21 Aug

Attracting Butterflies to Your Garden

Posted by heartofhills in Butterflies, Conservation. Tagged: , , , .

August is Butterfly month! Butterflies, as with all other pollinators, are important to the health of any garden and farm. By planting specific plants in your garden or on your farm, not only will you be helping the butterflies, but you will also be able to enjoy these beautiful jewel-like creatures as they flit and fly.

To encourage your local butterfly species, you can plant plants for both caterpillars and adult butterflies. Caterpillars need “host plants” that they can attach their chrysalis to, so they can develop into butterflies. According to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, “Depending upon the species, this haven could be a bush, tall grass, or piles of leaves or sticks. If you leave these features in your yard, you will encourage butterflies to stay around and drink the nectar you provide.” These host plants include: Bleeding heart (Dicentra), Lupines (Lupinus), Milkweed (Asclepias) and even Aspen/Poplar (Populus) trees.

Adult butterflies need nectar-producing plants as a food supply. Some plants that will both attract and feed butterflies are: Aster (Aster), Milkweed (Asclepias), Bee balm (Monarda), Purple coneflower (Echinacea), and Sunflowers (Helianthus).
For more plants that will attract and support butterfly species, check out the Xerces Society’s Butterfly Gardening Fact Sheet.
Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!

16 Aug

Featured Recipe: Honey Butter

Posted by heartofhills in Honey, Recipe. Tagged: , , , .

Honey is a great ingredient to use in cooking as a sweetener and sometimes as a replacement for sugar. With all the great recipes out there that use honey, we’ve decided to feature a honey recipe each month on our blog.

For our first recipe, we’re keeping it simple…

Honey Butter

1/2 cup butter

1/4 to 1/2 cup honey (to taste)

Blend ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Refrigerate until firm.


Honey Butter tastes great on muffins, scones, pancakes, and banana nut bread. To make your Honey Butter extra special, check out these Food Network recipes:

Cinnamon Honey Butter

Orange Honey Butter (and Blue Corn Pancakes)

Blueberry Honey Butter (and Grilled CornMuffins)

Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!

15 Jul

Making a Place for Bats in Your Backyard Garden

Posted by heartofhills in Bats, Conservation, Pollinators, The Garden. Tagged: , , , .

Bat at Feeder, photo by Ken Bosma, Flickr.com

As I wrote about in Monday’s posting, bats a vital to natural ecosystem, but are also to the agricultural industry and even gardens and backyard farms. Some species of bats are key pollinators in tropical and desert areas (including in the United States), as they drink nectar helping to disperse pollen and eat fruit which helps to disburse seeds. Other bats species are insectivores who dine on many night-time insects, including many pests that eats important crops and other pesky insects.

You can help encourage bats in your area by providing them with a place to roost. Bats are good at finding food and water on their own, though nectar-drinking bats may take  a sip from your hummingbird feeder from time to time.

Bat House Made by Heart of the Hills

It is often difficult for bats to find places to roost, though. In the winter, bats will find caves and crevices and even tree cavities for hibernation. The rest of the year, though, bats need a place to roost during the day as well as to use as nurseries for their young. Bat Houses, like the ones that Heart of the Hills makes, are perfect places for bats to roost, and are easy for you to place on a farm or even in your backyard.

Once you have purchased your bat house, it needs to be place a minimum of 10 feet above the ground. You can attach your bat house to a pole, a tall tree, or even to the side of a building. When choosing a place for your bat house, be sure to choose a spot that faces to the south or southeast, where it will get morning sunlight, as well as sun throughout the day (the house should get a minimum of 7 hours of sunlight each day, beginning with the morning light).

Try to place your bat house within 1,500 feet of your bats’ water source (such as a stream or pond), so the bats will easily locate both water and food when they emerge at night. Also, try to place the house within 10 to 30 feet of trees or tall shrubs, as they will provide cover for the bats when they come out to hunt.

