It’s Easy Being Green

If you’re like many people, you love to have a yard filled with birds. In order to entice them to stick around your slice of paradise, you might hang bird feeders around your home. But, did you know your feeders could do more harm than good?

Bird feeders can be a source of disease, spreading sickness from bird to bird that flies in for a quick meal at your feeders. In some cases, your birds might become lunch themselves when a neighborhood cat figures out there’s a virtual smörgåsbord in your yard or they can knock themselves silly flying into the windows on your home if you put feeders too close to them. So, a few simple steps is all it takes to ensure you can continue enjoying your fine feathered friends.

First, you should always provide more than one feeder around your yard. If birds crowd one feeding station, it can actually cause them to become stressed out which will lead to sickness and possibly even death. When it comes to re-filling those feeders, clean them out first. Bird droppings and other bacteria hanging around on the stations can lead to the spread of sickness too. Just a simple rinse of hot water and an air dry will do when it comes to cleaning them up. However, if you happen to find a bird dead near one of your feeders and there’s no obvious signs a predator got to it, you’ll want to disinfect the feeders with a bleach solution and leave to air dry before re-filling.

Moving your feeders around your yard regularly will not only prevent the buildup of wasted seed in one spot but also stop the buildup of bird droppings in one area. This is another important tip for the health of your local birds. It’s not recommended to lay seed out on the ground because that opens the birds up for an attack or ambush from a predator. Instead, hang them 5 to 12 feet off the ground in shrubs or trees that provide some cover and protection for the birds. A nearby brush pile or some cleverly placed bushes will also provide a place for birds to take cover when the weather gets bad and when a predator comes looking for a free lunch at one of your feeding stations. These should be within a 5 to 12 foot radius of the feeder.

Don’t think about just providing food. Birds need to get a drink of water every now and then too! Plus, many different species love to take a bath on the edge of the bird bath. Shallow bird watering dishes should be placed near the emergency cover as well in case they get spooked. In the winter you’ll obviously need to buy a bird bath heater if you live in a cold climate with freezing weather. During the summer, the water should be changed out about every two to three days.

When it comes time for planting and gardening season in your area, put in some native plants around your yard.  The natives will provide year round food in the form of berries, nectar and seeds.  Evergreen shrubs and trees will provide year round protection and habitat for your birds.  If you’re not sure what kind of native plants to pickup for your area, you can visit the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for information on what’s native to your locale.  Also, if you happen to have a dead tree on your property you might want to leave it alone.  Birds will nest in the open cavities of what would otherwise be chopped up into bits and thrown out.

These simple steps will go a long way to ensure that you have many years of bird watching fun from the comfort of your own home.

So our huge winter storm is in the process of moving into the mountains of Arizona this morning.  We got about an inch of snow and now it has switched over to rain.  It’s all part of what’s expected to be a gloomy day here.  I’m already considering plans for dinner tonight and I think one of my favorite bloggers, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, triggered my desire for a nice warm roast enjoyed by the fire tonight.  If you’re not sure how to cook a really good pot roast, check out her recipe.  That’s the technique we use and always seems to generate the best results.  You could pair the roast with some of her Buttery Thyme Bread too.  Yum!  I’ll have to see if there’s any bison roast left at the natural food store when we run into town today.

Why not just buy beef you’re saying?  Well, bison meat is better for your heart because it’s low in cholesterol and fat but high in protein.  It’s also high in iron and other essential minerals or vitamins your body requires.  And, if it’s grass fed bison that’s even better because the meat wasn’t fattened on nasty fillers and feed lot grains.  If you Google search for natural buffalo meat or natural bison meat you’ll end up with several different web suppliers.  Your local natural food store should also carry a selection of bison meat in the butcher department.

Ok, time to get ready for the slow, slushy drive into town.

Now is the time that Arizona citrus is reaching its peak harvest season. When I lived down in the valley, there used to be citrus everywhere you looked. In the area of old Scottsdale where I lived, the home subdivisions were actually carved out of citrus groves in the 1950’s post-war building boom. The developers did a nice thing and tried to leave as many citrus trees as possible while they were building.

The neighborhood I grew up in used to be a grapefruit grove. So consequently at the high point of my childhood home we had 12 grapefruit trees surrounding us. It was a daunting task trying to figure out what to do with so much fruit. As a kid I used to sell brown paper bags full of grapefruit for $5.00 and the best days to sell were days when you knew there were a lot of tourists in town (Fiesta Bowl, Super Bowl, Parada del Sol, etc.)

