We started the day off by looking for pollinator - plant relationships in the south pollinator garden. There were many bees on the beebalm (specifically Monarda puntata) and hoverflies over umbelliferous flower heads like fennel. Hover flies aren’t hairy and have two sets of wings while bees only have one set of wings. We generally think of charismatic pollinators such as honey bees but we can’t discount hoverflies (1) and other pollinators that can be just as if not more effective! There were some spent flowers (like the butterfly bush and daisies) that we deadheaded.

We spent some time plating our lettuce starts in the winter veggie bed. There were also lots of beans and blueberries to be picked. So much of the foragable veg purslane, we harvested some to take home and left some in the free library for passers by to take home!

Jan

1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2022.111320