Mother Earth News - Mother Earth News 2010

Winters are long and cold for our feathered friends. I used to have a small bird feeder that had to be refilled every two or three days. But because I usually buy sunflower seeds in 50-pound bags, I decided to build a bird feeder that would hold 50 pounds of seed!

I usually put most of the seeds into the feeder and spread a couple of pounds on the ground. Now its two-and-a-half to three weeks between feeder fill-ups.

I put a wide roof on the feeder to keep the snow out, mounted it on a slick metal pole to discourage cats and raccoons from climbing up to the seed, and used wire screen to hold the seed in, so I can see if its getting close to empty.

This sure has made my life easier - and the birds have a steady supply of food.

NANI JACOBSEN

This bird feeder will hold 50 pounds of sunflower seed.

Rather than throwing out plastic shower curtains when theyre no longer fit for the shower, try one of these creative reuses:

• Drop cloths for painting
• Tarps to cover firewood piles or anything else you dont want to get wet
• Arts and crafts table cover
• Ground cloth for gardening or working on the car
• Protection for your cars seats or trunk from dirty bags of manure, plants, muddy boots, etc.
• Family-size poncho
• Mini-greenhouse or cold frame for the garden. Build a frame with plastic pipe or scrap wood, and drape the curtain over it. Use stakes to secure it to the ground.
• Killer of particularly bothersome weeds. Stake the shower curtain to the ground, and cover with mulch and attractive potted plants. After a few months, you can pull the corners up to form a bag around the mulch, and move it to another location in your yard.

When Alex, my 10-year-old grandson, came to stay with me during spring break, he was eager to color Easter eggs. Also, I hadnt seen Jody Main, my friend and an Easter egg maven, for far too long - what a perfect excuse for a visit!

When we entered Jodys farmhouse kitchen, there was a table with teacups full of dyes and a big bowl of eggs ready to go. Alex and I had great fun, and we learned a lot that afternoon about colors and which combinations produce which colors. We went home with cartons full of unique eggs.

After years of dyeing eggs using a wide range of botanical sources, Jody had streamlined the dyeing procedure. She had narrowed the necessary ingredients down to three - fresh red beets, yellow onionskins and frozen blueberries. Thats all she needed to produce the primary colors: red, yellow and blue. By combining the resulting dyes in varying amounts, she can create any color of the rainbow. You can do it, too!

Follow the recipes below to make the dyes, using individual stainless steel, glass or enamel saucepans for each color. Combine the ingredients and boil each color mixture separately for 15 minutes before dyeing eggs. The vinegar acts as a fixative - without it, the dyes wont stick to the eggs.

• Before dyeing, hard boil white eggs and let them cool.
• For uniform color, strain each dye mixture through cheesecloth or a fine strainer.
• For a mottled, tie-dyed or spotty effect, leave all the ingredients in the pans.
• Use crayons to make designs - circles, geometrics, your name - on the egg; the crayoned part will not take up any dye. White crayons work especially well.
• The longer the eggs remain in the dye, the deeper the color.
• For special effects, dip half the egg in one color, the other half in another.

Coloring Easter eggs with natural dyes was a fabulous way to teach Alex about colors. When he went home, I sent along the ingredients hed need so he could share his experience with his friends and parents. Happy Easter!

RED

2 cups beets, grated
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups water
Substitute: strong Red Zinger tea, or chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

YELLOW TO GOLD

3 large handfuls of yellow/brown onionskins
1 tbsp white vinegar
3 cups water
Substitute: strong chamomile tea, or 2 to 3 tbsp ground turmeric

BLUE

1 pound frozen blueberries, crushed
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups water
Substitute: red cabbage leaves, coarsely chopped, create lavender

OTHER COLORS

Mix combinations of the primary dyes (in separate cups) to make secondary colors: red and yellow for orange, yellow and blue for green, and blue and red for violet. The proportion of one color to the other determines the shade.

ROSALIND CREASY

These beautiful Easter eggs are colored with dyes made from beets, onions and blueberries.

Most folks choose not to use the two heels on a loaf of bread for their sandwiches. Why not use these heels to make bread crumbs? To do so, put the crusts in the blender and process.

After a 140-year absence, The Nature Conservancy has reintroduced bison to the native tallgrass prairie of east central Kansas, in celebration of the state chapters 20-year anniversary. A herd of 13 bison now calls a portion of the 11,000-acre Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve home, and plans to add more are underway. The bison add an element of authenticity to the prairie and represent a vital component of grassland ecosystems.

Once estimated at about 60 million, North Americas bison were decimated as pioneers settled the American West. Among others, fur traders and hunters hired by railroad companies to keep the tracks clear contributed to the massacre. By the end of the 19th century, little more than 1,000 bison survived.

Thanks to efforts by The Nature Conservancy and others, these magnificent grazers have made a comeback and are no longer endangered. North America now boasts about 450,000 bison, including those raised for meat. You can read more about the preserve and the bison reintroduction at The Nature Conservancy website.

ISTOCKPHOTO

The American bison isnt ready to call it quits after near extinction, their numbers are steadily growing again.