MY WILDLIFE CHARCUTERIE TABLE

 

My husband and I purchased and renovated a 100 yr. old log cabin on 40 acres in the Upper Peninsula in the State of Michigan.   There are hundreds of acres of state-owned land around our 40 acres...so, no neighbors...just wildlife. Our acreage is comprised of about 15 acres of wooded land, 15 acres of grassy fields and about 10 acres of land that had been previously gardened for many years - original settlers and relatives.  It is our 'out of the city', woodland home. When we purchased the old log cabin...it was pretty rough, so we also purchased an old Victorian home in the UP but in the City of Menominee, MI about 45 minutes away from this woodland paradise. We purchased it for a place to stay when we were doing the heavy duty, dirty work at the log cabin. We love both places and enjoy the beauty and benefits of each.   Sometimes, the peace and quiet of hearing and feeling all that nature offers is just what we need to recharge our mind, body and spirit.  Sometimes seeing our neighborhood friends and enjoying all of the conveniences of city living is just what we need.  We feel blessed to have both to enjoy.  

Out on the acreage, initially we just threw a few chairs and a folding table into the back of our pickup truck and drove out into our woods.  Since we purchased this acreage, up until now, we had been spending the majority of our time renovating the log cabin, planting gardens (cut flower and vegetable) and tending to all of our animals which is a daily responsibility.  We have chickens, peacocks, llamas and fiber sheep.  But now that most everything is basically under control, but not complete, it is time to start exploring our woods.  We need to take a bit of time away from the renovations and just go sit in the woods and relax.   Up until now, we would just walk around in the woods noticing various wildflowers, check out animal tracks and marvel at the scratch and rub marks on the stumps and trees made by the local bears. We loved walking in the woods but thought a nice comfortable place to sit would be much nicer than sitting on uncomfortable, fallen dead trees.  Now, when we go for walks in our woods, we will take some time to relax in our chairs, breath in the fresh pine air and try to quiet any chatter that might be going on in our heads.  We love to listen to the refreshing, swirling winds high up in the pines.  

My always busy, always moving mind actually slows down and relaxes for a while sitting in our woods. But after a while, as usual, my creative juices would begin flowing, my thoughts would start rolling and I would begin creating. I am creating something about 99.9% of the time.  Many times, it would be a new craft item, a different garden design, an easy but good recipe, a different or multi use of a space...on and on...no real limits when my creative juices begin to flow. 

 When we first started spending more time out in the woods, we didn't really see that many birds or critters.  We were used to feeding birds and squirrels on the deck at the log cabin and also at our home in the city.  So, we thought, why not also put up feeders our in our woods.  We are a couple of real bird watchers.  We search out and look for birds everywhere we go.  Binoculars are standard equipment in each of our vehicles. We joked about that the birds and critters were probably watching us from a distance.  The didn't really know if we were friend or foe, so they were staying safe until we made our intentions known.  Maybe they were thinking...are these not the same people that feed us up at the log cabin?   

After a few walks out into our woods, we decided to hang up a few bird feeders and then proceeded to fill them with seed every time we would walk out there.  While we were quieting sitting there, we would see an occasional bird fly in and take a seed and then fly off.  When we would return on another day, the feeders would all be empty...so, we knew that they had found our seed feeders.  I also decided to put a container on the ground for the little critters. I put peanuts, sunflower seeds and acorns that I had collected into this container for the smaller ground feeders.  The chipmunks and the squirrels quickly found this buffet.   I almost tripped over the chipmunks as they came running for a seed or a peanut.  We were so entertained by their comings and goings.  We kept putting out treats the whole time we were out there.  We were not sure if the same chipmunk or the same squirrel was coming by, eating a bit, stuffing its cheeks and scampering away only to return in a few moments.  Or, if there were several.  We were just glad to provide them with food and hoped that they were putting some of the seed away for the long winters that we have UP north.   

Creating a wildlife feeding table became my next creative project out in our beautiful woods.  It became another avenue for creativity for me.  It began by spreading out the seeds, peanuts, corn and collected acorns on the table right in front of us.  As I would sit there, I would begin arranging all of these goodies into some sort of design.  This design began to grow with every visit.  

  It took a while but soon we would see birds landing on branches all around us.  And then suddenly one would land on the table, look around, grab a seed and take off rather quickly.  We would sit perfectly still and enjoy our close up look at our bird visitors.  We were overjoyed.  City birds become accustomed to our presence and don't really scare away very easily...but out here where they don't see people that often...they needed to check us out before spending anytime near us.  

  One day was especially amazing.  We could hear the familiar sounds of Chickadees in the distance, and it sounded like quite a few of them.  All of a sudden, we had Chickadees flying and landing all around us...kind of like a swarm of bees.  They were landing on branches all around us, on the feeders, on the table and on the ground.  And then, they began landing on us.  We were honored that they felt this comfortable to be near and around us.     

My always busy mind thought if they come for seed type items, they might also stop by for apples, and other fresh foods.  So, after going through my refrigerator and picking out the iffy veggies and fruit and also the ends of bread, I would pack them up to take out to what would become the wildlife charcuterie table. 

When we would arrive at the table in the woods, I would pull out all of my bags of fresh produce and just sit at the table for a while.  I would spread out the items that I brought and devise a pattern using the types, shapes, size and colors of the food.   Being the person that I am, I started out with simple displays of food, but each time I would set a new table, my display of food became more involved.    I am sure that the deer and other visitors to the table noticed the artistic growth. (?) 

 

My husband would wander around the woods while I would chop, design and layout my latest table. I would end the woodland visit by taking a picture of my latest creation.  

We began to routinely walk in our woods every few days.  I would immediately walk over to the table to see if there was any food left and if so, what foods did they seem to like and what food offering did they not like to eat.

They local wildlife seemed to love apples, strawberries, peanuts, acorns, sunflower seeds, pears, corn on the cob, carrots, berries and homemade oatmeal cookies, and sometimes bread.  But they absolutely did not like oranges, romaine lettuce, corn silk or corn husks, nor did they like the pumpkin I left for a Halloween treat.  I had always seen pictures of what squirrels did to a carved pumpkin.  In eating the pumpkin, they would further carve the eyes, nose and mouth.  The one I carved and set out, was not even touched...just festive and fun for them, I hoped.  

We have a trail cam, and I decided to put it on a nearby tree to see just who actually visited our table when we were not in the area.    Initially it was a variety of critters, squirrels, birds, possums, chipmunks, turkeys, and some deer.  And then, it became mostly all deer.  So, once I had seen more deer than I ever wanted to...I took down the trail cam.  The weather was beginning to shift, and I knew that I would not be putting out all of this fresh food on this table for too much longer. When we would put on our boots and heavier jackets and trudge out into our woods in the cold and possible rain or snow, I would fill the covered feeders to the top and cover the table with seed, peanuts, acorns, and corn. I don't think a bit of rain or snow would stop them from eating the dry seeds.  As we would walk away, I would wish them all a good night's rest.  And, hoped that our dear visitors would have a peaceful winter, I told them that we would be back again when the winter weather would begin to break.  

Some of the best advice that you will ever hear will come from the forest....