Kem Ormond’s vegetable garden: Winter is coming and the birds are already waiting

Feeding stations filled with sugar and water will also be welcomed by nectar-loving birds such as tūī. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Kem Ormond is a features writer for The Country. She’s also a keen gardener. This week, she’s planning to feed the birds.

May is the month that reminds us that winter is just around the corner.

The stunning colours of autumn are starting to fade and the leaves are clogging the gutters as we move into the colder and darker months.

Don’t forget to collect all the fallen leaves around your property, as they make wonderful compost.

In fact, I know a friend who takes her wool fadge (flexible wool container) around the streets near where she lives and collects fallen leaves for her compost bin.

Her neighbours are always thrilled to have their gutters cleared by her!

While some gardeners enjoy the change of seasons because they get a break, our vegetable garden also enjoys the chance to relax.

Hopefully, you have planted a winter crop that you will be able to dig back into the soil when spring appears.

It is not too late to get a few more vegetable plants sown, such as broccoli, cabbage, onions, cauliflower, lettuce, brussels sprouts, silver beet, leeks and spinach.

Over the winter months, if you have a little shed at the bottom of your garden, that is going to be the place to hang out.

It gives you time to plan what you are going to plant next season, think about crop rotation and catch up on some garden reading.

Although I have an established vegetable garden, I never stop thinking about something new to grow, where I am going to plant next season’s potatoes, and what else I can plant and where!

I now use some of my large bean fence to grow sweet peas.

Yes, I know they are not edible, but I love having a big bunch in my house when there is nothing much else in my garden.

I will use winter to make some new teepee climbing frames from some of the material I have collected while pruning during the year.

I will clean up summer pots and plant some colour to keep up my spirits when it is cold and wet.

Rainy days will see me devour seed catalogues for something exotic to try to grow, divide my succulents and maybe even start a project, like making a few bird feeders for the many birds that come looking for food during winter.

Making a bird feeder is a great project to do with your children as well.

You can easily create a bird feeder using a plastic bottle, a pinecone, a cardboard tube or household items like a terracotta pot or even a teapot and cup to attract birds to your garden.

Just go online and check out all the fun ideas.

Feeding stations filled with sugar and water will also be welcomed by nectar-loving birds such as tūī, bellbirds and wax eyes.

Birds are essential in a garden for maintaining a healthy, balanced ecosystem.

They provide natural pest control and nothing is nicer than seeing them flying around your garden.

They play a vital role in pollinating plants, dispersing seeds and connecting adults and children to nature.

I get visited by a lot of wood pigeons and tūī, and feel lucky to be able to quietly sit on my verandah and watch them at play.

Remember to leave the odd sunflower standing, as miserable as it may look: the seeds will be like dessert to the birds.