Getting Balcony Ready

Good day, well tomorrow will be the first mild and sunny day in awhile so I will be getting the balcony planters ready. The upper balcony is my ornamental garden,. this year morning glories and nasturtiums will be the stars.

Bees

I was leaving Sobeys the other day when a reader stopped me and asked if I would write a column about bees. I encourage my readers to make suggestions about the column so here it is, bees and what we can do to keep them buzzing.

Honey bees provide us with much more than honey.  The honey bee is a major pollinator of many of our food crops, almonds, apples, avocados, blueberries, cantaloupes, cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, sunflowers, watermelon and many other crops all rely on honey bees.

When the honey bee is threatened, our food supply is threatened and we are also threatened. Fortunately, there are actions we can take to reduce the threat. One is to include in your home gardens plants that will attract and support the honey bee.

The second is to provide an environment for other bees so that our gardens do not rely solely on the honey bee.  The bumble bee and the blue orchard mason bee, among others, also provide pollination services. They do not produce honey.

The honey bee came to North America in the 17^th century. Some may have been intentionally brought over by people who intended to grow the fruit and vegetables they were familiar with in their new location.

Prior to the settlers’ arrival there were a number of bee species already here.  Some sources say there were as many as 4,000 native species spread across North America. Their source of nectar were the native plants.

If you are concerned about bees in general, then the best way to make sure they survive and thrive is to plant a mixed garden.

A mixed garden will contain plants that appeal to honey bees, bumble bees and other garden helpers.  The most effective way to create this mixed plant garden is to use succession planting. Succession planting involves selecting plants that will bloom throughout the gardening season.

To bring the bees in in the spring plant crocus, hyacinth, borage, and calendula.  To keep the bees happy through the summer, add bee balm, cosmos, coneflower, snapdragons foxglove, and hostas. Asters and sunflowers keep the bees feeding when fall arrives.

Plant the flowers in the vegetable garden bed either in the border or better place them amongst the vegetables. The early blooming flowers will bring in the first bees who are hungry and seeking sustenance.

Herbs are also powerful bee magnets. Chives, sage, thyme, borage and summer savoury are all good choices.  Borage with its bright blue flowers is a personal favourite.

Dandelions and clovers will also draw bees to the yard. Both are edible plants and this we will talk about another day. 

An added value of clovers and dandelions is there is no need to plant them in the garden bed. Most lawns will provide all of these two plants the bees need.

The first step to taking advantage of both clovers and dandelions is to stop thinking about them as the enemy and accept them for the many garden services they provide. So, until next week, happy gardening.

Annuals

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers and dies in one year. 

Some love annuals because they make excellent cut flowers; some because annuals are easy to grow; some love them for their brilliant colours while others just love to create a new garden every spring. 

The reasons do not matter as they are all sound; if you love to garden and enjoy bright vivid colours then annuals will satisfy your needs. I am very fond of annuals and cannot imagine a garden that does not have a few. 

They enlarge the palette but perhaps, more importantly, they enable me to make simple but noticeable changes to my garden and perhaps even better, they give me a reason to get out in the garden.

You can add annuals to your garden, throughout the growing season.

Annuals bloom continuously and produce prolific amounts of seed and this requires the production of many flowers; all making a win-win situation for any gardener.

May 1, 2017

Why Study Permaculture Part One

Permaculture is a holistic, nature-inspired design methodology that can be used grow food, build businesses and create communities.

There are a number of reasons why a permaculture course is valuable. Permaculture design can assist you to reduce your ecological footprint while saving you money, time and energy. This illustrates a permaculture concept- taking one action and accomplishing three or more tasks.

If you are interested in learning more about permaculture, I recommend that you begin with an introductory course. This allows you to find out if you are intrigued enough to develop you knowledge and skills further or if you just want to take what you know and apply it your yoru daily life and work.

Unless you want to become a teacher or permaculture design consultant, the intro course is all you need.

However, if you seek more and want to consult and or teach then further work and learning is required.

If you have your own land and want to grow all or much of your own food, the intro course will help you decide whether or not this is a realistic goal. If you are convinced that you can indeed grow the food you need than it is time to take a closer look at the permaculture design certificate (PDC). The PDC is also essential if you wish to become a permaculture teacher or to take more advanced permaculture design courses.

Lawns

Large or small we do love our lawns. We value them so highly we curse the so-called weeds without realizing they are doing us a service. But, I will talk about this service in another column.

Our passion, perhaps for some an obsession, with our lawns, dates back to a time when not using space to grow food was a sign of wealth.

People still devote hours and dollars to maintain a lawn that may look good but requires constant attention and far too many people rely on toxic chemicals to keep the green, green.

Lawns are important. They provide a place for BBQs, family gatherings, a playground for the children and space for pets to roam. Lawns are needed but not in all cases and perhaps, in some, they could be smaller.

Considering how people use lawns, picture children and the family dog rolling on the lush, green grass, why would anyone want to spray any toxic chemicals simply to control weeds. There are healthier ways.

The first step in going chemical free is to determine what uses the back-yard serves, i.e. what does your family do there? 

Excerpt from last week's Campbellton From My Garden column. Stay connected for details about my coming ebook.

Bee City Campbellton

 Bees are pollinators, not the only ones, but the honey bee is most likely the best known. Bumble bees also help the plants they visit grow. You can see both honey and bumble bees going about their business in any thriving garden.

The City of Campbellton has recently undertaken a major step in recognizing the value of the bee and the services they provide us.

City Council has passed a resolution that names Campbellton a Bee City. By becoming a Bee City, we have agreed to join with other communities across Canada, to protect, promote and celebrate pollinators. The Galerie Restigouche Gallery is coordinating the Bee City efforts through this Facebook page.