Our Insectory is Doing Fine

I have a very busy life. I've mentioned in previous posts that we own and operate a couple of small businesses, and because of this I am approached through out the day in a plethora of ways (land line phone, cell phone, e-mail, web site, calls patched through from my answering service, potential clients just stopping by to see what Farmhouse Furniture is all about, and more than once I am handed a napkin or piece of scrap paper with an idea for a piece of furniture).  Well, my wife is one of those two-dimensional-napkin-drawing people wanting a piece of furniture for some corner of the house.

Well, she did it again!  After taking a class at Longwood Gardens this past winter, she informed me she wanted me to make her an INSECTORY.  Of course I told her that I could... if she would just tell me what an insectory is. She proceeded to explain that an insectory is a garden with specific foliage designed to attract pollinating insects to your garden. An insectory is highly beneficial to any garden home because it attracts foraging bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and of course, the night pollinators too!
By inviting the pollinators to your insectory, you are welcoming bees, the necessary component in every garden, to pollinate your tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and zucchini.  Our insectory is directly opposite our victory garden and as a result,  we noticed a big difference this year as our veggies multiplied tremendously.

If you weren't aware before,  our honeybees in this country are suffering from CCD (colony collapse disorder).We are losing our bee population at an alarming rate, and no one is quite sure why. I will make sure to get into this in more detail in a future post. But for now, enjoy a few photographs  documenting the progress of our insectory. And if you get a chance, plant a few bee-friendly flowers or plants because every little bit helps.

I started by tilling a 4 x 25 ft. area between the chicken coop and vegetable garden.






Then, I dug out four granite posts I found back in the woods last year, and I put one in each corner to outline the area.

I framed the granite posts with 2" x 8" white oak and filled it with some rich soil.

An early stage.

This is a fine shot of a perennial called Yarrow

Purple Salvia - A favorite of bumble bees!

Garden Pinks are  a favorite for any insectory

Then, we added a whimsical bee hive to welcome our new guests.

We thought we had a hummingbird but it turns out this insect is called a Clearwing Moth Hummingbird.

Salvia and in the background, White Coneflowers!

Thanks for spending some time at The Farmhouse.

A SAD DAY AT THE FARMHOUSE

The farmhouse family lost a  hen the other day. She was one of the first chicks we bought. I don't know why she left this life because there weren't any signs of illness. I checked on them the night before like always and she was laying in one of the nesting boxes as usual.  I know they say don't let your chickens sleep in the nesting boxes, but it really didn't make a difference one way or another and it made her happy. When I went out the next morning, she was laying in the nesting box with her head tucked down in the corner on some hay. There were no signs of any thrashing around or discomfort, it looked like she just laid her head down and passed on peacefully. I don't know the lifespan of a Rhode Island Red, but this girl lived four very comfortable years. Even though we didn't formally name our chickens, we knew each and every one of them. We miss her every time we call "Chickens!" and only four girls come running up to the fence to greet us .

She was always close by, but not too close.

She was one of our biggest hens.

A lazy day sunning herself.

Here she is giving orders to one of the other hens.

Spring has sprung at our farmhouse

It was a long winter in the workshop. We were very busy with our furniture orders, one after another. But I did have some time to build a few new birdhouses and garden beds. And as you can see they are both thriving.

I put up six new birdhouses around the pond and the garden.

This was early spring, and as you can see our root vegetables are doing well.

Our geese have come back for the past five years to nest by the pond. Here you can see the female sitting on the nest of eggs.

Most of the new nesting boxes were occupied within a few weeks of hanging them.

And once again we have a new farmhouse family.

I caught this cardinal watching a bluebird getting comfortable in her new house.

Home at last.

As I was cutting the grass I noticed this young northern flicker that must have just left the nest. I had to mow around that spot, the bird would not move out of the way and was not bothered by the noise of the tractor.