Since last year, we have been converting our old vegetable garden spot into a Pollinator/Cottage garden. We added a water garden and built a patio to sit and enjoy the view. The garden has a mix of native and non-native plants and herbs that attract and feed pollinators such as butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, flies, and ants. The garden is also home to many other beneficial insects and spiders, worms, frogs, toads, snakes, and many songbird species that visit frequently.
Some of the flowers in the garden include milkweed, coneflower, cosmos, daisies, phlox, foxglove, lupine, bee balm, alysum, roses, balloon plant, butterfly weed, blazing star, clover, plantain, primrose, buttercups, aster, hound’s tongue, meadowsweet, tansy, mallow, hollyhock, lilies, speedwell, sweet william, anise hyssop, globethistle, beardtongue, white campion, jewelweed, dandilion, goldenrod, sage, catnip, lavendar and many others. Dill and parsley are grown to feed the swallowtail caterpillars, and tomatoes for the hornworm caterpillars. And we share the dill, parsley and tomatoes with our insect friends.
The water garden is home to frogs, toads, snakes, salamanders, plus a small school of goldfish. There are water lilies, cattails, and irises growing in and around the water. We will be adding a natural bog filtration system which will house some carnivorous plants such as pitcher plants, sundews, and venus flytraps for the summer.
We don’t use ANY pesticides or herbicides on our farm, and rely on natural and organic methods to ensure all of the plants and animals have a clean and safe environment.