Apple trees require pollination. We will need to attract bees to sustain our orchard and as such have planted a wildflower meadow. Working with our farm consultant Max Saffell, we selected a Pennsylvania Wildflower mix from Eden Seeds.
The flower mix is made up of both annuals and perennials. This means that we will have flowers this summer. Many wildflower mixes are dependent on the long root structure of perennials and take three years to yield a healthy and full meadow. The mix includes 19 different flowers – Red Corn Poppy, Lance Leaf Coreopsis, Shirley Poppy Mixed Red, Cosmos Wild Sensation, California Poppy Orange, Blanket Flower, Black Eyed Susan, Wild Perennial Lupine, Purple Coneflower, Russell Lupine, Plains Coreopsis, Siberian Wallflower, Blue Flax Perennial, Scarlet Flax, Annual Phlox tall Mix, Cosmos Bright Lights, Cornflower Dwarf Mix, Cornflower Tall Blue, and Daisy Gloriosa.
We integrated Carmine Butterfly Milkweed into our mix also purchased from Eden Seeds. Milkweed is an important food source for the Monarch Butterfly. Their numbers have been in decline in PA and milkweed with its attractive and fragrant blooms will draw butterflies, bees, and birds to our farm. The Carmine Butterfly Milkweed offers lovely purple/pink blooms from summer to fall. Milkweed is also a good companion to our farm flower, Wild Bergamot.
For the bees we will include a hive or two in our meadow. Since we are new to beekeeping, we are considering a Flow Hive. These attractive hives harvest small batches of honey with minimal effort and the honey flows from the hive directly into a honey jar!
The flower mix required cold stratification, so it was important that the seeds were in the ground over the winter months. Max cleared an acre just south of our pond and disrupted the top four inches of soil to plant the mix. Not only will the meadow attract bees for pollination, but the roots of the flowers will limit soil erosion and act as a swale.
Swales are important in permaculture gardening because they support a larger tree growing system, moderate ground saturation levels and use water deep into the soil as opposed to having it to collect on the surface. Around our pond and meadow, we are planting birch, aspen, and maple trees to shade our pond and create a wind break for our orchard. The trees will also increase our fall red and yellow colors and the white bark is a nice contrast to the dark wood of our many walnut trees.
Birch and maple trees are fast growing and provide an important food source for birds such as the yellow-bellied sapsucker. Sapsuckers are a type of woodpecker and drill tiny holes called sap wells. Hummingbirds, bats, and squirrels depend on these wells for access to tree sap. Sapsuckers are common in Pennsylvania, and we are hoping to have many of these beautiful birds migrate through our farm each summer.
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