Wildflower Seeds by Heather Stone It brings great pleasure to see more birds and butterflies about the garden and we as gardeners can do a lot to attract and protect the birds and butterflies that visit our garden. These critters simply need a safe place to live and healthy food to eat. Butterflies For butterflies, […]
by Engrid Winslow A Queen Bee begins her life in a vaguely peanut-shaped cell that is larger than the one a worker bee or drone comes to life in. It takes three days for the egg to hatch and no matter what type of bee is being raised, it will be fed royal jelly […]
Butterfly Migration by BBB Seed Each fall, about this time in October, millions of Monarch butterflies begin the journey to their overwintering sites in Mexico and California. In the spring, the Monarch butterflies will then return to their breeding areas across America and as far as Eastern Canada. Four generations of monarch butterflies will be […]
Honeybees in Winter by Engrid Winslow This part 2 of a series on what happens in the honeybee hive in winter, what beekeepers do to manage their beehives and how you can also help to sustain honeybees and other pollinators. Winter in a hive of honey bees is tough. Honey bees are the only bees who […]
HONEYBEE SWARMS: CAUSE FOR CONCERN? by The Bees Waggle Swarming is a large cluster of honeybees (tens of thousands!) hanging in a ball from a surface, and it begins in the spring. It is the reproduction of honeybee colonies. “How,” you ask? The hive is considered a superorganism, which means all parts are uniquely necessary […]
Wildflower Seeds by Heather Stone As the days become shorter and the nights cooler and the season shifts from summer to fall many of us can find our gardens to be a little lackluster. Not much is blooming after the abundance of color throughout the spring and summer. This is where fall blooming plants come […]
Leaves If you’re harvesting leaves, the best time to pick is before the plant begins to flower. Flowers If you’re harvesting flowers, harvest the blossoms just before they are in full bloom. Seeds If you’re harvesting seeds, the seeds should remain on the plant until they are fully mature and begin to dry. Here […]
Saving Water by Heather Stone No matter where you live reducing your water use is important. Water is a finite resource and we are using more of it than ever. Did you know that the average American uses 88 gallons of water a day at home? In comparison, Europeans use about half that and in […]
Supporting Tomatoes by Heather Stone The ways in which to support tomatoes are as varied as the gardeners who grow them. Staking your tomatoes is important for many reasons. Keeping your plants upright and off the ground helps keep not only insects and critters at bay but can prevent many tomato diseases as well. Click […]
Recipes for Beets The National Garden Bureau has proclaimed 2018 as the year of the beet and you can enjoy them in so very many ways. Try some new recipes to enjoy this nutritious and underused vegetable this year. Beets can be dried and made into chips, juiced, roasted, baked, pureed into soup, glazed, pickled […]