The Great Sunflower Project

I met a beekeeper at the nursery last summer. She didn't look like a beekeeper, but I don't really know what a beekeeper should look like. She was looking for Bee Balm (monarda didyma, also referred to as bergamot). Her -"My bees just love it!" Me - "Your bees?" She leaned in close and quietly shared her secret with me. She lives in an average suburban neighborhood yet has a bee hive tucked away in a hidden nook of her property. her neighbors are none the wiser.

The advantages? Well, fresh honey all year sounds pretty good to me, but the comment that stuck with me was, "My yard has never been so beautiful, and my garden has never been so fruitful." With a literal army of little pollinators dwelling amidst her flowers and vegetables, I am quite certain her yard was, in fact, amazing. This brief exchange over flats of perennials sparked my interest. I told my patient male counterpart that I would like to order some bees. He said no. But after a little research and a few weeks of pestering. .he still said no. So I settled for the next best thing and planted a gazillion sunflowers (which have now naturalized) all over the yard.

We put a great deal of time and effort into attracting pollinators to our garden. We planted wildflowers, nasturtiams, zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, bachelor buttons, and of course sunflowers. The flowers added a lot of color to our garden and effectively attracted our own little army of bees.

For more on pollination check this out! http://agricultureguide.org/natures-pollinators-whats-all-the-buzz-about/

I'm not terribly fond of flying insects but I recognize their cruciality to the success of a garden. As you know, bee populations are declining rapidly due to colony collapse disorder. In an effort to track bee populations across the country a team of scientists is enlisting the help of ordinary citizens like us. It's called the Great Sunflower Project! All you have to do is plant sunflowers and count your bees. This project is proof that little things can make a big difference. Click the title of this blog post to sign up.

Buy early! Transplant soon!

Yikes! It's almost planting time. If you planted your own babies this year, I hope your seeds are germinating well and your baby plants are thriving. If you didn't grow from seed this year, I recommend purchasing your seedlings soon. There are three advantages to doing so. 1) Most nurseries don't use organic growing practices. By purchasing your seedlings well before the planting date, you have a chance to 'rehab' (weening off heavy chemical fertilizers) your seedlings before planting them outside. You also have the advantage of transplanting them into larger pots so they have a more vigorous root system before going in the garden. 2) When you purchase your garden plants early, you have a much better selection. The cool heirloom varieties and popular stand-by's are long gone if you wait til mother's day weekend to purchase them; and the nursery isn't nearly as busy right now. 3) By hardening your seedlings off yourself, you can be sure your seedlings are effectively adapted to your yard's unique climate. When you purchase them the day you plant them you take them out of an artificial environment and plant them in the real world garden - Quite A Shock! We ended up with half nursery plants and half home grown seedlings this year. I had tremendous success germinating peppers and eggplants, but had a low germination rate for tomatoes ( I think I overwatered them.) Needless to say, we purchased a few tomato plants and a few interesting pepper varieties today. The babies went outside for the first time today! We transplanted our home grown seedlings as well as our nursery grown seedlings into four inch pots. They were all nearly root-bound so the timing was fantastic. The soil you choose is extremely important. In the past, we have had trouble with some potting soils being hydrophobic (not absorbing water), or drying out too quickly. Moisture is critical at this stage in the plants life and it's worth spending a little extra on a good potting soil to save yourself a headache (and heartache) later on. We are huge fans of coconut core. Coconut core retains moisture and releases it slowly into the soil - similar to peat moss. But coconut core is a sustainable product whereas peat is not. We have mixed coconut core into a quality potting mix in the past with great success, but this year we found a potting mix with coconut core already mixed in. Black Gold is our brand of choice. Once transplanted, we left the seedlings outside in the shade for about three hours. Today was a sunny breezy spring day. The natural breezes and fluctuating ambient temperatures were a good introduction to the wild outdoors. As temperatures dropped, the seedlings returned to their lights in thier new pots. One last thing. I know this is silly, but I beleive that plants with names have a better chance of survival. So, we officially named every seedling today. These names will stick with them until canning day and beyond. In January, pulling a can out of the pantry labeled, "Sun-Dried Norah" just brings a smile to my face. Happy Transplanting!

Happy Earth Day!!

Happy Earth Day!!