Birds, Mammals and Wildlife Gardening – bird cake and ball recipes

Bird bells

Requires

Old yoghurt pots or a plant pot
Lard or other solid fat
Food scraps, cut up bacon rind, black sunflower seeds, finely chopped or grated apple, soaked raisins etc
Pierce the bottom of the yoghurt pot. Thread through some string and tie a knot at the bottom, so it hangs upside down like a bell. Break up the food into small pieces and mix together in a bowl. Melt fat in a saucepan until it is runny and pour over your mixture until all the food is coated with fat. Fill the yoghurt pot with the mixture and press it down well. Leave it in the fridge for about 1 hour to set or overnight on the kitchen table. Hang your bird cakes outside, out of reach of cats. You can also press this into an old coconut shell.

Christmas cake

75g of maize meal
Chopped nuts and fruit
Canary seed or ordinary millet
2 beaten eggs
Old clean cloth
Stir maize, nuts and seeds together with boiling water until combined. Add the two beaten eggs. Tie tightly in a cloth and bake for about an hour in a low oven. Remove from oven, cool, slice and put on bird table.

Birds, mammals and wildlife gardening fatball photograph by slightly winded, used under a creative commons attribution licence