FRANKFORD, Del. - Pollinators are declining at a concerning rate around the globe due to various factors ranging from excessive use of pesticides to climate change to various other factors.
Story Hill Farm in Frankford, Del. is taking this issue into their own hands and is trying to do what they can to combat this global issue right here in Sussex County. Helen Raleigh, owner of Story Hill Farm, decided to plant a four acre wildflower meadow. This meadow is providing food for pollinators traveling through the area. This meadow was done with a mix of annual and perennial wildflowers. While many of the annual flowers are non-native, they are still providing much needed pollen and nectar to visiting pollinators. In the process, these non-native flowers are keeping weeds at bay and allowing native wildflowers, like black-eyed Susan, coreopsis, and toadflax to begin to reestablish, which is beginning to dramatically change the habitat around Story Hill Farm.
“Once you start to change the landscape and plant pollen, nectar, and habitat for the insects and the insect layer grows, then the birds that need those insects come and have a feast.”, Heather Raleigh explained about what she was observing at her farm.
Raleigh noted that one in three bites of food is pollinator dependent, so it’s important that we all step up and take action to help with this dire issue.
While Story Hill Farm is working to fix this problem on a bit of a larger scale, the work they are doing can be done at various scales. All it takes is changing one piece of your landscape to something pollinator friendly to make a difference.
