Eating for Pollinators part one

I RECENTLY JOINED A COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE PROGRAM. The owner is a neighbor of mine who has a couple of greenhouses and sells his vegetables at a local farmer's market. But now he's also experimenting with the CSA idea: People like me purchase a share in his operation and, in return, we get a share of his harvest throughout the growing season. It's better for him because he has guaranteed purchasers for his produce through the whole season.

So now, instead of going to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning, I go by John's place on Friday afternoons to pick up my produce. (That's not his real name; I'm not going to use his real name because I don't have his permission.) I don't have to drive as far, which saves on gas. John gives me a lot more vegetables than I would buy at the Farmer's Market, but that's good because it's encouraging us to eat more vegetables. (Anything we don't eat is frozen for use this winter, with all the scraps going to our voraciously vegetivorous ducks.) One of the best things about this program, however, is that John usually has time to talk, so often he gives us a short tour of the vegetable gardens and we get to chat about how things are doing. I like knowing the man who is growing my food and getting a chance to see how that food is being grown.

Today as John was showing off the pea plants that are starting to bloom, I had occasion to reflect on how important pollinators are to our food supply and, in turn, how important farmers and the people who buy food from farmers are to pollinators. The flowers that form on those vegetable plants are there, by and large, in order to attract pollinators. If the pollinators don't show up, and the flowers don't get pollinated, beans, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables we like to eat aren't going to show up either. Insects pollinate two thirds of all crop species!

So it's important for all of us to support farmers who grow food in ways that are good for pollinators. One of the many advantages of buying from local small farms (something I strongly encourage for all sorts of reasons) is that it gives me a chance to observe how my food is grown and encourage my farmer-neighbors to practice pollinator-friendly gardening.

In honor of National Pollinator Week, here are a couple of publications about farming for pollinators. Although they're intended for farmers, they contain many tips that could be helpful to all gardeners. One is Farming for Pollinators: Native Bees and Your Crops, published by the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Xerces Society. The other is the Xerces Society's booklet Farming for Bees: Guidelines for Providing Native Bee Habitat on Farms. If you're in a CSA or are on good terms with the sellers at your local Farmer's Market, you might want to print one of these out and share it. And if you're not in a CSA or buying regularly at your local Farmer's Market ... think about it!

Tomorrow I'll pass along some tips from these publications. In the meantime, if you'd like to know more about why it's such a good idea to "eat local" and support small farms, here's a handout I wrote for a local group that's encouraging rural Nova Scotians to help prevent global warming. (Yes, our food choices also have an impact on global climate!)

Vanishing Birds

Photos: Top, populations of the rufous hummingbird have declined 58% since 1967, according to a new study just released by the Audubon Society. Left, populations of evening grosbeaks have declined 78%. Both photos courtesy the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, via the Wikipedia.

THE AUDUBON SOCIETY HAS JUST RELEASED an analysis of 40 years of reports on bird populations with the unhappy conclusion that many bird species are in decline: "Since 1967 the average population of the common birds in steepest decline has fallen by 68 percent; some individual species nose-dived as much as 80 percent. All 20 birds on the national Common Birds in Decline list lost at least half their populations in just four decades."

A surprising number of these species would be familiar to most gardeners. Among the popular "backyard birds" that made the list was one of my own favorites, the evening grosbeak. Populations of this large black and yellow bird, which has a distinctive bright yellow slash above its eye, are down an astonishing 78% since 1967. (The decline in this species is second only to the decline in populations of the northern bobwhite, down 82%.) If you live almost anywhere in the United States or southern Canada, you've probably hosted flocks of these birds at your feeders.

Another surprise is the decline in populations of the common grackle, a member of the Corvid (crow) family, that is often seen in urban areas and parks. Because it seems to get along well with humans, I wouldn't have expected this bird to be in decline--but it is, down 61%.

Populations of rufous hummingbirds, which are the hummingbirds most likely to be seen at feeders on the West Coast, are down 58%.

If you live in a rural area or area where there is still natural habitat left, you are likely to spot a lot more good friends on this list: The boreal chickadee (down 73%), eastern meadowlark (72%), field sparrow (68%), and ruffed grouse (54%) are just a few examples from the "top 20" list.

All of these declines can be attributed, one way or another, to loss of habitat. Farmland and meadow birds are suffering because of suburban sprawl, industrial development, and the replacement of old-fashioned farming methods with intensive agriculture. Other birds are in trouble because of climate change, deforestation, and loss of wetlands.

None of these species is on the verge of extinction, at least not yet. But such huge declines are very worrisome. What can we, as wildlife-friendly gardeners, do? Here are Audubon's recommendations, with my comments:

• Protect local habitat. This would include gardening and landscaping in a wildlife-friendly way, as well protecting natural areas where they still exist in your neighborhood. You can also support organizations, such as the Nature Conservancy, that protect critical habitat areas.


• Support sustainable forests. One good way to do this is to buy wood products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which is the toughest of the certification programs. The Audubon Society notes that this would be especially helpful to our friends the evening grosbeaks, as they are dependent on boreal forests as breeding grounds.


