Gardening

While you may think of bees simply as a summertime nuisance there’s more than meets the eye with these hard-working insects. Bees actually help to ensure that many of your favorite foods to reach our dinner tables each night. From apples to almonds, we have bees to thank for any one of our favorite foods coming to fruition.

Sadly, due to environmental pollution and deforestation, many domestic bee varieties now face a greater foe than ever before, a condition known as Colony Collapse Disorder. A disorder that causes bee populations to plummet, which means that over time, many of the organic produce foods we rely on day in and day out could also be at risk of disappearing from our meal plans as we know them.

In the United States alone, more than twenty-five percent of all honey bee populations has disappeared since 1990. This is particularly scary facts as bees, one of a myriad of other animals, including birds, bats, beetles, and butterflies, called pollinators, animals that aid in the propagation of domestic food crops by way of cross-pollination, or the the transfer of pollen to a stigma, ovule, flower, or plant to allow fertilization. Bees, in particular, are vital to food production. 

Cross-pollination directly helps at least thirty percent of the world’s crops and ninety percent of our wild plants to thrive. Without bees to spread seeds, many plants—including food crops—would die off. For when domestic and international bee populations die off as will human beings. 

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Beyond the fields, bees also help to keep our economy humming. More than $15 billion a year in U.S. crops are pollinated by bees, including apples, berries, cantaloupes, cucumbers, and various other crops. U.S. honey bees also produce about $150 million domestically in honey product revenue annually. 

The monetary effects of this decline can already be seen from a global perspective. As the global economic cost of bee decline, including lower crop yields and increased production costs, has been estimated to be as high as $5.7 billion per year since 1990. Which makes maintaining bee populations crucial for keeping American tables stocked with quality organic produce.

Consider this, with every third morsel of produce you consume, you could ideally thank a bee for that tasty bite of food.

Researchers believe that Colony Collapse Disorder may be caused by a number of interwoven factors including Global warming, which has caused flowers to bloom earlier or later than usual, as well as pesticide use on farms, which caused parasites such as harmful mites, to be immune from crop dusting, while simultaneously killing pollinators, such as bees, each growing season. A deadly combination when it comes to organically grown produce.

So what can be done to protect our precious bee populations?

To begin, we can urge our policymakers to take action to protect the bees and other pollinators that help keep fresh food on our table. This means increased grant funding to aid farmers for organic farming practices that help wild bee populations thrive, such as leaving habitat for bees in their surrounding fields, crop rotation, and avoiding the use of harmful pesticides.

We can also urge policymakers to increase funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), so we can invest in our farmers and farming communities by way of research on pollinators and organic Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques through Farm Bill conservation programs.

We can also create bee-friendly yards at home. If you are a gardener like me, your weekends may find your elbow deep in planting your summer gardens and annual landscaping. I’m reminded of years past and my struggles to grow certain crops.  Despite my best efforts, cucumbers were always absent from my garden harvest.  Year after year, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get any cucumbers to grow.  Because what was missing from my garden were honeybees.

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So with this in mind here are a few ways you can keep a more bee-friendly garden at home:

Choose plants that attract bees: Bees love native wildflowers, flowering herbs, berries and many flowering fruits and vegetables.  Some honeybee favorites include – mints, basil, sage, thyme, borage, oregano, lavender, chives, berries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cucumbers, tomato, winter squash, pumpkins, melons, watermelons, broccoli, crocus, tulips, sunflowers, asters, lilacs, wisteria, cosmos, black-eyed Susans, gaillardia, cup plants, goldenrod, loosestrife, bachelor’s buttons, peony and honeysuckle.  

Use spacing to your advantage: If you have space, planting any type of fruit tree is perfect and trees such as maple, willow, black locust, and sumac are also good food sources for bees.

Group similar plants together: Try to plant at least one square yard of the same plant together to make a perfect bee attractor. But if you are short on space planting just a few wildflowers or herbs in a planter or window box is all that’s needed to provide more foraging opportunities for bees.

Pick plants with long blooming cycles: Or choose plants with successive blooms. This way the bees will keep coming back again and again.

Let your plants flower: Leave the flowers on your plants and deadhead them to allow the honeybees to get the pollen and nectar they need. If you are growing herbs or vegetables such as broccoli, harvest it but leave the plant intact. When you are done let it go to flower for the pollinators and leave it in the garden until the flowers are gone.

Provide a fresh water source: A bird bath filled with pea gravel submerged in water provides bees an area to stand on while also providing needed water sources for honeybees each season.

