There is an old saying in gardening for sowing seed, “Four seeds all in a row, one for blackbird, one for the crow, one for the cutworm, and one to grow.”

We have been gardening and backyard farming long enough to know from experience that in order to keep from being inundated with swarms of sparrows, starlings, magpies and blackbirds, you have to take care in how you sow your seed, particularly if you are planting a new lawn.

Or, in our case, a new patch of clover pasture mix for the chickens to forage on. You can’t just simply throw seed about and expect the wild birds not to notice! And the sprinkler doesn’t necessarily deter them from swooping in to steal your seeds either, so it’s best to cover it with straw and give it a fighting chance.

We filled the bird feeders back up to make up for it and threw a bit of seed and straw over the fence so the girls didn’t feel completely left out, too.

They’ll just have to be patient for a few weeks until they can be let into the new back pen to graze, but it will be worth the wait if all goes (or grows!) well.

Speaking of things growing well, my seedlings are coming along nicely.

We still have a few weeks until they can be put out safely. A few things are already planted, though, like the onions…

…and the peas.

I am making some banana tea for them since they like that.

We also put our new asparagus beds in yesterday (yay!) after debating where to put them.

We have wanted to add asparagus for a long while now, since we both love to eat it, and figured we need to do it sooner than later since it takes a few years to be able to really harvest it. At least it lasts for twenty years or more once it is planted, though! And at least the wild birds will leave it alone until the berries come up. Then we’ll probably have to share with them.

That’s okay, it’s better sharing that than pasture seeds or our critter’s feed. We found that once we switched to enclosed feeders for both the dogs and the poultry, our food bill went down substantially! The wild birds are gluttons!

The pups probably miss chasing off the magpies from their food dishes, but their pursuit of a bit of fun wasn’t worth the added expense. Plus, they have plenty of other ways to entertain themselves, like digging holes, playing tug-of-war, swimming in their new pool and, when the next litter arrives, watching the babies run laps.

Ah, I can’t wait to do that myself. They are just SO DANG CUTE! 🙂