Random Thoughts 18: The Year of Fire
- Thread starter CloneLawman
- Start date
- Status
Yeah, Mrs. Velo's brothers are always making me look bad. They each take at least one trip to the Caribbean or Mexico every year. The one, I understand; he is a dentist so he has every right to make me look bad. The other one has never had a 'career' type job and his wife has had medical problems so she has been on again, off again as far as work goes. Honestly we don't know how they could possibly afford to build a house near Saylorville and take trips every year. Don't get me wrong, we love them, but we can't imagine they will ever be able to retire.
What do you all know about safflower?
We have had battles with grackles in our yard and had given up on filling the feeder during the summer when the grackles would raid it and empty it in a matter of hours. But we learned that they don't like safflower seeds so we got a small bag and tried it. It worked great, no grackles but finches, jays and cardinals as well as other misc. birds seemed to still frequent the feeder. As a bonus the squirrels don't seem to like it either. But right after we went and got a big bag we saw that the entire area under the feeder was overgrown with small safflower plants. Mrs. Velo raked up the area and shop vacuumed the remaining seeds off the ground. Not a big deal as long as we know these aren't really aggressive plants that will take over the whole yard. Of course Mrs. Velo immediately said we can't put safflower seeds out anymore. I asked her what I was supposed to do with the giant bag of them we just bought.
Are we setting ourselves up for a battle for the soul of our yard? Or is it simply a bi-weekly cleanup I can easily handle? Could we roast safflower seeds in the oven and still satisfy the birds while keeping the seeds from germinating? Would that even work? I'm willing to try anything at this point because we love watching the birds and I'm not ready to give that up.
I don't know if this is a question for @BoxsterCy our resident birder and landscape architect...
We have had battles with grackles in our yard and had given up on filling the feeder during the summer when the grackles would raid it and empty it in a matter of hours. But we learned that they don't like safflower seeds so we got a small bag and tried it. It worked great, no grackles but finches, jays and cardinals as well as other misc. birds seemed to still frequent the feeder. As a bonus the squirrels don't seem to like it either. But right after we went and got a big bag we saw that the entire area under the feeder was overgrown with small safflower plants. Mrs. Velo raked up the area and shop vacuumed the remaining seeds off the ground. Not a big deal as long as we know these aren't really aggressive plants that will take over the whole yard. Of course Mrs. Velo immediately said we can't put safflower seeds out anymore. I asked her what I was supposed to do with the giant bag of them we just bought.
Are we setting ourselves up for a battle for the soul of our yard? Or is it simply a bi-weekly cleanup I can easily handle? Could we roast safflower seeds in the oven and still satisfy the birds while keeping the seeds from germinating? Would that even work? I'm willing to try anything at this point because we love watching the birds and I'm not ready to give that up.
I don't know if this is a question for @BoxsterCy our resident birder and landscape architect...
I saw a Tesla Cyber truck in person the other day. I think it's even uglier in person
Safflower works fine until sparrows or starlings find out the feeder is full. Then they'll just rake their bills back-and-forth, back-and-forth to get to the good stuff. Pretty soon all the seed is on the ground. The cardinals are fine with that, they'd just as soon feed off the ground anyway. But I found it to be of limited value in warm weather. YMMV.
I've fed safflower for years upon years, it's the only seed I feed. Absolutely no problems, the undesirable birds don't like it, even the squirrels don't seem interested since they don't feed on what gets spilled, although maybe that's because they get ample food from our oak trees and by raiding neighbors' feeders.
Some seed DOES get spilled, like any seed, but the cardinals and mourning doves are ground feeders and they're happy to clean up most of it. There are always a few sprouts in the spring from seed that the cleaning crew missed, but the sprouts aren't a problem. I mow under the feeder, one mowing = no more sprouts.
Some seed DOES get spilled, like any seed, but the cardinals and mourning doves are ground feeders and they're happy to clean up most of it. There are always a few sprouts in the spring from seed that the cleaning crew missed, but the sprouts aren't a problem. I mow under the feeder, one mowing = no more sprouts.
We're still battling that small coon that made it up to our balcony. Next try is going to be cayenne pepper in the seed.
Son has been eyeballing my shirt but hasn't had the nerve to speak up yet. Surprising.
We took him out on a geocache maintenance run to fix two of our caches, and we planted a couple of new ones. We're out on gravel roads, and he got all excited about a red/white/blue sign. He was happy about the patriotic colors. Yeah...you can guess who the sign was for (don't want to get in cave territory here...)
We took him out on a geocache maintenance run to fix two of our caches, and we planted a couple of new ones. We're out on gravel roads, and he got all excited about a red/white/blue sign. He was happy about the patriotic colors. Yeah...you can guess who the sign was for (don't want to get in cave territory here...)
The day I take this son's advice is the day I should be placed in a psych ward...because I will have clearly lost my mind.
There isn't any "good stuff". I am feeding straight safflower seed in that feeder.
Yes, but that doesn’t matter. The undesirables will sweep away what they don’t want (safflower) until they get what they are accustomed to, or until the feeder is empty.
Lew just pulled a tick off his neck and now son is running around the living room because...ticks...
The dynamics of a blended family. I do NOT want to be the reason they stop talking.
But it is closer to Saturday today than it was yesterday.
Meh agree to the rules and bone her anyway. The daughter is 20 and Dad thinks no canoodiling, don't hold your breath.
- Status
