Certified Wildlife Habitat

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We've had several inquiries about the Backyard Wildlife Habitat signs in our yard so I thought I'd post some information here.
The Backyard Habitat Program is sponsored by The National Wildlife Federation and administered through the eNature.com website.
Anyone can become certified in the program by meeting a few simple criteria for providing food, water and shelter for wildlife around their homes.
With just a birdhouse, feeder and birdbath even an apartment balcony can qualify as a backyard habitat and, once we provide these basic needs, wildlife soon arrive to accept our hospitality.
This is also a great way to help kids begin developing a sense of wonder for the beauty of nature all around them.
A viable human future depends upon a functioning & healthy ecosystem, and if today's children don't grow up appreciating their relationship with nature our hopes for the future are greatly diminished.
When your habitat becomes certified you will be able to share your wildlife experiences on your own free webpages at eNature.com.
To visit our certifed NWF Otterstrom Big Bear Wildlife Habitat click on the highlighted text to visit the Habitat Gallery at e-Nature , and when the region map comes up, scroll below it and type the number 19866 into the ID# box, then click on GO which will take you to our pages.

April Showers

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It started gently raining/snowing/slushing about 4 A.M. as the wooden beams above my head played softly drummed rhythms of falling water to my waking ears.
I laid there for a long time listening to the nurturing droplets, appreciating every single one of them.
The gardens look happy, the rainbarrels are full again, and it looks like the sun is trying to break through anytime now.
Another beautful day on Earth!

Now Is Your Chance

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With all of our friends out there who are striving to make changes in their lives we'd like to share this mosaic created by our friend Jeannie Houston Antes.
Peggy and I liked this one so much it now resides in our living room.

Organic Rhubarb Pie

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Peggy made this delicious rhubarb pie for dessert tonight.
All the ingredients are organic except for the butter which is rBST growth hormone free.
I helped with the twisting and braiding of the crust, can you tell?

First Rhubarb Of The Year!

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Peggy is harvesting the first young rhubarb shoots of the season and I can smell the pie already.
The bed just to her left was planted in two varieties of beets about a week ago and we're expecting to see sprouts there soon.

Xeriscape Info Table

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Christy, Peggy & Bill manning The Xeriscape Garden info table on Saturday at The Big Bear Discovery Center.
There was a good-sized crowd at the Discovery Center Earth Month event today but I managed to get a picture of the entire Xeriscape display in between visitors.

Working The Crowd!

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Christy, Jim & Bill sharing xeriscape, native plant and drought tolerant gardening tips & experiences with visitors at The Discovery Center today.

Native Plant Notecards

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Our Native Plant Notecards were available in sets of 10 or individually.

EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY!

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A small part of our Native Plant Garden as it looked in June of 2004.
In bloom here is Grape Soda Lupine, Blue Flax, California Poppy, Indian Paintbrush and Hedgehog Cactus.

I wrote the following piece as a handout for the Earth Day Commemoration at the U. S. Forest Service Big Bear Discovery Center last year and will be passing it out again tomorrow as part of our Native Plant gardening presentation at this year's event.


WHY GARDEN WITH NATIVE PLANTS?

Most residents of Big Bear Valley were at least partially influenced in their decision to live here by the natural beauty of the San Bernardino Mountains. But the majority of us also, out of habit and familiarity, brought our gardening preferences with us from ‘Down The Hill’.

So we design lawns & gardens similar to those we had in a much different eco-system, spend lots of time & money, using lots of water & fertilizer, to reap the rewards of our hard labor for maybe 90 to 120 days a year, while making the yards of the wonderful mountain homes we moved to look much like the yards of the old places we left behind.

We buy or build rustic homes which reflect our appreciation of a mountain aesthetic, yet most of us still garden with a stereotypical marigold, pansy and petunia mentality. So why not change our minds about gardening?
If the wondrous natural beauty of the mountains is a reason to live here isn’t there a way we can surround ourselves with that wonder in our very own gardens? The answer seems obvious. Fill your garden with plants native to the San Bernardino Mountains.

Plant species native to Big Bear Valley and the surrounding area have evolved over time to harmonize with the extreme weather variations of our high altitude environment and they grow perfectly fine with no soil amendment or fertilizer. Once established, a native garden needs very little watering, and the plants will survive the winters, providing perpetual beauty for your garden year after year.

The great variety of birds and insect pollinators that share symbiotic relationships with the plants of their community will thrive in your native garden and provide you with endless hours of fascination at nature’s wonders, and you will be doing your part to perpetuate the integrity of our local ecology.

In these times of climate change, drought, water shortages and mass species extinction it would be very wise of us, as earth’s dominant species, to live more democratically among the other inhabitants we share the planet with. Native plant gardening is one great way to promote change in your own backyard.

EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY!

Western Gray Squirrel

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One of the most common sights in our habitat is the Western Gray Squirrels feeding at the suet cage.
We put the suet out for the variety of woodpeckers that live here but the squirrels get the majority of the peanut treat from this feeder.
The birds seem to dominate the feeder at the other end of the yard and we rarely see a squirrel there.

First Habitat Bloom

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Western Wallflower - The first wildflower of the season begins to open in the habitat today.

30,000 Pound Birdbath!

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We rescued this 30,000 lb boulder (our birdbath) from a housing development about 10 years ago.
It's roughly the size of an old VW bug with the wheels removed.
A friend of ours works for the company that was doing the excavating and asked if we'd like a nice boulder.
The bucket on the skiploader used to bring the boulder here was rated at 30,000 lbs capacity, and the boulder bent the bucket, so we're assuming the rock weighs at least that much.

