can birds eat coriander seeds

The recipe text reminds us that we were a little bit starstruck both then and now. In the background of the photos for our little fermented coriander seeds, we can see Joshua MC Fadden, blurry. We may have gushed, just a little. Forgive us. He visited the city years ago—or was it just in 2017?—to promote Six Seasons, his then-new book. The once-crisp pages of our most cherished cookbooks have become dog-eared, splattered with sauce, and side-noted, falling open to familiar places. How much gratitude we have for everyone who has gone before us—recipe writers, home cooks, gardeners, seed savers—whose life’s work has influenced and shaped our gardens, palates, memories, and culture.

The mist lingers late in the mountain mornings some days, a welcome respite from a week of record heat that reminded us briefly of the potent summer weather that is late in coming this year. The breeze gusts unsteadily, carrying changes. Gray skies give way as the day progresses to a clear bright blue ruffled with clouds, and the angle of the sun slants high overhead, even late into the afternoon. The fog pools later in the day on the coast, a soft blanket spread on the bluest bed. The summer solstice passed while we were in the garden, staking tomatoes and planting a late crop of beans to replace some that were eaten by grasshoppers, or by birds. The longest day, stretched over the western hemisphere; the shortest night, a bright bowl of stars. Even as summer swells and climbs like a magic beanstalk, the seeds of autumn are already beginning to swell. Zucchini comes out swinging.Color creeps into ripening fruit. For whatever reason, the plague of grasshoppers seems to be lessening in our plot here; the skeletonized leaves of squash and eggplant are slowly being supplanted by young leaves that have remained whole for an entire two weeks now. Bless an ecosystem that corrects itself, moving as it does in cycles; boom and bust, predator and prey. Thanks be to birds, sharp-eyed and hungry; the young of many species have fledged and are busy exploring the garden in their still-fluffy feathers, awkward and adorable as teenagers. There are plenty of grasshoppers to go around to feed the young birds. Bon appétit, my darlings! Cilantro, once it goes to seed, is given a new name, and known not for its leafy stems but for the mature seed we call coriander. Cilantro we planted from healthy starts a few weeks ago bolted to coriander straight away; this is the dice roll of weather and luck. Sometimes a cool-season crop like cilantro can be coaxed into thriving between heat waves, but the high temperatures a week ago proved too much for the annual herb. Autumn again, knocking on the door. We’ll try again if these cool temps look to hold, in a shadier spot perhaps. The young cilantro that bolted early won’t make too much seed, as they had hardly gotten to grow at all before they decided to end it all in a mad reproductive dash. However, the older plants that have been in the ground since spring have finally reached the end of their useful life. Topping out at over 3 feet tall, we decided to remove the lacy, leaning foliage to make more light and air circulation for the maturing vegetable garden. The bolting cilantro graced us for weeks before maturity with lacy white umbel flowers, beloved of bouquet-makers, bees, and butterfilies alike. Insects and backyard florists alike love an umbel-shaped flower, and the delicate sprays made their way into many bouquets of early summer flowers and even a few salads. Once pollinated, the flowers dropped their petals, swelling into tiny round green seedheads, striped and textured like tiny basketballs. The plant pours everything it has, every last drop of sugar from the sun, into producing these seeds, until the very leaves of the plant begin to turn a sucked-dry purple, tan, and brown. The seeds turn color too, drying in the sun, fading to a toasty brown. We gather the seeds for different reasons in each stage; the brown mature seed for long keeping as a dry spice, and the juicy green immature seed, to make this weeks featured recipe for Fermented Green Coriander Seed. We lift more harvests of potatoes from the friable earth; they keep better in the ground for a while, unwatered and drying than they do in the pantry. We trim dill from the herb patch, and make a roasted potato salad greened with chopped herbs. We sprinkle these coriander capers over the top of the dish, and put the jar away in the fridge, to await inclusion in another meal. These capers taste like tiny umami bursts of salt and tart, a seedy pop that brightens grain and legume dishes as well as starches. Plus, the recipe was fun to revisit; to do some serious, serendipitous name-dropping, we hadn’t remembered that we shot this recipe on a day when one of our favorite chefs and cookbook authors had been in the little yurt kitchen, shooting a different recipe.

These seeds provide your bird with a great source of calcium, even though they have a higher fat content. They are excellent for maintaining strong bones because they are also high in protein, phosphorus, and magnesium. Since they can swell up to ten times their original size when wet, it is best to sprinkle them over your bird’s fresh food.

Pumpkin seeds can be fed either fresh, right out of the vegetable, or dried. In addition to having a high protein and fiber content, pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of potassium, magnesium, and iron. Giving parrots pumpkin seeds that still have their shells on can be a lot of fun because they have to use their beaks to get at the delicious treat inside.

Although safe seeds can be provided in a variety of ways, they shouldn’t comprise the majority of your parrot’s diet. To get your bird to forage for their food, you could sprinkle them in a foraging toy. This will encourage mental stimulation and exercise. High-value treats can also be set aside for bonding activities and training sessions with you or another bird.

These seeds provide your bird with the best possible general health because they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids and, according to some, a wide range of vitamins and minerals. Additionally rich in antioxidants, brown linseeds can facilitate better digestion. Soaking them in cool water for eight hours overnight, rinsing and draining, and then serving usually facilitates their digestion.

A parrot’s natural diet naturally includes seeds and grains, but like anything else, they should be fed in moderation. Since many seeds have a higher fat content than other foods, giving them as your bird’s primary source of nutrition will frequently result in an imbalance of nutrients and possible health issues.

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