pollinators benefit with Lawns To Legumes effort

[mellowtigger]

I spent a few hours yesterday doing some cleaning.  I finally removed (with some soaking and scrubbing) some crud that was stuck on the floor of the front porch.  Afterwards, I moved the 2-seat sofa into there from the living room.  I still intend to get rid of it at some point, and having this photo will help when I eventually post it to Freecycle.

Also yesterday, I got the email that I was chosen for the reimbursement program of #LawnsToLegumes by the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources.  It's a program that tries to encourage people to replace their monoculture grass yards (useless to pollinators and requires energy expenditure to mow) in favor of native plants.  I've mentioned this program once or twice.  My new icon, above, is from their promotional material.  Unfortunately, because of my unemployed status and zero income, I had to decline the offer.  I'm not spending money for yard plants right now.  :(  I used their webpage to let them know immediately, so they can send that money to somebody else instead.  It made me a little sad.

In good news, though, my work in previous years is obviously paying off.  All of the grass is gone from my lawn.  Clover, wildflowers, fruiting plants, and other things cover my property now.  While I was on the front porch scrubbing the messy floor, I noticed the very many pollinators outside the window.  The hops is in bloom.  I'm not a fan of hops plants.  They are immensely tall and can easily take over an area with their spreading.  But the pollinators do love them.

I can see bees, a moth, and other pollinators in this 1-minute clip from my garden view through the porch window.  These are smaller bees, not the bumble bees that liked the bergamot last month.

Watch on YouTube

Enjoy this moment of calm in a stressful world.