Ways to Enjoy Nature & the Outdoors with Birdwatching, Beekeeping & Gardening

Posted on February 22, 2024 at 6:00 am

By Stacey Goddard

Between the longer days and milder weather, it’s easy to look ahead and start dreaming about spring and all the fun outdoor activities that come with the season.

When I think of spring, three things come to mind: birds, bees, and gardens!

While I’m not a great gardener myself, my next-door neighbors have amazing green thumbs. This means I get to benefit from all their hard work in their garden, from spring through fall, and enjoy the beautiful colors and scents of the flowers they grow, plus I get to see the birds their garden attracts.

If you’d like to start thinking about spring, planning for your garden, and exploring more of what nature has to offer, then the library has a full slate of programs this spring to help you enjoy the outdoors—including your own backyard.

Birdwatching

I’m very excited about the series of birdwatching programs and bird walks we have coming up, starting in March, at five locations throughout the county.

Each starts in the library with an Introduction to Birdwatching presentation by the Spokane Audubon Society. And then on the following Saturday, registered participants meet at a local natural area or park to practice their new birding skills!

During the in-library presentation, we learn how to set up and use binoculars, how to identify birds, and what apps and books are best to refer to when you’re birdwatching.

Please note that registration is required for each of the walks. You can sign up on our events calendar.

In April and May, the Spokane Audubon Society will also be presenting the workshop Attracting Birds to Your Yard. If you’d like more birdsong in your life, this session shows you how to provide for birds’ basic needs and how to make your yard safe for birds.

Attracting Birds to Your Yard

Birding Backpacks

Also, be on the lookout for a new addition to our Library of Things this spring: Birding Backpacks.

These backpacks contain everything you need for a successful birding experience, including binoculars and information on how to use them, a bird identification book and folding pocket guide, maps of local hikes and trails that are great for birding, and much more.

I’m especially intrigued by the Spokane Bird Checklist of over 300 types of birds that can be found in Spokane County. Those are some birding goals for sure!

Beekeeping

If you’re interested in beekeeping but aren’t sure where to start, the Beekeeping 101 program is for you!

The Backyard Beekeeper’s Association discusses how to keep bees in both rural and urban settings, what you need to get started, and how to be successful. This program is geared toward beginners and novices.

Beekeeping 101

Gardening

For many people, spring means digging into gardening season. To help you get ready, we’re offering a wide variety of programs presented by Master Gardeners and local experts to help gardeners of all levels!

Attend Soil Science for Your Garden to learn how to deal with plant disease, bugs, and weeds that might be making your soil inhospitable to what you’re planting.

Soil Science for Your Garden

If you’re curious about what it takes to get started with home composting, be sure to check out one of our Composting 101 programs. Mark Cuilla, Spokane County Master Composter/Recycler, walks us through composting basics, including how to troubleshoot your compost pile.

Composting 101

The gardening program I’m most looking forward to is No-Dig Gardening. With this method of gardening, you put compost (yay, composting!) on top of the soil and plant in the compost itself. That means you don’t have to dig rows into the soil for the seeds you’re planting—so your back gets a rest. During this program, professional gardener Erin Nelson discusses no-dig techniques that work for raised beds, field planting, and even container gardens.

No-Dig Gardening

If you’re like me and don’t know the difference between invasive and native plants, our upcoming Gardening with Native Plants program is for you!

Aside from learning that important difference, you’ll also discover how to incorporate native plants into your overall landscaping plan. Presenter Erin Nelson also shares which native plants provide the best habitat for local wildlife and birds.

Gardening with Native Plants

Last but certainly not least, mark your calendars to drop in for our Starter Plants Swaps in May.

With our unpredictable weather (you know, our typical false spring followed by at least one more hard frost), one option is to plant seeds indoors to get a jump on the growing season.

I can remember my mom planting tomato seeds in small containers in March and setting them up under a grow light on an unused kitchen counter. Then, after they germinated and sprouted, she had sturdy starters to plant outside when the real spring arrived.

If you have extra starters to share and would like to add some variety to your own garden, swing by a Start Plants Swap to share yours and see what’s available from others!

Starter Plants Swap

Other Resources

Did you know SCLD has seed libraries? We do!

Seed libraries let you borrow vegetable, flower, and herb seeds to plant in your garden. Then at harvest time, collect some of your heirloom (non-hybrid) seeds and bring them back to the library for other gardeners to enjoy. Learn more on our Seed Libraries web page.

We also have many digital books to inspire and inform your next outdoor project. If you’re looking for ideas for your garden and all it produces, these OverDrive lists of eBooks and audiobooks can offer help:

• Cultivate This! From Garden to Table
• Agriculture & Nutrition: Food for Our Table

For more information on birding and enjoying time with nature, these OverDrive lists share lots of options and ideas:

• The Great Outdoors
• Inspired by Nature
• Out & About in the PNW

And if physical books are your preference, you can visit our catalog and search for birding, gardening, or any topic has you excited about spring. Whatever you’re looking for, we can help you find it!

Stacey Goddard loves being able to work with small business owners and people looking to change careers as part of her job as a Public Services Manager for Spokane County Library District. She’s also a fan of helping folks increase their financial literacy, especially after her own ill-advised spending decisions in her 20s and 30s! Outside of work, Stacey enjoys buying cookbooks to browse and probably never use, binge-watching fashion competition shows, and planning her next vacation to the Oregon Coast.

Tags: adults, beekeeping, bees, birds, birdwatching, gardening, hiking, nature, outdoors