What are you doing in your backyard?

0

Karen Whiteside loves her daylilies. She explained that they are addicting. As I looked over her collection I can see why. With over 7,000 different varieties it can be overwhelming to choose just one. Karen has 300 varieties. Her friend, Larry Pastor, has planted a garden in her backyard. Both Larry and Karen enjoy sharing their love of gardening with their neighbors.

Larry has tilled a few gardens for people this year in hopes of getting them interested in growing their own food. Larry uses cereal rye as a cover crop in the fall and tills it in the spring. Cover crops are becoming a trend among many local gardeners. Cover crop keeps your soil working late into the season and feeds all the living organisms in the soil. This creates healthier soil.

Another garden practice is to plant a pollinator strip in the garden. With flowers growing in the garden, bees are attracted and in turn will pollinate the crops. Both Larry and Karen have had big gardens in the past and canned a lot of pints and quarts. While their garden is smaller it still produces a lot of produce. Larry encourages others to continue gardening into the fall. Planting radishes and lettuce is just one example of crops that can be grown as the weather gets cooler.

Karen also has a bird feeding and water station. She also has a rain barrel and has constructed a bee house. She has participated in a citizen science project, Hummingbirds at Home. Karen and Larry are backyard conservationists. Be inspired!

Call for a conservation audit and share what you do. We can give you ideas for conservation practices. Contact Brigitte Hisey, Natural Resource Specialist, Fayette Soil & Water Conservation District at 740-636-0279. Check us out on Facebook.

http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2015/07/web1_Larry-Pastor-and-Karen-Whiteside.jpg

By Brigitte Hisey

Fayette Soil & Water Conservation District

No posts to display