Pollinator Health & Garden Update

FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored/partnered post.

It is Spring in Florida and my garden says it all! So much life all around. It’s been a few months since we did a garden update but we’re back! I think you will agree that it looks a lot different than it did back in March. This year we did things a little differently.

We started our seeds early, really early. I sowed my seeds in trays on Christmas Day. Here in Zone 8b (North Central Florida) our last frost date is April 1 but I was feeling like gambling a little bit this year and put my plants in the ground March 5th. Risky? Perhaps, but I knew I had plenty of seedlings growing in the greenhouse to replenish any lost plants if need be.

My early planting paid off! No more frosty nights for us in March. Phew! We planted them in the ground in early March and just a few weeks later everything was thriving. I hear the sound of bees buzzing every morning when I go check on the garden. That lovely sound tells me I have pollinators in the garden doing what pollinators do- helping provide food for my family. Now it is May and here we are harvesting delicious, organic and healthy fruits and veggies from our garden every single day!

We also just added two bee hives to our homestead last month! I love watching them all buzz in and out of their hives. Our beekeeping mentor estimates we have about 100,000 bees on our property at the moment. How amazing is that?!

Whether it’s flowers, vegetables or fruits we are trying to plant as much as we can to feed both our family and nature’s pollinators. In addition to our 2,000 square foot vegetable garden space we also recently planted a dozen fruit trees. Food for everybody. It’s a win-win situation!

In this video update of the garden my son, Juice, and I will show you around and talk to you a little more about what we have growing thanks to our pollinating friends!

For this post we’ve partnered with the Bayer Bee Care Program to bring awareness to the declining monarch butterfly population and challenges facing bees and other pollinators.

How can you help pollinators?

This is the perfect time of year to plant milkweed, flowers and/or a small veggie garden for your family and pollinators! Pollinator health impacts us all as we depend on them for many of the foods we eat.

Let’s help keep monarch butterflies OFF the endangered species list:

Did you know that this year the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) will decide whether or not they recommend monarch butterflies be added to the endangered species list?

Check out the HabiTally app and its role in collecting the necessary data to keep monarchs off the endangered species list.

By using the HabiTally app and providing data that shows an effort in providing sufficient habitat for monarchs we can help.

1. Plant a monarch habitat.
2. Download the free HabiTally app.
3. Log your habitat in the app.

Pollinator habitat project for kids:

Consider planting some seeds this Spring/Summer with your kids to help provide food and habitat for pollinators. As a homeschooling/homesteading family my kids have been gardening since they were babies. Today, at ages 8 and 10 they appreciate where their food comes from and understand the importance of all the critters they come across in the garden. Starting even a few plants would be a great way to learn about growing food and the important role pollinators play in the environment.

Do you garden? If so, what kinds of plants do you grow? Let me know in the comments below!