I’ve been desperate to put up a bird feeder in our new garden, but couldn’t bring myself to pay a few hundred ronds for something I could easily make myself.

Yesterday – plan free – we were finally able to get stuck in to some work around our new house (I should share that with you too I guess) and so I decided that it was time to make a free standing bird feeder.

Guys, this is so easy and took about half an hour – it also costs next to nothing.

You will need the following:

1.Wood – we got a pine cutoff – and a long thick wooden spoke

2.Long nails (unridged – is that a word?)

3.Wood stain/oil.

4. Ruler and a pencil

5. Something to cut the wood if need be and to shave the pole into a spoke (this is where husband stepped in – so I cant really tell you what he used)

6. Paintbrush

7. Wood glue

We cut the board into our desired size and then cut smaller pieces to create a raised section on the one side – the intention for this was to have the fruit skewers on one side and a deeper section for seed. We don’t want our precious birds food touching see.

The board was then drilled onto the stake and painted with a coloured oil sealant – we chose mahogany purely so we can use the leftovers on our sliding door.

We chose to put the feeder up next to our Pride of India who’s not looking too healthy – hopefully some new chicks will perk him up.

I added fruit and seeds, and voila!

PS – The irony of this entire thing is that a mere 30 minutes later I had about 15 birds eating the seeds I had just planted in my herb garden on the other side of the house.

Sigh. Birds be crazy.