It is December 27, and here in Mississippi, I am still able to get out and dig in my garden, But I live in North Mississippi now–not far from Memphis, TN, and I know that any day, the other shoe will drop, and a winter freeze will end my gardening–at least for a day or two, Last year, life in this area was suspended by a winter freeze about the 15th of January. That freeze was one of the worst I have experienced in Mississippi.

Little shards of sleet fell upon the frozen ground. A mockingbird greeted me at my back door. Chittering chinks of ice filled the air.
Jacki Kellum Journal January 15, 202

When that freeze occurred, I became acutely aware of the welfare of the mockingbirds in my yard. At that moment, I thought my mockingbird friends were only one bird and that he [they] had been my only bird friends that had frequented my yard until that point. I panicked because I had not prepared to feed my mockingbirds during a winter freeze. After that day,  I immediately ordered a network of supplies I  could use when another freeze paralyzed the area around me. Today, I am listing preparing for the birds in winter is one of a gardener’s most important winter tasks.

I have several of the following bird feeder stations set up around my yard:

During the summer, I had bird feeders all over my yard, and I supplied them with Kaytee Nut & Fruit Birdfeed, which is liberally stocked with sunflower seeds. In addition to proper bird food, they also need water. The above feeder has a plastic bowl for the water.

As the birds feed themselves, they drop sunflower seeds to the ground, and voila! The birds plant sunflowers that pop up all around my feeders:

During the fall, I bought 3 of the following birdfeeders to hang from the above poles, but I have moved all these feeders to poles near my back door:

When ice is on the ground, I cannot get out to the outer feeding stations, but I can fill the above feeders and reach at least one of the poles from a spot on my back porch, and the little roof provides a bit of protection from the elements.