We definitely couldn’t eat the fruit of 12 trees and there wasn’t much inspiration surrounding grapefruit either. Sure we would end up eating a few as a “breakfast treat” or at least that’s what my dad would try and convince us of the supremely sour fruit. I do miss the intoxicating scent of all the citrus blossoms in the spring though and the sight of hundreds of bright fruits adorning trees in your own yard. Now that I’m older, I do have to say that I’m a fan of citrus and miss the plethora of the harvest sometimes. And, since I’m on my quest for sustainability I’ve also discovered a lot of different uses for the warm weather fruit.

The December issue of Sunset magazine had a great recipe for homemade Rosemary Limoncello. Limoncello is an intensely flavored liqueur typically served as an after dinner drink on Italy’s Amalfi Coast and adjoining Sorrento Peninsula. This is the perfect time of the year to make this homemade liqueur in the desert southwest because of the availability of lemons. If you don’t happen to have good access to lemons in your neck of the woods, you can order direct from some citrus orchards out here. The recipe recommends using Meyer lemons because of their fragrance. But you can also achieve excellent results using Eureka lemons. A local Arizona citrus orchard is McClendon’s Select. The Limoneira Orchard in Southern California offers Meyer lemons through their mail order business. Ojai Citrus also does mail order with mixed boxes containing a variety of citrus choices. You could also get a nice variety of swing-top glass bottles to put your limoncello in for giving out to friends and family once it’s matured. To me, it sounds like a great and different way to enjoy this year’s citrus harvest. If you have a favorite recipe using the refreshing flavors of citrus, let us know about it!

Rosemary Limoncello

Courtesy: Sunset Magazine, December 2007 edition

You will need:

18 lemons (washed and dried)

one 4-inch rosemary sprig (washed and dried)

2 bottles of 100 proof vodka (750ml bottles of Stoli or Smirnoff)

4 1/2 cups sugar

1) Peel lemons with a sharp vegetable peeler, taking only the zest (top layer) and avoiding any white pith. Put rosemary in a 1 gallon glass or ceramic container with a tight seal. Add zest to jar.

2) Pour 750ml. vodka over rosemary and zest; seal container. Let sit undisturbed in a cool dark place for about 40-days.

3) On 40th day, in a saucepan, bring 5 cups of water to a boil and add sugar. Cook, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Let sugar syrup cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

4) Pour syrup and remaining 750ml. vodka over lemon-vodka mixture, stir and seal container. Let sit in a cool, dark place for another 40 days.

5) Pour limoncello through cheesecloth into a large spouted pitcher and divide among gift bottles. Limoncello will keep indefinitely in the freezer. Recipe makes 10 2/3 cups and will fill ten 8.5 oz. bottles.

While I can’t wait to put up the Christmas tree each and every year, I also can’t wait to take it down once it starts getting crispy and dropping needles all over the floor. Usually I’ll try and restrain myself from touching the tree until New Year’s (I feel obligated to keep the tree up until that time for some tradition unbeknown to me). But sometimes I just can’t help it. Once the tree comes down though, many wonder what they can do with the darn thing besides just throwing it out. The answer to that is pretty simple: recycle it!

The easiest way is through a curbside recycling program with your local city or municipality. If you haven’t already received info from your city on where to leave your tree or drop it off for recycling, you can check out the National Christmas Tree Association’s website. It’s as simple as punching in your zip code to find local programs. Some cities like Newburgh, New York have gone as far as making a family event out of tree-cycling by supplying hot apple cider, munchies and a bag for families to take home fresh mulch (courtesy the freshly chipped trees) for their garden beds.

This next idea may sound silly but it has some great benefits to the feathered friends hanging around your bird feeders this time of year. Simply take your tree outside and place it in the garden or backyard near the feeder. The tree will provide some shelter for the birds braving the winter cold. If you don’t have a bird feeder out yet, you can also turn your tree into a giant feeder. Hang orange slices from the branches and spread peanut butter onto pine cones and sprinkle with mixed seed. Don’t forget to remove all the tinsel before doing this! The birds will eat the tinsel which is very harmful.

If you happen to have a pond on your property, you can also sink the tree to the bottom of your pond. It’s a great habitat for fish and provides them with nooks and crannies to feed in. This year don’t just throw out your Christmas tree, recycle it!

This last weekend proved to be a big one as we picked up about a foot and a half of new snow out of a four day long storm. It’s been fun trying to dig ourselves out of this one, especially with a gravel driveway. Challenges aside, the snow is beautiful to look at and goes a long way to stave off fire season in the spring and summer months.

The county doesn’t use any de-icers up here because there’s a lot of people who are against their environmental impacts. There have been a lot of meetings and outcry lately because the city and the county would like to use de-icers on most of the northland roads. I think it’s a great idea. I would rather be driving on safe roads then to be dealing with extremely icy hills and slide offs. As long as we don’t see trees dying off and wildlife croaking on the side of the road, it seems okay to me.

