Communities in Bloom Contest Alert!
Check out the Impact 32 Facebook page to Like and Share this post and be entered in the draw to win a plant from Rural Roots Gardens! Winner will be announced on Facebook on June 26th.
Local gardeners are abuzz with the news -- The week of June 18 -24th is “Bee Keeping” An Eye Out for Pollinators Week!
Did you know Bobcaygeon has pollinator patches at both Settler’s Village and Wilderness Park? Bees, butterflies, bugs, bats and birds are considered to be our most important pollinators.
Maybe it's time to spread your wings and plant your own bee-friendly garden. First, check out John Bick's message below on pollinators and the history behind the patch at Wilderness Park.
When your garden is ready, remember to register it at www.kawarthalakes.ca/beecity to help track the pollinator corridor in this area.
Bobcaygeon’s Pollinator Patch
By John Bick, Bobcaygeon Horticultural Society
The earth's wild and cultivated fruits, vegetables, and nuts are the result of a process called pollination. Much of this is done by pollinators such as bees, butterflies, bugs, bats and birds. Sadly, many of these are under threat. Pesticides, pollution and habitat destruction by humans are contributing factors. Without pollinators much of the world's food supply will cease to exist.
In 2014 Environmental Action Bobcaygeon and The Bobcaygeon & District Horticultural Society teamed up to promote the importance of reserving safe and attractive patches for the pollinators that live in our own local community.
A demonstration site was selected at the newly-created Wilderness Park in an open space once used as a dumping ground for municipal leaves, brush and other refuse, including abandoned machinery. Once the site had been cleaned up, topsoil was hauled in by wheelbarrows and placed in mounds.
Various flowering plants and shrubs native to our area that bloom in spring, summer and fall were purchased. An army of volunteers hand-planted the first batch in May of 2014. In addition several Eastern White Cedars were dug into the rocky ground to provide shelter and a hedge line between the Pollinator Patch and a trail used by snowmobilers and all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts. It was a back-breaking work but it illustrated how community groups with diverse interests can collaborate effectively.
Through the years, most of the flowering plants and shrubs have thrived on their own with minimal maintenance. We are optimistic that the number of pollinators will do so as well. For the most part, we stewards have resisted the temptation to manicure and gentrify the patch. We have added some brush pile habitat and bee shelters and keep adding more plants.
We hope that human visitors to the patch will be inspired to provide havens in their own gardens and yards for these valuable creatures.
