Any tips on growing a seed crop? (for wild birds)

[daveO]

I'm in a bit of an odd situation where I grow a lot of my own veg at home in my small garden but I also work (or worked) at my parents' house during the week and grow a lot of stuff there too. They live about 20 miles away though and I'm now working from home a lot more to save commuting time and to spend more time with the baby. So this year I'm having to leave the work garden to go a bit fallow. I've got all my fruit trees and bushes growing there and I've already got onions and garlic planted but most of that will take care of itself. I might chuck some spuds in if I get a chance but I doubt I'll bother this year. So this leaves me with 2 large veg beds with nothing in them. I will sow green manure, probably clover mostly, to cover the ground and provide flowers for the bees but I've been wondering about trying to grow bird seed crops as well. Sunflowers are probably a good option and there are some teasels coming up in various places which I can transplant but what else would be easy and self sufficient? Maybe millet? Anything to reduce the bird feeding bill would help.

It's what you might politely call an informal garden and I let it run a bit wild. It drives my dad nuts. He was particularly unimpressed with the nasturtium volcano I created in the composters There's a 2 bay composter made of full sized pallets under there somewhere and it stretched a good 5 metres in all directions. I thought it looked quite nice It was covered in bees and caterpillars too.

 

[Janne]

A good (and tasty) green manure are beans and peas.
mix with sunflowers as you suggest ( peas can climb on them too)

 

[Toddy]

I think your garden sounds brilliant I wish I had the room, and the light, I really do.

Birds will come if there are insects and fruits they can get easily. The wrens love spiders, so hedgey things are very attractive to them. Robins like disturbed ground (and opened compost heaps !) and the blackbirds will stir up leaf litter and bark to find worms.
I'd call it a wildlife garden, and let those nasturtiums thrive. They'll fall back in Winter again anyway. Caterpillars love them.
Seeds wise, I find the birds love the little wild celandines, the poached egg plants, the teasels, geans, elderberries and the ivy. The ivy is being stripped again by the big wood pigeons just now. I tried growing wheat and rye and oats for the birds, but they didn't look near them. So I cropped it myself
Sunflower seeds seem to be universally popular though, and if you sow linseed you'll get pretty blue flax flowers, excellent seed heads and wonderful material for fibre for cordage

M

 

[daveO]

I like the idea of linseed and peas. I could get a lot of sweet peas going there relatively cheaply I imagine. I might put in few runner beans too to keep my old man happy but they might suffer if it gets too dry.

I get plenty of wrens there. These ones nested in the greenhouse last year after I left a nest box in there to be repaired.

The robins are also pretty sociable when I'm digging

 

[Janne]

Sweet peas are more beautiful than normal peas, but you do not have the benefit of any produce!

Super idea with the flax.