I recently completed a couple of bluebird houses made from discarded fence rails that were “rescued” from a burn pile.
Over April vacation, my sons and I worked with our town’s Open Space Stewardship program to help establish a tree nursery at Sunny Meadow Farm. In addition to the plot used to grow trees for the town’s use, the half acre property includes the Walter F. Lewis Community Garden where residents are given plots of farm land to grow their own crops.
While building a large brush pile that day, I noticed a few pieces of the original horse chewed fence had been stacked in the burn pile. Seeing the beauty of the patina of the boards, which had taken decades to form, and being a big fan of recycling materials, I grabbed a few of the discarded boards and loaded them into my truck.
Peterson style bluebird house
Peterson style bluebird house
Both bluebird houses share functional features such as a pivoting wall for easy clean-out, canopied roof, ventilation and drainage holes, and copper lined entry holes (to prevent predator chew out). I designed one birdhouse in the traditional bluebird box style, and the other in the angled Peterson style.
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