Harmony Valley Farm: 2023 Pollinator Packs!

Thursday, June 1, 2023

2023 Pollinator Packs!

Pollinator Packs: Supporting our Pollinator Creatures Since 2016!

By Andrea Yoder

Eight years ago we had an idea to publish a series of educational articles entitled “The Silent Spring Series.” These articles are available on our blog and we encourage you to take some time to read them. You’ll find links to each article in the series at the conclusion of this article. This idea was preceded in May 2015 by the White House’s release of the “National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators,” an important groundbreaking step towards acknowledging and mobilizing action around our rapidly declining pollinator populations within North America. However, the report was not considered complete by many individuals in conservation circles who raised concern about the impact pesticide use was/is having on our declining pollinator and wildlife populations. Over the course of the summer of 2015 we reported more in-depth about the impact the use of these chemicals was having on our environment, human health and the health of our pollinator populations. As the articles started to stack up, the topics got heavier and heavier! As we neared the end of the series, we found ourselves asking “But what can we do to take positive action?” As we sat around the kitchen table and discussed how we were feeling, we found ourselves brainstorming. Out of this brainstorm session the idea to introduce Pollinator Packs was born!

Pollinator Garden at Harmony Valley Farm

In 2016 we planted our first Pollinator Packs to share with our CSA membership. This is our way of investing in positive change to benefit our own farm and the areas where we work and live, but we wanted to bring all of you along in the effort as well! This is where the “C” in CSA comes into play. We don’t make any money on these pollinator packs, rather we invest our time and resources to put them together for you. But it’s not about making money. It’s about coming together as a community to support positive changes and make an impact where we can. As we partner together as a community on this project, we’re able to broaden the reach and multiply the impact. Not only do we have some very nice, well-developed pollinator habitat areas on our farm and around the fields where we grow your vegetables, but now many of our CSA members have their own gardens and spaces that are supporting pollinator populations in their communities as well!

Rattlesnake Master,
Harmony Valley Farm

So this year I’d like to put out a request to anyone from our CSA community who is willing to contribute. Later this season I would like to compile an article that reports on the positive changes happening in your/our communities. We want to know how your pollinator gardens are growing and developing since we introduced this concept back in 2016. Send us pictures of your plants and spaces, but also let us know what creatures and wildlife these plants have attracted and supported. Have others in your community or friends and family members seen what you are doing and started to ask questions? My vision is to share these stories and reports with our CSA membership, but also to send the article out into the world to be shared with others as a way of encouraging them to take responsibility and invest in similar projects. Of course, in a world that is full with quite a lot of “bad news,” it would be nice to have some positive contributions!

Now on to this year’s packs. We always try to plant a variety of native wildflowers and grasses that will bloom across the season so as to provide a steady supply of food. We also try to balance some easy to establish plants with ones that are a bit more unique and sometimes a challenge to start. This year Richard went crazy when he was ordering and ordered a lot of different things! (Ok, I’ll take responsibility for contributing to that list as well). While every seed does not germinate and take off, we had more plants than would fit into our Standard Pollinator packs. Thus we planted two different packs this year--Standard Pollinator Packs & Enhancement Packs. We've included the photos and diagrams below to assist you in identifying your plants. If you position your pack as it is positioned in the picture, your pack will match the diagram and make it easy for you to identify each plant.

All of the seeds we used were sourced from Prairie Moon Nursery. If you click on the name of the plant below, it will take you to their website where you can get more information about how and where to plant these packs, how to care for them, etc. Please note, we did have to make a few substitutions to some packs. Thus, your pack may differ slightly from the contents below. See your "What's In the Box" email from the week of June 1/2/3 or June 8/9/10 for details about substitutions.

STANDARD POLLINATOR PACK CONTENTS: