You would probably expect that after working sun up to sun down and then some since February that the bees would start to slow down a bit. We wouldn't be living up to our name then would we? We are just as busy as we are in the spring but we're working on all the behind the scenes projects.
Repairs from Mother Nature's Wrath
Greenhouses are truly a maintenance nightmare. Our extreme Iowa weather took its toll on some of our greenhouses, especially after all the wind and hail we experienced more than a few times this growing season. We will be recovering and repairing many of the structures.
Makeover - Trim and Protect
We have worked so hard, we wore out the floor in some of the greenhouses! We will be installing new gravel and floor coverings.
All of our perennials get a light trim before we get them ready for their winter slumber.
The trees and shrubs are grouped tightly together and then protected from rabbits. They're our number one destroyer of plants over the winter.
A Deep Clean
Our main project is deep cleaning the greenhouses.
They get a full scrub down from head to toe. With almost an acre of greenhouses, you can imagine how long that takes.
It is the most important thing we do as we do not want to carry over any pests or diseases that may be lurking on the benches.
We remove as much of the dead plant material that has collected in all of the nooks and crannies as we can.
Just before the heat of the summer we empty out some of the greenhouses before they reach their high of 156 degrees. Somehow weeds grow and survive that. Our worker bees remove all those weeds in the off-season.
We go through and sanitize the floors, benches and walls.
It's not a fun process but definitely one we will not skip.
For the Love of All Things Green
We do all this to create a healthy environment for the flowers and plants we'll bee growing this Spring and send you home with bee-utiful flowers and plants.