us some fertile eggs and away we went, having fun and enjoying the resulting eggs for years.

Would I have chickens again? Yes, if I had the space. Oh, I know you can house them in an Eglu thing but it doesn't seem overly spacious to me. And right now we need the space for things like football.

Plus, if you let them roam, and why wouldn't you, they tend to wreck your lawn. And we had a rat in the garden. I know not everyone does but we did. Although they tend not to need much by way of encouragement to visit us. Bird food? Rats. Chickens? Rats.

So I make do with buying my eggs, which we seem to get through at a rate of knots. They are perfect though, versatile and coming complete with their own packaging which can be recycled in so many ways.

I try to keep the empty shells in a container or bag next to the Aga. When I have lots, I pop them into the bottom oven for a while.

Then I either crush them to add as a layer to pots of tomato seedlings when I'm potting on or as a slug deterrent around the base of seedlings.

Sometimes I also use them to grow seeds in, gently breaking them when it's time to transfer to the ground. Occasionally they go in the compost bin but they never seem to break down well plus, when they have so many other uses it seems a bit of a missed opportunity.

Now I also have a new use - I'm going to whiz them up in my food processor and add them to home-made bird food. I read this weekend (and can't remember where) that commercial bird food doesn't contain any calcium, essential for the baby birds. It's always nice to make your own fat balls so this is no extra work.

What do you use your egg shells for?

{Beauty in My Kitchen}

One thing you won't glean just from reading this blog is how very clumsy I am. Personally, I don't think I'm any clumsier than the next person but Hubby tells me differently, raising his eyes as I stumble, fall, trip, drop, burn and cut my way around the kitchen.

And as he's known me for 26 years I guess I'll have to take his word for it.

So it's no surprise to learn that I broke one of my favourite mugs. Blast! I was really disappointed. It was a pretty one which was annoying as it's never the children's Top Gear/High School Musical ugly mugs that cop it. Actually, I don't use them much so that's probably why...

After gluing it back together I decided to plant a hyacinth bulb in it. Well, what else can you do? It now sits on my kitchen windowsill, not quite ready to flower but nearly.

There are others in flower. I know some people are a bit sniffy about hyacinths but I'm so out of the loop I don't really know what's fashionable in the real world let alone the gardening one.

And so as to ensure that I don't end up drinking from a motely collection of horrid mugs (yes, I am that fussy) I treated myself to a replacement, a £5 Cath Kidston one. I figured it would look lovely this time next year with some paper white growing out of it...

 

{So What If It's Cold}

Following on from my last post, it is, naturally, now winter proper. I am sat here with a very cold nose, wearing four layers and contemplating a fifth.

Of course, it is not really the weather for blogging either. Really, I should be ironing....

And when I used to run a gardening club I decreed it wasn't the weather for gardening. Oh, I know there are things to do but it was always nice to have a break.

Now I am a helper whose main responsibility is to just turn up, we are ploughing on. This week we replenished a dead hedge. It's quite cool, but something you'd need a lot of space for I reckon. Perfect for a school though.

I am keen to do some gardening with, at least, my children. I'm resigned to it being largely indoors. Possibilities include creating a terrarium, planting winter peas, sowing broad beans in modules and onions too.

Or how about starting a nature or gardening journal? And let's not forget about feeding the birds...

Crikey, I've inspired myself! That's got to be another good thing about blogging.

:: The photo was taken with iPhone. You can see the older, darker parts of the hedge ::