Flexible Solutions for Attracting Pollinators

Hey friends, it’s Pollinator Week! And By now most people know that pollinators are an integral part of our food production, and the balanced ecosystem of a healthy garden. Our dependence on them moves us to support, and advocate for their survival on a global scale. However, I wonder if there’s something we might be missing when we consider the benefits of these common insects. We think of them in terms of their connection to us, and what they provide for us. But what’s magnificent, is that these creatures aren’t working for us at all. They play a vital role in sustaining life for larger mammals, with no other intention than to meet their own basic needs. And by meeting those basic needs, they form an invaluable system of connections in our living world.

Bees, hoverflies, hummingbirds, and moths don’t know that they’re pollinating our food while they gather pollen, and nectar for themselves. Lady bugs aren’t aware that they transfer pollen, and remedy a pest problem by seeking out nectar, and eating aphids. They’re busy minding, and handling their own business…Bees are literally just minding their own beeswax. As a matter of fact, even the host of beneficial garden insects that aren’t pollinators make our lives better by simply moving through their lifecycle. Hold on to that thought for a minute.

Their very existence, innately improves the conditions around them. They do not work against their interests, or intentionally contribute to humankind. They just make things better by being.

That is fascinating! It’s also deeply inspiring.  Goodness! What if we all aspired to improve the condition of our environment (personal/communal/and eco), increase it’s yield and productivity, and eliminate harmful elements, just by tending to our own business? Pollinators are the low-key exemplars of Permaculture best practices. So let’s be encouraged; because even if these are attributes we have to adopt, we have the capacity to observe, and learn. We also have the ability to do something they can not. We can protect, and cultivate the environments that these wonder-bugs rely on. 

A “Thriller & Spiller” arrangement of Globe Amaranth, Petunias, and Verbena from my mother’s townhouse patio garden. A small water feature out of frame completes this ideal pit stop for birds, butterflies, and bees.

Here are some ways to encourage the presence of pollinators, or continue to support their habitats, even if you don’t have typical conditions for a pollinator or perennial garden.

1. While native perennials are ideal, colorful annuals are also a great food source for pollinators. Some advantages of annuals are that they tolerate containers well, are readily available, and low commitment/versatile. So they can easily be added to an apartment balcony / fire escape, front porch hanging baskets, or window boxes. Bonus! Their annual growth cycle means you can stick with tried and true favorites, or opt for a fresh aesthetic each season.

2. Speaking of containers and window boxes, let’s say you’re not quite ready to keep flowers alive, or you think your balcony/ stoop/ porch is a little too shady. Have you considered the humble red or white clover? Clovers are seriously low maintenance and inexpensive to grow from seed. Red clover is even an edible variety (as with any herb, or wild edible, please research before consuming). And if you’d like to grow clover that can also be used for sprouts or tea; be sure to source from a supplier that carries food or sprouting-grade seed. If you can’t find a local retailer for uncoated, bulk clover seed, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange has you covered.

3. If you do have some outdoor space for larger pots, or in-ground planting; but just don’t have the time to maintain any kind of flower garden, I highly recommend adding flowering herbs to your landscape. My all time favorite is upright rosemary. This hardy herb grows like a shrub; is drought tolerant, and doesn’t have precious soil requirements – just make sure it’s well-draining. The upright variety also produces the broad feathery “leaves” that are ideal for culinary use. The one downside is that due to its mediterranean origins, it does not tolerate extreme low temperatures, and might need to be moved indoors for winter.

   Lavender, basil, and lemon balm are also flowering herbs that make fragrant, delicious, and textural additions to simple landscapes or container gardens. Some notes: Lemon Balm is in the mint family, and can quickly become invasive (so keep it in a pot!). Basil will only produce flowers when it bolts; but once it does, the bees will enjoy it as much as you do.

   Lastly, lavender is an herbal powerhouse; but can skew a little high-maintenance. However, if you have a sunny, and well-draining to slightly dry location, it should find a happy home in your yard.  In addition to flowering herbs, diversifying any available lawn with a mix of clover and grass seed, or converting a small section (even 3ft x 3ft) to meadow with a regional wildflower blend reduces the need for harsh fertilizers and herbicides that severely jeopardize beneficial insect and pollinator populations.

4. . There are also a variety of non-plant solutions that provide food, and/or habitats for pollinators. There are DIY plans, simple kits, and plain ol’ store bought options for bug hotels, butterfly feeders, bat houses, and hummingbird feeders. Of course it’s most helpful to have these in an area with some greenery, but city trees and patches of grass count! Combining a feeder, or bug house with some hanging baskets, or window boxes is also an option that doesn’t require a lot of caretaking or a private yard.

