Deal or No Deal - If we plant it will they will come?

In recent years I have been hearing more stories about disappointing harvest from home gardener's. I have to admit I didn't give it much thought until it happened to me. Last spring I planted early which is nothing new, however I planted super early about 3 weeks earlier than I usually do. If you follow my You tube channel you may have seen the disappointing cucumber and squash harvest from early spring. The plants were spectacular, everything looked healthy. Each day I looked for signs of hearty vegetables beginning to sprout but it was not to be.   

For the longest time I could not figure out what went wrong. I did my part. I cultivated the land, I planted, watered, weeded and in the end I had very little to show for my efforts.  It wasn't until late summer that I cracked the code. I had replanted squash in a different bed about fifty feet away from the first planting and boom, squash. It wasn't until then that I realized that by planting early something was missing.  There were no bees. I kept my seedlings warm and toasty at night but the bees were not impressed with my efforts. My deal with the bees was one sided. As gardeners we make the assumption that if we plant it they will come. 

Now here's the part I didn't mention because I didn't think it was relevant.  Not far from where I live, in fact very close to where I live the state is constructing a major highway. In order to do so that they had to demo over 60 houses, that's sixty gardens and only God knows how many trees bushes, shrubs and vines. 

I recently met a neighbor who raises bees.  It made me think, how many of those former neighbors raised bees also. The lady a few doors from me had an impressive fence of grape vines. Before she moved she had them dug up and took them with her. 

I don't want to throw the bees under the bus. Did you know that in addition to honey bees, butterflies, wasps and hummingbirds also pollinate our plants? This year I will be ready.  I am currently working on video that explains how I intend to not make the same mistake twice. I may not have a deal with the bees but I will still get my early harvest this year. 

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