Please forgive me for asking a dumb question. Why do we need to use fat/suet
for bird feeder?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love.
- Lao Tzu
“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
- Winston Churchill
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
--- On Fri, 12/26/08, Mike McGrath <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Mike McGrath <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Rendering Suet
To: "DAN-TAMMY BOWDEN" <[email protected]>,
[email protected]
Date: Friday, December 26, 2008, 2:09 PM
I like the idea of making suet cakes--but I take the easy way out instead
(what a shock!)
I only fill my feeders with fat from beef and pork; the first from
trimmings that butchers save for me and the second from what I like to call
our "hippie bacon"; really thick-sliced, uncured stuff from a nearby
sustainable farm. I freeze it, let it half thaw and then trim off virtually
all the fat and just cook up the lean.
Almost guilt free! Chicken fat goes to the cats.
Hoppy Holidays!
---McG
----- Original Message -----
From: "DAN-TAMMY BOWDEN" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 5:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Rendering Suet
Dorene,
I think I would experiment with mixing the bird fats, four-legged fats,
flour, and birdseed. The two types of fat should mix well when hot, then
when mixed into flour & seeds it would make a cake that should hold
together well. And flour is relatively inexpensive, although I don't
know
the price of birdseed.
Dan
CREATION SPEAKS
Inviting man to the heart of God through the biblical mandate to care for
creation
www.creationspeaks.org
----- Original Message -----
From: Alliums
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 10:29 AM
Subject: [Community_garden] Rendering Suet
Hi, Folks!
No one else is talking, so I'm taking up space! :-)
We decided to try Mike's advice on fruit tree bug control and are
putting
suet feeders in our fruit trees to get them used to patrolling the trees
and
hopefully, in the Spring, eating those bugs. So far, the chickadees seem
to
really be enjoying it - I'm seeing more chickadees than I've ever
seen at
the community garden.
However, when I'm paying top prices for grass-fed, free-range local
meat
at
the farmer's market, it seems a waste to go out there and buy suet
blocks
for the birds. So, how do people render their own suet?
Right now, I'm skimming off the fat and then putting it in a pie pan
in
the
oven whenever I'm cooking something to boil off the water (too cheap
with
energy to boil the fat on it's own on the stovetop! ;-)) This seems
to
be
working with four-legged meat products (lamb, beef, pork), but no so well
with poultry (chicken, turkey, etc). I can't get the poultry fat to
render
down such that it's not a thick liquid at room temperature.
Now, if I lived in a more reliably cold region, I'd just shove it
into
the
suet feeder and let the cold weather keep it solid. But here in
Southeastern PA, where it's 20 degrees one day and 50 the next,
I'm
afraid
that I'll have chicken fat leaking out of the feeder and dripping
onto
the
branches/ground which will probably attract rats, rather than chickadees.
Any advice appreciated!
Dorene
Dorene Pasekoff, Coordinator
St. John's United Church of Christ Organic Community Garden and
Labyrinth
A mission of
St. John's United Church of Christ, 315 Gay Street, Phoenixville, PA
19460
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ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to
find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org
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services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out
how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org
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