Whichever means, or scale you pursue, the goal is to adopt a little of the instinctive good, and helpfulness of the pollinator. As the distance between toxin-free green spaces expands, it’s more important than ever to create urban/suburban pit stops, and oases. You do not need a traditional yard in order to be pollinator friendly. Find a solution that fits naturally into your living situation, and is even a part of you meeting your own needs… for food, beauty, creative expression, or dirt therapy. (This is a mostly fool-proof way of ensuring you keep it up.) And in turn, you will be supporting and enabling the livelihood of other creatures just by living your own mindful life. Happy Pollinator Week!

Nasturtium is easily grown from seed, produces edible flowers and leaves (with flavor akin to peppery arugula) and is a veritable pollinator feast. This is what I’m talking about! Image Courtesy of: Emma PJ @twirlingbirdie ©2020

Start Small & Angry (if that's what it takes)

If I remember correctly – and 100% honestly–, I was really pissed off on the day that I started our first garden. Having spent the spring reading “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” and “The Permaculture Handbook”, I was ready to move to a more temperate climate, live off-grid (with our whole family in a tiny house if necessary), and become a full-time farmer; but it was summer in Austin… again. And after 2yrs, of what felt like near-apocalyptic heat, I was done. Austin, baby, I love your free-spirited Cali-cowboy vibe: but we are not a match.

Now pair that heat with being a new mother of three, and only being able to spend limited time outdoors with our 5 1/2, 3yr old, and 6 month old boys during the week. I was likely near breakdown status on that fateful Saturday in June. My simmering rage overshadowed all of my usual over-thinking tendencies, and I was determined to grow something!... Immediately! I had been waiting for my bucolic daydream for years, and we didn’t feel any closer to it than when we were living in apartments in Chicago. So screw waiting for the perfect setting! I put the baby down for a nap and fiercely whispered, “I’m going to Home Depot!”

I bought two 18in. pots, some organic soil, herbs, a baby olive tree, and two cherry tomato plants – no cages. I came home, and proceeded to get our new plant babies all tucked into their shady home on the edge of our covered patio. I know what you’re thinking, “Erica… tomatoes in the shade?” What can I say? I saw my sweet, elderly neighbor do it, and it seemed reasonable at the time, given how harsh the sun felt to my midwestern sensibilities.  However, my novice gardener mistakes aren’t the point of this story. The major takeaway here is that…

in that rash, frustrated & ill-timed moment, I started a garden.  

The conditions were not ideal.  I was not where I wanted to be. I didn’t actually know what I was doing. I hadn’t “set an intention,” or spent the morning blissfully meditating, and being in-tune with nature. I was over every damn thing.  But that’s what it took to get me to take some action, and get out of my head. I could start growing food right where I was, or miss waste another year waiting for better conditions.  

And as I sit here, after 2+ months of staying at home/ social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic, all I can think about are all the people who feel cooped-up, cranked-out, pissed-off, and varying degrees of hopeless. These are not ideal conditions.  You may not be where you want to be.  You might not know what you're doing; but it could be the perfect time to just grow something.

Whether it’s a houseplant, an inexpensive fabric pot or your patio, pick a small thing to nurture… to learn about, and care for. If you have a tenuous history with plants of all kinds, get a cactus (and don’t water it!). In whatever way works best for you, bring something beautiful, and growing into your life. If you need a professional take… here ya go. If you’d like recommendations for easy starter projects outdoors, or low maintenance house plants, drop a comment, and I’ll do my best!

Laughing About it Now

From May 7th, 2017

Hey there! It's been a minute. May has come and gone faster than I expected; and was an unexpected spell of downtime - probably a good thing.  We hosted grandparents, had a little getaway, and then I was visited by the ghosts of illness past, going from a sinus infection to strep throat. Not a good thing.  All the while, I'd check on our little corner plot, see it thriving without me, gather some tomatoes, offer some water and head back inside, looking back just once more to be sure it didn't need extra attention.  While I was (and am) glad that nothing has died and needs to be replanted, I'm also a little bummed to be past the excitement of planting and active tending.  Given last year's death-to-harvest ratio, I should be thrilled to have a fairly low -maintenance garden that's actually producing food. Right? Yes and No. My hands miss the dirt. 

In the downtime, I found myself confronted by the Green-eyed Gardener.  I've "Oooo'd" and "Ahhh'd" more established gardens with more experienced stewards. I've side-eyed my few containers, lamented my beginner status, and started dreaming of expansion. Thoughts of "Grow more! Grow more now!" have taunted me. But I know better! I should be enjoying these living things and patiently awaiting their yield.  I should be reveling in gratitude. So, to shake off this frustration of wanting to build my dream green space right now, I’m reflecting on last year, and even earlier this year when my fingers were crossed, and one eye was closed, hoping for the best.

The last year garden: June - August 2016

These pictures make me smile now.  I took them to capture a beginning I was so proud of - leggy seedlings, bad transplants and all.  Even the sparse tomato plant that slowly yielded tangy, red grapes had me beaming. Oh, and finally using the router bits to make planters!? You couldn’t tell me nothin’.  Already, even before this post is complete, those monstrous green eyes of discontentment are losing their glow.

