When you think of bees, it probably isn’t your first instinct to want to attract more of them to your yard. These striped insects often get a bad rap due to their rather painful natural defense mechanism and are often shoed away from the garden by harsh insect repellents and pesticides.
When planting your vegetable garden, it can be challenging to keep all the advice straight, “build a raised bed,” “make sure that you try companion planting,” “always use fertilizer,” “never use fertilizer.” Eventually, the overwhelming words of well-meaning fellow gardeners go in one ear and out the other, and you usually end up winging it. That works for a time, and usually, you will see a harvest, but here are a few essential things that you should be doing differently to maximize yield and encourage healthy growth.
When it comes to garden pests, an ounce of prevention is always worth a pound of cure. Healthy plants that have been adequately fed and watered can generally tolerate a few bugs without any trouble.
There’s no doubt that winters with bone-chilling, sub-zero temperatures are challenging, but if you’re a zone 5 gardener, you definitely aren’t alone. A fairly substantial chunk of the United States falls into zone 5, including parts of states as diverse as Alaska, Oregon, New York, Minnesota, and California.  Â
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