I've heard a bit in the news and various magazines and advertisements (mainly for Haagen Dazs ice cream) that our bees are in trouble. Even good old Martha Stewart had an article in her magazine about planting bee friendly gardens this month. Of course, we could all live without their honey, but without the pollination effect of bees, our world food supply could be in big trouble. Apparently our bee population has reduced by more than 1/3 of what it was just THREE YEARS AGO. That's a pretty alarming statistic, especially when taken in context with the polar bears that are now drowning up north and all.
Now, I don't like bees. I mean I REALLY don't like bees. They scare the beejesus out of me, so to speak. I've been stung enough times to know that I don't want those suckers near me, and I'm prepared to put on an embarrassing show of yelping, dancing, swatting and running in order to keep them away. So why on earth would I want to plant a bee friendly garden?
That's a good question. Answer #1: It's an environmentally friendly thing to do. Answer #2: Flowers are pretty. Answer #3: I used to be afraid of worms, too. Sometimes I still am, and yet I'm growing them by the thousands now.
I've always wished I wasn't so afraid of bugs and bees. Now that I'm the "Worm Girl" (as I'm called at the space I'm now renting for my bourgeoning worm business, Mama's Worm Composting) I've learned that not all pests and vermin are quite as scary as they used to be. When I get scared is when I am startled by unexpected behavior in my little wiggling charges, something that happens a little less frequently of late (if you don't count yesterday). When they behave in normal, expected ways, they don't freak me out so much. Perhaps the same thing might happen with bees?
Also, I must say that as much as it's the right thing to do to have a vegetable garden, I'm not really enjoying it so much right now. Firstly, I usually have to force myself to eat vegetables, so I'm not psyched by the food coming out of my garden. My balcony is small, not leaving much space for fruit plants or trees. And not only do I have to trudge between the kitchen sink and the balcony 5 times per day to fill up my watering can and then water (we don't have a spigot on our balcony), but there is the added work of having to harvest the food as well.
I'm sounding like such a pansy anti-environmentalist here.
But I'm just getting a little tired lately. There's this blog, the worm business, the worm blog, the Africa trip, fundraising for the Africa trip (please scroll down and read the post and buy a raffle ticket!!!), the secret Africa project that I will harass you with this fall, and finding the right doctor to diagnose my poor relative's sick son. Oh, yeah, and my two kids and husband and that big pile of laundry on the floor in the hallway that now has grown so huge that it's almost impossible to summit. I'm finally starting to reach capacity. I think I'm going to plant some pretty flowers in the place of my lettuce plants as they are harvested and watch some bees from the safe confines of my living room.
Two sites come to mind, as well as an informative article in Martha Stewart this month. The Haagen Dazs one isn't all that helpful, but it's pretty to look at.
Stay tuned. Not only will I update you soon with pretty pictures, but I will have a special "Stay Tuned" post this week or at least this millennia about all of the topics I've told you to "stay tuned" about.
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