Insect Hotel

With snow only days ago, today I am in a T-Shirt. I had planned to begin my spring planting this weekend - but have resolved to start in a couple of weekends time. Just letting everything warm up a bit. I have planted some basic herbs in the herb garden however (this time with herbs we will use!) basil, oregano, parsley, thyme and lemongrass. Our lush herb garden, while bountiful wasn't used much and was pruned during winter to get ready for our 3rd spring here. Looking forward to renewing this area, now we have a better rhythm to the seasons (and to our cooking pleasure!).

But the big news around here today is that with the able assistance of A's 8 year old girl and 10 year old boy we built an Insect Hotel. [ You can view some stunning ones here ] An insect hotel is a place where all types of insects and critters can hang out and hibernate during winter and provide safe haven until emergence in next spring. Things like ladybugs, solitary bees, etc but even frogs if near a pond. (which ours kind of is). The insects will hopefully then ward of unwanted pests around the vege patch and help pollinate our plants (and fruit trees). You build it with a steady foundation, then adding recycled materials like old pipes, logs with different sized drill holes, straw and hay, things where things can hide basically! The only thing left to do for this one is to add some succulent plants to add some living matter.

Here it is!

From various for blog