I’ve only ever seen goldfinches feeding on burdock seeds (Arctium) in the garden before. This morning I saw them both on nettle seed heads and then on these unharvested chicory heads. Another reason to grow and save seed of chicories, a wonderful vegetable that is easy to grow organically, comes in many great edimental varieties, beautiful … Continue reading Goldfinches on chicory→
A small flock of 9 goldfinches in my garden this morning, a winter visitor here (it’s unknown where they breed) and a species that would not be in my garden if it hadn’t been for my interest in edible plants. I started growing burdock / borre as a vegetable back in the 80s and this … Continue reading Goldfinches / Stillits→
I have a large bucket on the balcony where i grow greater burdock (Arctium lappa) for the birds, Both goldfinches (stillits) and greenfinches (grønnfink) eat burdock seed in winter and by growing the plants on the balcony I have close views of both species from where I’m typing this! Last year, the plants flowered and … Continue reading Burdock harvest→
Over the last couple of days there’ve been large numbers of birds in the garden making me think of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, although there have been fortunately no casualties as far as I know. I try to limit the amount of bird food I put out (as its production isn’t good for birds) and … Continue reading The Birds→
I garden for the birds and other wildlife as well as myself and believe that bought bird food (sunflower seeds) is not necessarily a good thing as it’s imported and largely grown inorganically to the detrement of birds and other wildlife in the country of origin. My observations are that most bird species in our … Continue reading Natural bird food is best→
A flock of 41 goldfinches landed in a tree in front of where I am sitting writing this this afternoon. This is the largest flock I’ve recorded here so far!A short video at 1/4 speed as they flew off:
NB! The album and information at the bottom will be added to over timeWhen I was a student in Edinburgh in the late 70s, I started in earnest to learn the names of birds, butterflies and wild plants. Then, when I moved to Norway I became interested in fungi, but really didn’t have the time … Continue reading Moths in The Edible Garden→
Feeding birds in winter isn’t necessarily a good thing and at least one study has shown that birds lay lower numbers of eggs when fed well, perhaps due to an unnatural unbalanced oil-rich diet: https://blog.nature.org/science/2015/01/05/winter-bird-feeding-good-or-bad-for-birdsHowever, there are many studies showing the opposite. But is good winter survival and artificially high populations necessarily a good thing … Continue reading Is feeding birds a good thing?→
Nice to wake up to a blackbird (svarttrost)in full song this morning. The first week in April is pretty much always when they start singing here! A great tit (kjøttmeis) can also be heard. There are at least 3 territories in the garden and surrounding gardens this year. Also this week, curlews (storspove) have started … Continue reading Blackbird→
I’ve grown burdock on the balcony this year, the favourite wild winter food of goldfinches (stillits) and greenfinches (grønnfink). I can then watch them feeding from my desk :)
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden