Make A Birdhouse Out Of Gourd From Your Backyard Garden
It has been said many times over that nature can provide you with everything you need. This statement surely holds true when it comes to adding a birdhouse or two to your backyard.
Gourds can be grown for a variety of things; one of them notably can be a birdhouse.
Now you can not only grow food for your own consumption, you can grow a gourd or two for housing for birds that can help eat pesky insects that might do damage to your garden.
Here is how you make a birdhouse from a gourd grown right in your own backyard.
Let the gourds dry out completely. Once dry, take a piece of sandpaper and use it on the exterior of the gourd to clean it off and get rid of other imperfections. A wire brush works well here also.
Take your drill and the attached 2 inch spade bit and drill hole into the gourd. Do not go all the way through. Simply drill about half to three quarters of the way through.
Using your knife, take out as much of the inside as you possible can. Once removed you can compost this material. (See nothing goes to waste).
If left as is the gourd will eventually rot which makes sense since it is a growing living thing. You can protect your good and make it last longer by treating it with copper sulfate. Keep in mind, copper sulfate when handled improperly can be toxic, so where gloves. You mix 1 and 1/2 pounds of copper sulfate with 7 and 1/2 gallons of water then soak the gourd in the solution of at least 15 minutes. Give the gourd 24 hours to dry.
Paint the exterior of the gourd with a white oil based primer such as Kilz. This will help protect the exterior of the gourd as well as keep the temperature inside the gourd cool enough for your birds.
The last step is to hang the gourd. You can do this by drilling holes in the stem of the gourd, running a piece of string through them and tying a knot. Then simply hang on a tree or off of a hook in your backyard.
About the Author Mike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and where ever gardening books are sold. For more vegetable gardening advice, Mike can be reached at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com.
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