There are some ways to deal with snow and ice and be a little more environmentally cautious too. It has been shown that salt can damage soil, plants, crumble concrete driveways and sidewalks, contaminate ground water supplies, rust cars and even be tracked into the house where it can be a problem for pets and children. Obviously, the best way to avoid all that danger is to just use some good ‘ol fashioned backbreaking work and shovel and scrape your driveway. The best time to get out and do it is actually during the snowfall before it becomes hard and icy, freezing to your driveway. I’ve also found tackling it during sunshine is another great trick because the icy chunks are beginning to melt and will usually scrape easily after just a few minutes of sun exposure.

If you happen to be in the process of building a new home or renovating, think about your driveway placement and the sun exposure it gets. I’ve seen plenty of south and east facing driveways ice free a day or two after snow. But a ton of north and west facing driveways that look more like a skating rink a week after a storm. If you do need to use ice melter, there are some safer alternatives to salt-based deicers. One product is called Safe Paw and is apparently pet, child and environmentally friendly.

Another fun tip I learned is about avoiding those chemical laced windshield cleaner/deicers for your wiper fluid. Apparently you mix one part water to two parts plain ‘ol vinegar or rubbing alcohol, whichever you happen to have on hand. Supposedly it doesn’t freeze and helps keep the ice from building up on your windshield while you’re driving down the highway. I’m going to have to try that one out myself!

The NOAA is predicting a warmer and drier winter than normal this year. That might sound like music to many people’s ears considering the high cost of heating oil and natural gas. But, with those prices on the rise too, it will quickly outweigh the benefit of using your heater less. Here in Arizona the Corporation Commission, which is in charge of governing the state utilities, says they’re actively trying to lower the cost we pay for natural gas. However, they add it’s unsafe to consider alternative heat sources like wood stoves and wood pellet stoves. They say it’s a fire risk and I just can’t imagine why a state commission charged with regulating the local utilities would make a statement like that. Maybe it’s because their pockets are lined with the dollars from the state utilities!

Regardless of whether there’s any real under the table deal making going on between the Arizona Corporation Commission and the utilities, the group is obviously going to protect the utility companies. It’s not a shocker that they would try to steer you away from cheaper, alternative methods to heat your home. I can tell you first hand that our wood stove does a damn fine job of warming up our humble home at night. In fact, our thermostat regularly reads a balmy 72 degrees while we have a fire going.

I know many people who plunk down about $160 for a cord of juniper or oak firewood as their primary heat source. In Northern Arizona, that cord will usually get them through the winter just fine. Imagine, $160 to heat your home for the winter months compared to probably around $50 to $150 a month to heat your home with natural gas. Now which seems more economical? Maybe that price tag is too much for you to shell out at once. In the Coconino National Forest, you can get your own wood cutting permits starting at $20. The permit is good forest-wide so you can harvest dead and downed wood and you’re doing your part to help cleanup the forest and prevent devastating fires. Or, if you’re willing to drive a bit out of your way you can get a free wood permit. There are a few areas on the forest that are overflowing with dead trees, ready to be cut. Secure the permit and you’re on your way to a free firewood extravaganza and you can feel good about the work you’re doing, helping to protect the forest from a massive wildfire.

Many people out there bock at the amount of work involved with cutting your own firewood and splitting it. I look at it of more of a way to connect with the past and learn techniques that will help me get through this world if anything terrible ever happens. What are you going to do when we have an oil shortage and you can’t run that $2,000 gas powered wood splitter? If you’re like me, you learn how to do it by hand with tools that don’t require gas or electricity to run…just good ‘ol fashioned manpower! I found that splitting wood by hand is a great cardio workout and it really builds your arms and chest too. Online, I’ve found several great hand tools that are similar to one I borrowed from a friend and used to split my wood.

There’s the Super Firewood Splitter , the Easy Motion Splitter, and the Wicko Super Spear Splitter. All of these will save your back from the swing of a maul or sledge and potentially offer you more splitting force. It requires nothing more than some calories to burn and some yearly lubing to keep it splitting smoothly!

If you don’t know much about using wood for your heat, head over to one of my favorite resources, Mother Earth News. It’s a great magazine that teaches you the ins and outs of sustainable living and homesteading. Their online article archive is a great tool for anything on the subject of sustainable living. They also have a great article in the archive called A Connoisseurs Guide to Fuelwood. It will tell you just about everything you need to know!

Let me know how you heat your home and any tips on alternative heat sources you might have.  Do you have a special wood splitter or tool that you’ve found works really well?  Let me know!