Aussie Finch Forum

hi all,
what would be the best greens and weeds to plant at this time of year fro use through winter and spring? I plan to try my hand a at sprouted seeds when the season arrives as well...
I have already got seeds of Pak Choy, sweet corn (apparently loved by parrot finches??), basil, chives and I plan to get lebanese cucumber, kale, lettuce, silverbeet, regular spinach and any chinese cabbage/vege I can find... as for the weeds should I just plant my birdseed? I plan to be changing that when my current bag runs out as well.. I'm going to try them on my current mix mixed with the new Greens & Grains mix
so what would be best to grow, and which do you find benefit your birds most?

Bird seed will give seed heads and sprouted seedlings . The winners here in my vege patch are Kale ( Tuscan and Red Curly ) Endive is picking up , wombok , pak choy , english spinach and silver beet .

I also grow chillis and capsicum which are doing well . ( Corella loves the tiny hot and I do mean hot chilis )

Chinese broccoli is coming along slowly .

thanks Deb
I'll see how many of those I can procure

most of these were seeds bought from Ebay ..usually only a dollar or two a packet .

How do you get your plants to mature without birds picking at them as they develop?

Bird netting Harry . The plants were being eaten by sparrows at first . At one stage there must have been 40 of the bloody things in the vegie garden .

Netting has fixed the problem , looks a bit how do but it does the job .

Bok Choy, Kale, Brocolli or any other brassicas (cabbage family) are all excellent winter growers. Bok Choy & Chicory are my favourite broadleaf varieties as they are thin-leafed and soft which gives them more widespread appeal to more finch species. Tougher leaves such as Kales may have excellent nutritional stats but their toughness does deter some species from having a good go at them.

Many of the bird seed & grass seeds will become more difficult to grow from now on with cooler weather. If you can get hold of some, Panic Veldt and/or Veldt Oats (Mini oats) are excellent winter growing seeding grasses. Apart from these, chickweed is an excellent winter mainstay for finch greens.

Well said Tiaris!

Jay Im still getting bird seed to sprout in small chinese containers , as soon as there is an inch or two of growth the pot goes into the aviary ...
Yes it wont go to seed this time of year but we know that dont we ?.

thanks guys