Green Thumb Gazette, May 2023

Hummingbirds Are Back! - Tips on Maintaining Your Feeders

Mix your own feed!! It is super easy and cheap, and you know exactly what’s in it. Boil 1 cup of water and mix with 1 cup of sugar until it dissolves. Then add 3 cups of cold water and mix again. Then fill you clean feeder and store any excess in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Check your feeders daily! You may need to refill or clean it out!

To keep a clean feeder, disassemble it and soak it in hot water. Scrub ALL the feeder parts, especially the port holes that they are drinking out of (a pipe cleaner works great for this area)! Rinse, allow the feeder parts to air dry, and then reassemble and refill. It is recommended to clean every time you change out the water, and to change our water often (especially as we get into regular hotter temperatures)!

NEVER add red dyes, it can harm your hummers!

Put out feeders in early spring and take up around 2 weeks after you see your last hummingbird in the fall/winter.

To read more about hummingbirds, check out the following links:
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/hummingbirds-and-butterflies

https://www.hummingbirdcentral.com/hummingbird-migration.htm

Community Garden Bed Rentals!!

If you need a space to garden, then we have a place for you! The Taylorsville Community Garden still has a few available beds to rent for the season. They are $10 per bed for the entire season and you can rent up to 3 beds! Beds are to be looked after and maintained on a weekly basis so that they do not become overrun with weeds or unharvested crops. If you are interested in purchasing a bed for the season, please contact Cari Mitchell at cari_mitchell@ncsu.edu or 828-632-4451.