For more information about the proper placement of your bat house, check out the Organization for Bat Conservation website.

For more information about Heart of the Hills’ Bat Houses, click here.

 

Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!

12 Jul

The Truth about Bats

Posted by heartofhills in Bats, Conservation, Pollinators, The Garden. Tagged: , , , .

Bat in Flight, photo by Andy Mcee, Flickr.com

Bats have been the cause of fear and trepidation for centuries, as well as the subject of scary stories and horror films. Over the years, scientists have proven that bats are vital to a variety of ecosystems, though. This knowledge, hopefully, has allayed some people’s fears about bats, and some have even gone so far as provide roosting places for bats in their own backyards.

Many scientists and organizations work to preserve bat species throughout the world, as well as educate the public about their value. Bats play a key role in many ecosystems by providing insect population control. According to S. Chambers and N. Allen in “Create Roosts for Bats in Your Yard” (The Wildlife Garden set, Oregon State University), “in North America, bats are the primary predators of night-flying insects. Some species of bat can capture several hundred insects an hour, including insect species that can devastate valuable plants and crops.”

In tropical or desert areas (even in the United States), some species of bats are important for pollination and spreading seed of a variety of plants, including such important crop plants as bananas, peaches, and mangoes.

With 1,100 species in the world, bats count for about 20% of all mammals. With their key role in insect control and pollination, it is plain to see that it is important to preserve bats’ natural habitats and protect bats in urban settings as well. Check back later this week to learn what you can do to protect and encourage bats in your garden or backyard.

 

Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!

30 Jun

Raising Chickens in the City

Posted by heartofhills in Backyard Farming, Urban Farming. Tagged: , , , , .

I found a great video on YouTube put out by a local gardening show, Garden Time, about raising chickens in the city. This video tells you everything you need to start raising chickens in your backyard…

To check out other great videos about gardening and backyard farming, go to Garden Time’s website at www.gardentime.tv.

 

Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!

28 Jun

Planting for Pollinators: Free Guides for Your Region

Posted by heartofhills in Backyard Farming, Bumble Bees, Conservation, Honey Bees, Mason Bees, The Garden, Urban Farming. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Pollinators are important to every garden, farm, and natural space across the country. According to Pollinator Partnership, a California nonprofit that works to protect the pollinating animals vital to our North American ecosystems and agriculture, ”abundant and healthy populations of pollinators can improve fruit set and quality, and increase fruit size. In farming situations this increases production per acre. In the wild, biodiversity increases and wildlife food sources increase.”

When most people think of pollination, they think of bees and butterflies, but there are many other animal species that are important pollinators, including beetles, moths, flies, hummingbirds, and some species of bats. As gardeners and farmers, we can encourage pollinator populations by providing not only the crop plants that we need pollinated, but other nectar and pollen rich plants that are vital to the health of these species.

Pollinator Partnership provides great free regional planting guides to help gardeners and farmers to learn about the plants that are most beneficial to pollinator species in their area. Included in each guide is 1) a chart of plant traits that attract specific types of pollinators, detailing such things as flower color, pollen type, scent, and flower shapes that are most likely to meet the needs of a specific pollinator; 2) a chart of various regional plants and the pollinators that they attract, and 3) the bloom periods for these various plants.

To find the free regional planting guide for pollinators in your area, visit www.pollinator.org/guides.htm.

 

Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!

22 Jun

Oregon Lavendar Festival

Posted by heartofhills in Uncategorized. Tagged: , .

The Oregon Lavendar Festival is coming up next month, and Heart of the Hills will be there will all of our products. The festival takes place in Yamhill, Oregon on July 10th and 11th and will have live music, artwork, and handmade crafts, as well as plenty of lavendar based products, food, and beverages.

We’ll have our Warre Bee Hives, Mason Bee Houses, Bumblebee Nest Boxes, and Bat Houses for sale, and will also be taking orders. Come find us at the festival taking place at Beulah Park in Yamhill. The festival is a great opportunity to check out our products as well as a great way to meet and support local farmers, artisans, musicians, and to check out the beautiful Oregon landscape.