Birdbath Detail

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Shallow depressions in the top of our 30,000 pound boulder make for natural looking birdbaths.

Stellar Jay

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A Stellar Jay visits the solar waterfall on Monday.
The waterfall is built up against the South face of the boulder birdbath.
There is a young Jeffrey Pine at either side of the waterfall which provide cover for the birds.
The following is a list of birds we have seen drinking from or bathing in the waterfall since we installed it last week (and many others regularly visit the birdbath).

American Robin
Stellar Jay
Anna's Hummingbird
Mountain Chickadee
White-Headed Woodpecker
Cassin's Finch
Pygmy Nuthatch
Wilson's Warbler

Pygmy Nuthatch Box-Nesting

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For the 3rd year in a row a pair of Pygmy Nuthatches are nesting in this box I hollowed out from a piece of firewood.
I'm quite pleased to have them nesting here as my research into Sitta pygmaea reveals these 3 3/4" to 4 1/2" nuthatches rarely use boxes, preferring to dig their own cavity in Ponderosa or Jeffrey Pines anywhere from 8 to 60 feet above ground.
The hole in this box is only 7'9" from the ground so I've lucked out all around.
Next year I'll move this box up a foot or so.
Pygmy Nuthatches live here year round and watching them walk headfirst down the trunks of pines in search of bugs is one of the simple pleasures of birdwatching in The San Bernardino Mountains.
Perhaps they nest in this 'box' because it's more natural looking than most birdhouses.

Solar Waterfall

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I spent the day stacking rocks for this temporary pond/waterfall.
It's already attracted increasing numbers of birds to the native plant habitat.

Solar Pond Pump Test

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Today we tested our new solar powered pond/waterfall pump and it pumps plenty of water for our purposes.
The solar panel is a 12V 20W unit made by Kyocera, and the pump is from Solar Master. We bought them on the internet as a matched pair from Wholesale Pumps and you can click on the purple text to check for current pricing or other models. The unit came with a 50' cord and is recommended for waterfalls with a 4' lift or less and it can pump up to 240 gallons per hour.
Now to get the waterfall and pond built!

Spicy Squash Vegan Stew!

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We're not vegetarians but vegetarian meals make up the largest part of our diet.
Peggy cooked up this new high potassium vegan find for dinner tonight and it was so tasty I'm posting the recipe.
I've noted 'organic' in the ingredients list for every organic ingredient we had access to for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped organic onions
5 organic garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon crushed chili pepper
4 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
1 cup chopped parsnip
2 cups organic vegetable broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced organic tomatoes, undrained
1 10 ounce package of frozen baby lima beans, thawed
1 15 ounce can organic garbanzo beans, drained
3 cups fresh organic baby spinach
1 14 ounce can coconut milk
1/4 cup organic cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat canola oil in a Dutch oven (large pot) over medium-high heat. Add onion; saute 4 minutes or until onion is tender. Add garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt, and saute 1 minute. Add curry powder, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and chili pepper; cook 2 minutes stirring constantly. Stir in the squash, parsnip, broth, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes (Peggy had to cook it for about 25 minutes at our 6,750' elevation) or until squash is slightly tender, stirring occasionally.

2. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, lima beans, and garbanzo beans. Uncover and simmer 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Add spinach and coconut milk; cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Serve immediately.

Approximately 8 servings

Cold To The Bone!

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Yesterday morning was warm and spring-like, but in the late afternoon a cold wind started howling, and by 9:30 last night snow was falling, bringing us another maybe a 1 inch dusting by this morning.
But our mustard, kale, swiss chard, collard greens, gai choi, turnip greens, mesclun mix, spinach, black seeded simpson & red oak lettuce, radish and green onion seedlings are still snug in their covered beds.
And today it's like spring again...

Strike Up The Band!

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A collection of musical instruments makes for fun possiblities on the deck this year!
This picture is posted for the inspiration and amusement of our friends in the virtual band 'Compost' at the Path To Freedom 'music' forum.

Laundry Day!

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Today was really like spring here, T-Shirt weather all day, so I decided to do laundry in the James Washer (that's really the name of the thing), we bought it from Real Goods about 6 years ago.
It's bolted to the back porch and Peggy & I do most of our laundry out here in the summer.
We love the exercise and being outside as we do our chores.
Peggy has some neck & back issues and says the exercise of working the pendulum arm is really good for working out kinks in her neck.
We use non-polluting, phosphate free, bio-degradable laundry and dish detergents.
The washboard on the wall is for scrubbing out tough stains (and sometimes it's a musical instrument).

Human Power!

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As I wring the water from the clothes they fall into the laundry tub and a flange below the rollers directs squeezed out water back into the washer.
Note the handle on top of the wringer which allows for adjusting the rollers to thicker garments like these jeans.

Retractable Clothesline

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Because of our small property we use a retractable clothesline so it doesn't take up space when not in use.
Once the weather is reliably warm I usually do my laundry on Monday morning, because there never seems to be many interruptions then, and maybe it's a bit of a lapse into the old Monday morning work routine too.

Bowl Waxing Day!

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The beeswax is melted in a sort of double boiler arrangement.
Wax is highly flammable never melt directly in a pan on the stove.
The next few pictures show the continuing steps to finishing a pine-needle bowl with beeswax.

Icing The Cake!

Peggy waxing the inside of her bowl with melted wax from the coffee can.

Inside & Out

Now brushing melted beeswax on the outside.