Avoid the use of pesticides and herbicides in your garden: Or anywhere in your yard including your lawn, for that matter. A simple rule of thumbs- if little paws or hands touch those areas, pesticides don’t belong there! This ban also applies to products your lawn care company uses. When in doubt leave it out.

Appreciate the beauty of weeds: Dandelions, clovers, loosestrife, milkweed, goldenrod and other flowering weeds are very important food sources for bees. In areas filled with green sprawling lawns, dandelions and clovers are vital plants for a bees survival. Let them grow and the next time you see a dandelion going to seed, grab it, blow those seeds around and feel good knowing you are doing your part to help save the bees!

Change your mindset: At first, you may not like the idea of attracting stinging insects into the garden. Keep in mind that stinging is a defensive behavior used for defending the nest against predators. Just as humans instinctively protect our children, as do bees! Most bees as far too busy to sting. Ever watched a bee when it visits a flower and noticed that the bee often too busy to even notice you! Foraging bees are happy and curious. They are not looking for a fight. They are friends. They help provide us produce and help keep our world moving along.

So as you can see friends, you can provide bee-friendly habitats at home with very little effort or cost. You do not even have to uproot your current garden in order to attract more bees. Providing shelter for bees can be as simple as maintaining a garden full of spaces guarded against the elements, providing natural watering sources, or simply learning to appreciate bees, not as pests, but as beautiful reminders of the delicate reminder of the part we all play in keeping nature at its best.

Now I have to ask, do you provide bee-friendly spaces around your home and garden? If so, I’d love to hear about them below!

Here’s to all that bees do,

Hello again, savvy savers! Here in my neck of the woods, Spring has sprung! Though according to our old friend Punxsutawney Phil, we are still officially six weeks from the start of Spring, my yard is starting to come alive with Spring Bulb plants, or “fall” flower bulbs which are planted in the fall, grow roots into winter, then sprout and bloom in the spring. These include favorites such as tulips, daffodils, hyacinth and others.

So, today I wanted to share some of my favorite tips for Spring Bulb Care this coming season. Here are a few of my favorite Spring bulb growing tips:

1. Most spring bulbs emerge and bloom in spring — then their foliage starts to fade and they go dormant by midsummer, usually by June 1st.
2. It’s important to let the foliage naturally go yellow and wither.
3. Never try to stake or braid foliage to try to make it look tidier.
4. Try planting Spring Bulbs in flower beds, alongside other perennial foliage, so that when bulbs start to fade, they will naturally be eclipsed by the emergence of other Spring plants, which prevents your beds from losing sparse.
5. It is helpful to remove the flowers on most spring bulbs as soon as they start to fade; this helps bulbs conserve their energy into producing seed instead of a big crop of blooms the following year.
6. Don’t fertilize blooming bulbs, but do make sure they are planted in beds will compost, mulch, and nutrient rich soil.
7. Bulbs should be fertilized in fall, and one month before blooming, in the end of January; for beds covered in snow, simply remove snow, place in-ground fertilizer stakes, and replace snow accordingly.
8. Many spring-flowering bulbs are native to hot, dry areas — so they prefer dry conditions in summer when they’re dormant.

I hope these tips help you to enjoy your beautiful Spring Bulbs for as long as possible this year.

Here’s to gardening,

Hello again, savvy savers! I’m not sure about you, but I’m ready for milder weather to start ushering in the change of seasons in my neck of the woods! Though we are in Summer, there are still gardening chores which need our attention at present, including planting various types of grass seed in that will be used this Fall.

So, why plant grass see in Fall? A lush green yard is the envy of every neighborhood, but it can be a challenge to obtain. There is much more to green grass than simply sun and water! A beautiful green yard is often the result of using the correct fertilizer, aeration techniques, type of grass seed used, and most importantly, when the seed is planted. 

Here’s why: The time in which the grass seed was planted is the most important factor in determining proper seed germination. A lush green yard is the envy of every neighborhood, but it can be a challenge to obtain. There is much more to green grass than simply sun and water! A beautiful green yard is often the result of using the correct fertilizer, aeration technique and type of grass seed. The time in which the grass seed was planted is also an important factor. To complicate matters further, the type of grass seed planted and when to plant it varies from state to state, but a general rule of thumbs is that Fine Fescue Grass, Rye Grass, and Kentucky Blue Grass should always be planted in winter. 