For more information about the Oregon Lavendar Festival, visit www.oregonlavendarfestival.org. For directions to Beulah Park visit www.ycrcenter.org/lavendar.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!

14 Jun

Backyard Farm Leads to Community Garden

Posted by heartofhills in Backyard Farming, The Garden, Urban Farming. Tagged: , , , .

I just read this great article online about a man in Austin, Texas who not only created a backyard farm, but used it as a springboard to getting his neighbors involved in building a community garden.

“(Seamus) Ford, a self described urban environmentalist, turned his backyard into a mini-farm to reduce his carbon footprint, but also to help others improve their food production IQ.”

“Ford, a public relations specialist by trade, noted most consumers rarely know how food is produced, grown or shipped. His backyard farm gives him a platform to discuss those issues.”

Ford not only found opportunities to discuss these issues with his neighbors, but was able to convince them of the need for a community garden that could serve all of their needs. Ultimately, his efforts resulted in two community gardens, each with 35 community farmers planting a variety of foods, such as onions, green beans, potatoes and more.

To learn more about Ford’s success and read the full article, click on the link below:

“Raising chickens, uniting Austin,” by La Risa Lynch, Austin Weekly News, June 9, 2010.

 

Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!

2 Jun

Planting for Your Honeybees: High Honey Production

Posted by heartofhills in Backyard Farming, Bee Keeping, Honey, Honey Bees, The Garden, Urban Farming. Tagged: , , , , , , .

 

As a backyard or urban beekeeper, you will need to ensure that your honeybees can find the pollen and nectar they need to build and support a healthy hive, and in the process, produce quality honey. Though your bees will go into other backyards and gardens to forage for pollen and nectar, your backyard should provide a plethora of flowers and plants that will provide the necessities for your bee colony.

Plants with high nectar and/or pollen content are the best plants to fill your garden with. The following ten plants are particularly attractive to honeybees due to their high nectar and/or pollen content:

  1. Borage (Borago offcinalis) 
  2. Lemon Balm/Melissa (Melissa officinalis)
  3. Phacelia (Phacela tanacetifolia)
  4. White Sweet Clover (Melilotus alba)
  5. Echium (Echium vulgare)
  6. Coriander (Coriandrum sativum)
  7. Yellow Sweet Clover (Melilotus officinalus)
  8. Goldenrod (Solidago)
  9. Cornflower/Bachelor’s Button (Centaurea cyanus) 
  10. Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)

You will need to check with your local nursery to see which of these plants are the best for your climate and area of the country. You should also consult with other local beekeepers to learn about other plants that are high in nectar and pollen that will contribute to higher rates of honey production.

You can also check out these website for more information:

“Plants for Honeybees,” The Melissa Garden: a Honeybee Sanctuary

“Guide to Bee-Friendly Gardens, Urban Bee Gardens

 

Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!


20 May

Mason Bee Houses

Posted by heartofhills in Bee Keeping, Conservation, Mason Bees, The Garden. Tagged: , , .

Just uploaded new photos of our Mason Bee House and wanted to make sure you knew about them. Mason Bees are native to the United States that are docile and prolific pollinators. They are also much more efficient at pollinating than most other species of bees, including honeybees. According to the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service, “250 female blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria) are required to effectively pollinate an acre of apples. (This) is the equivalent service of one to two honey bees hives, each containing 15,000 to 20,000 workers.”

Mason Bee House are a great way to help out bee populations without having to deal with honey production. Our Mason Bee Houses are made of untreated pine with 3/8 inch holes lined with straws for easy clean-up after the eggs hatch each year.

If you are interested in using a Mason Bee House this year, you’d better hurry! The female bees are almost done laying their eggs for the year.

Click here to see our products page.

 

 

 

Thank you for reading our Farm, Garden and Beyond‘s blog!
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.