• Promote sound agricultural policy. Agriculture has a tremendous impact on wildlife, and our shopping and eating choices have a tremendous impact on agriculture. Once you've made your own property wildlife friendly, it seems to me that the natural "next step" is to support farmers who manage their land in a wildlife-friendly way. You can do this by shopping for organic, locally grown, seasonal foods and getting to know your local food producers. Let them know that you care about wildlife-friendly farming practices.


• Protect wetlands. If you have wet areas on your own land, large or small, value them, plant them with native plants, and protect them. They are essential not only for many birds but also for other animals, particularly amphibians.


• Fight global warming. There are lots of ways to do this, but as gardeners we can avoid using tools that are powered by gasoline or electricity, plant trees, landscape in such a way that we reduce heating and cooling costs in the home, improve soil quality, grow our own vegetables ... and probably quite a few other things as well.


• Combat invasive species. This recommendation is particularly relevant to gardeners, as sadly we have been responsible for the introduction of far too many species that have caused degradation of wildlife habitat. The easiest way to avoid planting invasive species and help wildlife at the same time is to garden with native plants.

Each of these recommendations would be helpful not just to birds but to all native wildlife, to say nothing of human health and quality of life! They deserve more discussion than I can give them in a single post. Where they're relevant to gardening and landscaping, I'll be coming back to them in future installments.

The Ingredients of a Wildlife-Friendly Garden

HERE ARE SOME of the basic ingredients of a wildlife-friendly garden:

Food: You can provide food for birds (and probably squirrels and other animals too) simply by hanging out a bird feeder. But most wild gardeners also try to grow plants that produce nuts, berries, nectar, pollen, and sap that birds and other animals like to eat.

Clean water: All animals need water year-round. (Birds require water not just for drinking but also for bathing, to keep their feathers groomed.) A birdbath, particularly one that is kept thawed in winter, is welcomed by birds and often by other animals as well. Some people build ponds for wildlife; though a large, deep pond is a big project, a shallow pond suitable for birds can be built (using a liner) in just a few hours. Providing clean water also means keeping existing water sources clean – free of herbicides, pesticides, and other contaminants – and not allowing the banks of streams and ponds to be eroded.

Shelter: Animals also need somewhere to raise their young, hide from predators, and shelter themselves from cold. Many people provide birds with nest boxes (also known as bird houses) for nesting or “roost boxes” for winter protection. However, planting the right trees and shrubs can be an even more effective way of providing shelter for animals. Evergreen plants -- pines, junipers, cedars, yews – provide good winter shelter.

If you have a place for them, rock piles and brush piles also make wonderful shelter for animals. (Instead of hauling away brush the next time you prune, try piling it in an inconspicuous corner of your yard.) A dead tree – or “snag” – is considered highly desirable real estate by woodpeckers and many other creatures. If a tree dies on your property, are you sure you want to spend money to have it removed? As long as it doesn’t present a safety hazard, consider leaving it -- the animals will thank you.

Minimizing harmful practices: In gardening as in the rest of life, often what you don’t do is as important as what you do. For instance, wildlife-friendly gardeners try not to use pesticides, which kill beneficial insects along with the pests we are trying to target. (Most of us find that the birds and beneficial insects we attract to our pesticide-free yards eventually take care of most garden pests for us.)

On Becoming a Wild Gardener

IF YOU ENJOY watching birds, squirrels, and other wildlife in your garden … if you are trying to garden in an environmentally friendly way … if you believe that we humans should try to co-exist with the other species that inhabit this land with us … you're going to love being involved (if you aren’t already) in a growing national movement toward what I call wild gardening--gardening that is wildlife-friendly and inspired by nature.

Many people are attracted to wild gardening because they enjoy watching birds and other animals and want to attract them to their properties. This is an easy and very rewarding way to get into wild gardening, so I'm going to be focusing on it for a while. Here 's a little bit of an introduction:

Wildlife-friendly gardening is a way of taking care of our land – whether it’s a 100-acre spread or just one window box -- so that we help birds and other animals instead of driving them away. Wildlife-friendly gardeners do this by providing food, shelter, and clean water for animals, while minimizing practices that harm wildlife. In return, we enjoy the beauty, song, and entertaining antics of countless creatures; know that we are being environmentally responsible in our gardening practices; and bring a little “wildness” into our gardens and our lives!

Wildlife-friendly gardening need not be expensive or time-consuming. In fact, many people find that maintaining a wildlife-friendly garden is much less expensive and time consuming than gardening the old-fashioned way (especially if you formerly were trying to maintain a large lawn).

Wildlife-friendly gardening is not out-of-the-mainstream. Across the country, thousands of people are engaged in this practice.

Finally, your wildlife-friendly garden doesn’t have to conform to any one gardening style. It’s possible to design a wildlife-friendly garden in any number of styles -- from “natural” to “neat and tidy” and everything in between.

In the next weeks and months, we'll be exploring what all this means in practice. Please join me again soon!