Brian Minter: Beautiful ways to attract pollinators

Ah, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. Yes, we know it’s January. And, no, this is not an old post. Holidays are not coming, they are over. Finally. Now’s the time to queue at shopping centres trying to cash in the reindeer cushions, renew your gym membership, and roll your eyes at all the “new year, new me” posts flooding your feed. Magic!

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Insects play a key role in pollination and plants reward them with pollen and nectar in a symbiotic process.

A stroll through a boutique garden store might lead you to believe that filling a garden with happy, healthy plants is only for the well-heeled. But those very plants that have soaring price tags in the store might be yours for free if you are willing to be a little creative. If you are wondering how to get free plants, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for five tried-and-true paths that lead you to free garden plants.

Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.

We had measurable snow at my house twice in two weeks! I picked up my camera each time to capture the beauty of the pure white frozen precipitation blanketing the bleak winter landscape. The snow quickly melted, and I’m starting to see things reawakening from their winter slumber. It’s an exciting time of the year for the most part, but there’s one reawakening I’d rather not see.

To move the latest stories front-and-center, the header, or logo, is slimmer than it was before designer Kenneth B. Smith and the programmers of WebDevStudios helped me revise it, using Brian Gardner’s hot new Genesis framework for WordPress. (Besides botanical Latin, I also talk some geek. You’ll get used to the fusion.) Take a minute to familiarize yourself with the “action items” that are placed up top, above and in the header. For example:ABOVE THE LOGO, left to right:ABOUT will take you to the About page.

I’D RATHER TALK ABOUT PLANTS, but this week I need to make an exception and hit you up for a hand. My 2011 memoir “And I Shall Have Some Peace There” comes out in paperback, and since book-writing is key to the scaled-down life I’ve consciously chosen since I left the city fastlane four years ago, I’m asking five things you can do to help me succeed. Other than buying a book, the asks cost nothing at all–and hey, I’m even offering a chance to win the new paperback to sweeten the deal. As you can see, Jack the Demon Cat (a star of the book) thinks it’s a good read to tuck into bed with. Won’t you:

What do you say we all make this the year of the more inspired approach to eating our vegetables? To that end, I called friend and cookbook author Alana Chernila, whose latest volume is “Eating from the Ground Up: Recipes for Simple, Perfect Vegetables.”We talked about a range of topics from how to roast a potato (no, not by just tossing it on a roasting pan with some oil) or a beet to perfection (ditto), to ingredients you may not be using that can make even a simple side dish into something special. A

“We would be sad if people shied away from such an iconic garden vegetable,” says Brian, who with Crystine Goldberg farms organic seed, including for beets, in Bellingham, Washington–seed they sell in their online and print Uprising catalog. “What is more beautiful than a bunch of voluptuous bright red beetroots in a harvest basket en route from the garden to the kitchen?”All too often, our only experience with beets means the usual suspects—ubiquitous varieties like ‘Detroit Dark Red’ or ‘Early Wonder,’ or produce sold without their greens and even pre-packaged or canned. Brian confesses he doesn’t have much experience with those, and for a good reason: There are better beets to be had, and grown.my beet-growing q&a with brian campbellQ. When can I

“They’re our biggest unpaid staff workers,” says Brian. “They’re the pollinators that we depend on, so we really pay attention.”We discussed why building up your pollinator palette of extra-early bloomers in particular is important; which families of plants have the most impact, and how certain flowering things like Alyssum and Phacelia may help attract aphid-fighting helpers–and even a bigger role for cilantro!Read along as you listen to the Feb. 4, 2019 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of po

Radicchio, with its long heritage in Northern Italy, isn’t the only crop with Italian roots that the Uprising team is crazy about, so today we’re going to meet leaf broccoli and cardoon, and some traditional Italian beans and beets, too, that would be just as at home in your vegetable garden.Brian Campbell, with his partner Crystine Goldberg, owns Uprising Seeds just north of Bellingham, Washington, which was the state’s first certified organic seed company and features an assortment of exceptional vege