It’s National Pollinator Week! Here are three things that we’re doing this year to help the helpful critters.

1. Let the leafy-green vegetables flower

With a garden going almost year round, we like our pollinators—the bees (all kinds) are our favorites. When the temperatures get too warm for the winter veggies, I let the broccoli, radishes, and others bolt and flower. The bees love those flowers.

2. Plant more flowers

This year, the girls planted a variety of flower seed mixes that attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. We haven’t see any hummingbirds looking for nectar, but the flowers have been pretty. The only downside to butterflies are the caterpillars on the veggie plants. Sigh.

3. Put up a bat box

On a recent event, the girls were playing in the backyard at dusk. They what sounded like bats to them. Bats are pollinators, too, but they also eat mosquitoes, which don’t pollinate anything. So, I bought a bat box. We just have to find the right place to put it—south-ish facing and 15-feet high. It may take a year or two for bats to decide to roost, but it’ll be fun thinking about it.

How will you celebrate the pollinators?