Lazy Ox Farm

Welcome back! I am not the most reliable blogger (ahem!), but I have been moved to write again about a very important subject:  Bees.  If you are shopping on Local Harvest, you are probably more savvy about the environment than the average American, so I need hardly inform you of the importance of pollinating bees to our food supply and the fact that our nation's bee population is dwindling rapidly. I am not going to discuss the different theories about why this is happening here. (Well, maybe I'll just briefly mention that I believe the pesticide and GMO theories.) No, I'm going to discuss what you can do to help:

1. Get active politically. Vote for politicians that are as concerned about the environment as you are. March in the marches. Send e-mails. Sign those lists. Donate what you can to said politician's campaigns. Talk to your neighbors about their gardening practices. Maybe help educate them about bees. It took a tremendous amount of complacency on the average citizen's part to get where we are today both politically and environmentally. The time for action has arrived. "Bee" a part of the change you want to see!

2. Don't purchase plants from nurseries that will not guarantee that they don't use pesticides/herbicides that harm bees. Most of the big box retailers use a systemic pesticide that kills bees. To put it simply:  If you buy a plant that has been treated, any bees that visit that plant in your garden will most likely die. Also, your soil will be poisoned for up to 3 years. Really. Look up "neonicotinoid and bees" if you want more information about this.

3. Plant Bee Food! (Ah, now this is where I covertly insert a plug for our plants. You've been warned.)  Bees need clean food even more than we do, so plant bee food all around your garden and provide the bees with a pesticide and herbicide free oasis. There are many flowering plants that bees utilize. You can find some in our listings. Most of the herbs we offer, if allowed to bloom, provide bees with the pollen they need to make their food. Here is a list of our current, bee friendly offerings: All of the basils, borage, dill, fennel, chives, all of the mints, dill, thyme, the oreganos, parsley, lavender, lemon balm, the sages, stevia, and the thymes. 

4. Bee-come a bee keeper! We are just starting down this path ourselves, so I don't have much information for you. But, I do know that the more bee keepers there are, the more bees there are.

5.  Do not use bee harming chemicals on your property, and talk to your neighbors about what they use. Education is the key to change, so educate yourself and your neighbors/friends.

We must save the bees, and together we can!

Happy New Year!

Margie

Lazy Ox Farm