As 2015 winds down, we are hunkered indoors planning the 2016 season. This coming year will be dedicated to establishing a pollinator habitat of 24 acres including a marsh and an 8 acre sand hill--our namesake.
As with any livestock, bees need food. Flowers are the only source of food for bees and many other pollinators. It's becoming apparent to even the casual observer that our flowering right-of-ways and ditches, native prairies, and flowering trees are disappearing. Many of the foods we depend on are possible by pollination, but it goes deeper than that. Providing habitat for pollinators has trickle down effects. A well established pollinator habitat can provide food for birds and beneficial insects, filter and clean water, and buffer against other agricultural or developed areas. It seems to us that pollinator habitats are just one more part of the large complex picture that makes up our agricultural and rural landscape.
Throughout the year we will update and elucidate our project as we transform 24 acres from corn and bean ground to flowering plants for pollinators. From working with the NRCS to seed drills, we'll do what we can to show how we established pollinator habitat.