Master Gardeners are hard at work creating a native plant demonstration pollinator garden in Columbia’s Freetown Farm, the home of the Community Ecology Institute (CEI). As part of the 2023 Master Gardener intern class, Debbie Lavine requested Maddie Potter, Howard County Master Gardener Coordinator, approve the site for intern volunteer hour credit. A MOU was drafted, and the site was approved. The purpose of the Freetown Farm pollinator garden is to demonstrate how beautiful intentionally planted natives can be, even in small spaces. CEI is a Howard County nonprofit with the mission of cultivating communities where people and nature thrive together.

As you walk across Freetown Farm, you may have noticed small houses hanging on the trees and fences. These are called bee houses, but what are they, and why use them?
To understand why bee houses are important for our community, you first need to know the differences between solitary and social bees.

• Social bees are eusocial, work as a team, and live in hives, like honeybees, to get nectar. These bees are not native to Maryland.
• On the other hand, solitary bees are native and live alone, and they do not sting often. Common solitary bees in Maryland are mason bees, carpenter bees, and bumble bees. A lot of the time, these bees are more efficient at pollinating plants than honeybees.

 
Solitary bees dig holes in wood or soil instead of building hives. Bee houses provide homes for solitary bees, who use the houses instead of making their own tunnels.
 
But why should you use bee houses, and why are they at the farm?
Unfortunately, native solitary bee populations are on the decline, and could become endangered in the future. Bee houses help these bees find homes.
Bee houses also reduce the damage to property as bees will use the houses instead of burrowing into wooden posts and decks.
Solitary bees can help your gardens and farms, as they are more efficient pollinators than honeybees, helping you grow more crops, vibrant flowers, and create a healthy environment.

​If you want to build the same bee houses, this is the design used: 

​The block of wood with the holes is 6 inches long, and each roof block is 7.25 inches long. Each tunnel is around 4 - 5 inches deep. Make sure that the block of wood with the holes is untreated, as bees are more likely to go into that type of wood. There are many ways to hang the bee houses, but the way used at the farm is with key-hole hangers at the back of the bee house.
Make sure to use a low VOC primer and paint on the roofs. VOC stands for volatile organic compound, and the more there is, the more chemical odor there is, which can repel bees. Avoid colors like red or black as bees could perceive these colors as a threat. Blue and purple are good colors to use.
The best place to put bee houses is in spots that get sunlight and are near flowers. They should be at least 3-4 feet from the ground.
 
The 35 bee houses at Freetown Farm were built and installed in June 2023 as part of an Eagle Project lead by Krishna Gawandi, a scout in troop 944. Troop 944 is located in Ellicott City, MD and meets at the Bethany United Methodist Church.

​Good luck making your own bee houses!
Krishna Gawandi

Dear Farm Fam,

This Fall Justin, our Farm Manager, and I have decided it was time to give cover cropping in our growing spaces an earnest effort. Since we are both new in our farming journeys this was the first time either of us had scaled up cover cropping practices beyond a small garden bed or two and so we are excited for what we learn this year.

So what is cover cropping?
Great question! Cover cropping is a practice to keep your soil health intact by using plants as a protective layer over your soils. There are many plants that growers choose to act as cover crops but they often share some common characteristics; quick to mature, ability to fix nitrogen into the soil, easy to terminate and fold into your soils, etc.

Cool! But why should I cover crop? 
I’m glad you asked. There are many different reasons folks choose to use cover crops but chief among them is to retain soil and water. Bare soil that is exposed to the elements is more likely to get washed or blown away which negatively impacts both farmers and the environment. As a wonderful farmer once told me, soil and water are like a farmer’s bank account. Cover crops are an investment to increase your bank account and can:

• Preserve water & soil in growing spaces
• Increase soil nutrients 
• Suppress weed growth
• Protect watershed health
• Create habitat for the local ecosystem
  
  

Ok I’m convinced, how do I start? 
By just getting started! We’ve all felt what it’s like to start a new endeavor without feeling like you have all the information and that can be scary. But as a farmer if you give into that fear you might let your window slip by and never get around to actually growing anything! Now this doesn’t mean that you should throw caution to the wind and start tossing seeds willy nilly; do your research, find a crop that fits your space, tools, and goals, BUT don’t let not being 100% certain stop you from trying something new.

When asked what role enslaved people played in developing Howard County, Wylene Burch, the founding director of the Howard County Center of African American Culture explained: ​

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