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when planting Winter grasses:

• First, look for any storms that may be coming up. You’ll be more successful if you sow the seeds just prior to a rain shower, but not a down pour, to avoid washing your seeds down the drain.
• Secondly, do not plant during an extreme cold snap; temperatures of 40 degrees or over during the day are ideal.
• After you plant your grass seeds, you should see new sprouts no later than two weeks afterwards.
• If it has been two weeks and there are no grass sprouts or very few then reseed and make sure you water thoroughly.
• The soil you plant your seeds in should remain moist during germination; moist, not saturated.
• Do not walk on grass seeds once planted. Grass seed germinates and grows best in dirt that is loose and not compacted. 
• Compost. Be sure to add compost over seeds when planting. 

Beyond these tips, my greatest piece of advice I can give to those planting grass seed in winter? A natural, organic ground cover! For me, I like to create a re-usable seed blanket for my lawn using Autumnal Display Hay Bales, as so many people use bales as part of their Fall Garden Displays, which were torn apart, and thrown over top of scattered grass seed.

Here how I did it:

1. Clear your area. I used a blower and mulched under all debris left from the Winter.
2. Rake your area. Rake, till, or shovel your area until the top soil is loose and easily moved.
3. Purchase seeds for your yard; find the appropriate type of seeds based on the amount of sun, wind, rain, and what forms of recreation will occur on your seed.
4. Spread your seed! Lightly and evenly is key here!
5. Cover your seeds with hay!
6. Water your seeds daily. In my case, I layered seed today as it was going to rain. Be diligent and water daily, by hand, and do not use a sprinkler.
7. Lay the Hay! That’s right, shake it up, shake it loose, shake it down to the ground! I danced my way to a covered first tier.
8. Do not walk on the seeds. Like tile work, work your way from corner to corner, and work your way backwards, and away from your projects!
9. Allow your seed to grow. Your lawn will begin sprouting in 2-3 weeks.
10. Maintenance. If you grass has patches where seeds have not grown, use emergency my tried-and-tested seed repair kit, bird seed mix! Take two cups bird seeds, add water until its porridge-like, and apply to the ground! The water will detract birds, and help jump-start the seed germination.
11.  Grooming. Yes, grass should be groomed, too! Be sure to wait a full two months to mow your new lawn for the first time, and when you do so, make sure your mower is not adjusted down too low, and be sure to be even in your cutting!
12. Aerate your lawn. Use cleats, spikes, or the like to aerate your soil twice a year, in April and October.
13. Water your lawn. Water your grass three times a week in Spring and Fall, and daily in Summer, unless prohibited by drought; if drought is an issue consider other means like rain barrels or collected bath water.
14. Feed your lawn. Be sure to feed your law appropriate lawn-feed in Autumn, and a grass-supported food, bi-monthly in warmer weather. 
15. Weeding. If you need to remove weeds, use white vinegar in a spray bottle! 

So, that’s it! That’s how you can achieve your best lawn, for those with Fine Fescue Grass, Rye Grass, and Kentucky Blue Grass, is to plant your lawns in winter!

Here’s to gardening,

Happy Sunday, everyone! Here is this weeks gardening update!

This week I was able to plant the other half of my herbs, including my lavender, thyme, basil, lemon grass, parsley, bay leaves, and mint. Also, the tomato sprouts are coming up and in a week, should be able to be thinned, and then planted outside! Even in the face of all the horrific storms this week, everything was thankfully spared, and growing right on schedule! As for the other areas of my year, we have had nearly constant rainfall, so tilling and further planting has been on standstill, for the next three posts, I should have plenty to share; I will be planting both my potted and upside varieties next weekend. Aside from rain, and the largest amount of pollen I have ever seen (we have composted four trash barrels full), out pots of Green beans are beautiful, as seen above!

Also, the squash plant, though small, is growing! In addition, my mum plants from last fall have doubled in size, and will have sucker that need to be plucked in the next few weeks! This week to come I will be planting my hill of strawberries, starting potato and sweet potato towers, as well as creating a summer butterfly flower bed!  As well, my $1.00 rose bushes from Fred’s Super Dollar have thus far produced some of the most beautiful roses I have ever grown, as seen above. They are just so lovely, and I will be giving some today to my wonderful Grandmother for Mother’s Day! I also love my free lattice, as it was recycled from discarded pallets, and works just as well as anything purchased at my local supercenter! I feed my roses a special homemade blend, which i will be blogging about in the weeks to come!

Here’s to next week!