I look forward to spring when I can see the gold finches back in their normal plumage. Always been a fan of backyard  birding so I plant plants which the birds like to eat and keep the feeders filled for  everything from the tiny humming bird to the Blue jays and Squirrels.

I am used to buying a new feeder every year after the squirrels gnaw through them! I buy sock feeders every year and by the end of the year it would have holes in them. Inspite of mending it hardly lasts more than 2 years in Ohio’s winters.

One day as I was emptying out the garlic from its package, it struck me this could work! My feeder for the finches from a plastic mesh cover which would other wise end up some where in a landfill.

5 Steps to making a simple finch feeder.

Things needed:

• Garlic pack (don’t eat garlic? try using your old panty hose with the feet cut off works as well!)
• a thread/shoe lace to tie it
• scissors to trim tag
• Lyger thistle

1. Take out the garlic from the mesh casing.

2. Trim the tag , make sure you keep the sealing intact.

3. Turn it inside out. Fill it with Thistle (I use Nyjer – buy mine from Wildbirds unlimited).

4. Tie a knot at the top, make sure you can open it out to refill it. Use a shoe lace or rope to hang it from a tree branch (birds do prefer to be amongst greenery, makes them feel safer I guess)

There you have a feeder made under 10 minutes from something one would normally throw away and yeah you can  keep adding more feeders as you buy new garlic! Now all we need to do is wait for the finches to show up.

Happy Birding and Green Living!