April 28, 2020

I never finished this post because honestly, we received news that was a heavy blow at the time, and the disappointment felt defeating (That’s a separate post. Trust me.) I lost inspiration. Well, that isn’t entirely accurate. At that time I was also writing a set of essays for an environmental arts magazine – LOAM–, and I did’t have the energy to do both. So I focused on the commitment I made, and completed a four-part series on suburban homesteading.

Over the past few years, I have revisited the blog, and drafted new posts dozens of times; but they felt rote and hollow… inauthentic. Couldn’t do it. I needed to wait for the return of my muse, or maybe inspiration never left, and I just needed to heal enough before I could hear that voice again. (Fellow writers: You feel me?)

Anyway, reading this now, nearly 3yrs later when things are so different, this post that I started writing to curb my greedy green eyes, still makes me smile. Because what I’ve learned after moving, and building a larger garden in the spring of 2018, and then an even bigger one this spring, is that once you’ve got the bug for gardening, Expansion is an ever-whispering companion. The difference between the growth we pursue now, and the wilting want I was feeling in 2017, is that this desire born from love of the craft vs. envy. Surprise surprise… I am still literally and figuratively growing through the practice of gardening.

The little big garden, and chicken coop at our new home in NC.

The 411 on Water

For starters, I need to confess that last year (year 1) I started my little container plants in early June... in Texas. That might seem like a fine time in my native midwestern territory.  Unfortunately, it was the cusp of summer inferno down here. So like any caring gardner, I decided to shelter my plants from the harsh heat, and sun of western exposure, and give them plenty of water.  Every night I'd fill a makeshift watering can with cool, softened water from our inside tap, go outside after the sun had set, raise the jug above my plants and let sweet water pour down like rain.

If you've never gardened you might read this account and think, "Meh. Seems fine."  On the other hand – if you're a more seasoned gardener – you might be making shocked faces and gasping, "Oh no!" like I'm the woman unknowingly running towards the killer in a horror film. And you'd be right to do so; because in my inexperience I dealt those poor plants one fatal blow after another.  The greatest of these crimes was the faulty watering. But wait, there's more! Even after I stopped drowning our vegetables in treated water, I proceeded to slightly underwater the little darlings ... then kind of overwater to compensate. It was a mess. However, I couldn't be more thankful for that trial and error education. Sometimes – in memoriam – I pour a little out for all the plants we lost in the struggle.

So why was my watering regimen so criminal? Well, our municipal water was being chlorinated at a higher level than usual because we’re in a new development - poison #1. Then, we got a softener which uses salt pellets to mitigate the excess minerals that make water "hard" and filter out the excess chlorine - poison #2. Trace amounts of sodium in the water tricked the plants into thinking they've absorbed enough. So they stop drinking, you keep watering, and they simultaneously starve while drowning. It's gruesome.  Finally, there was the night watering… goodness. Watering plants in cool temps and darkness is the recipe for root rot, mold and other afflictions. Lastly, overwatering compromises the Ph balance, and leaches nutrients from the soil. So even though I used good quality soil with added compost, their environment was almost completely base. It hurts to recount all of this; but I'm laying it out here in the hopes that fewer plants will suffer.

The happier, healthier, non-dead plants of Season 2!

Now it's season two, and I'm – mostly – not repeating those mistakes. We made the first change in the fall by relocating our garden space from the covered patio to the northwest corner at the back of our yard for a combination of direct light, and some protection during the hottest part of the day. Then, I started collecting rainwater in whatever I could find until we get a rain barrel (this might be useful if you live in an area where rain barrels aren't permitted.) I'd put buckets, a toy wheelbarrow, and dump truck into the yard, and catch as much water as possible. Here we'll get rain that pours down too quickly to absorb – a ten minute torrent. So catching rain is the best way to make it available for our plants. When there’s no rain to collect, I fill jugs with water from the outside tap and leave them uncovered so the water can naturally dechlorinate - a mesh covering will keep mosquitos and other critters out. We also started collecting the water that gets warm and neglected in our kids cups, or was just used to rinse a relatively clean dish.

As for the dispensing of water, I started monitoring moisture at the root level with a meter, or the finger test. I get out early in the morning when the weather is cool enough to allow absorption, and water right at the soil, so the leaves won't scorch in the heat of the day. The plants get a full day to drink. Pots have a full day to drain excess, and there's no cool, damp nest for rot and mold.

I never would have guessed that there is a right, or wrong way to water. It's such an obvious garden task and seems simple enough; but has potential to go very wrong for the excited greenhorn. Hopefully this confession of missteps helps you avoid your own as the weather heats up and your garden gets thirsty. Happy hydrating!