Episode 80: Sara Wittenberg

Episode 80: Sara Wittenberg

Author: Hobby Farms June 19, 2024 Duration: 32:51

Sara Wittenberg on Pollinators and How to Build a Pollinator Garden

Pollinator Week is June 17-23, 2024. Without pollinators, we wouldn't have food, making pollinators an essential link in the food system. You, as a gardener or farmer, have a role to play here. Gardener and biologist Sara Wittenberg talks with podcast host Lisa Munniksma about how and why we should be caring for our pollinators, including how to build a pollinator garden.

Learn about the Pollinator Partnership nonprofit and the work they're doing to protect pollinators and prevent habitat loss, from educating gardeners and farmers to working on policies and supplying research grants. Sara may surprise you as she reveals who all of our pollinators are—not only honey bees, for sure! 

More than 85% of U.S. households have outdoor living space, and Sara points out that even container gardens planted with pollinator habitat can make a difference! Hear about various pollinator initiatives happening in Arkansas and beyond that you can become involved in: the Project Wingspan effort to make native ecotype seeds more available to land stewards, NRCS programs to connect biologists with landowners for free advice and potential funding assistance, and all that the Pollinator Partnership offers. Sara explains the Bee Friendly Gardening program that she manages, which includes helping people learn how to build a pollinator garden. You can join the program to help them reach their goal of 1,000 Bee Friendly Gardeners by the end of 2024!

Sara lets us in on a new program—the first time she's mentioned it to the public—the Bee Friendly Gardening badge system. Harkening back to your scout days, you can earn up to six badges to show your pollinator prowess.

For listeners growing on a commercial level, Bee Friendly Farming is an actual certification program that allows Bee Friendly Farmers to use the logo on their packaging.

Keep listening to learn about Sara's own native-plant garden in her suburban Arkansas backyard. Milkweed, asters, black-eyed Susans, phlox and more turn her small outdoor space into a palette of colors throughout the seasons.

Keep listening for Sara's best advice for how to build a pollinator garden on your own land, backyard or balcony. (Hint: The Pollinator Partnership's garden recipe cards can help get you started.)

 

Links from this episode:

Bee Friendly Gardening website

Pollinator Partnership website

Native plants in your region

 


At the heart of Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good are the conversations that happen over a fence line or at a farmers market, translated into audio. This podcast lives in the space where a personal passion meets practical purpose, featuring the voices of those who cultivate small plots, raise a few animals, or run a sustainable micro-farm. Host Lisa Munniksma doesn’t just interview her guests; she gets into the dirt with them, uncovering the personal journeys that led to a life rooted in the land. You’ll hear how a simple hobby evolved into a thriving side business, how families connect through daily chores, and how these growers are building resilience within their local communities far beyond the harvest. The discussions are grounded in real experience, tackling the challenges of soil health, animal husbandry, and market creativity alongside the profound satisfactions of self-reliance and stewardship. It’s a series for anyone who has ever felt the pull to grow something, whether that’s a backyard tomato plant or a fledgling farmstead business, offering relatable stories and tangible insights from people who are actually doing the work. Tune in for honest talk about the failures, the triumphs, and the quiet motivations that keep this community planting seeds season after season.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 88

Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good
Podcast Episodes
Episode 88: Mike Ghia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:03
Learn about Mike's family's farming heritage, which came to the US from Italy with his great-grandfather and how Mike grew up with a more diverse farm experience than most of us. Mike's early start in farming served him…
Episode 87: Ron Bittner [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:18
Entomologist and farmer Ron Bittner talks pollinators and soil health This conversation with Ron Bittner will help you make the connection between crop pollination, water conservation and soil health in a way you probabl…
Episode 86: Panha Suon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:41
Cambodian agroecology educator Panha Suon talks with Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good podcast host Lisa Munniksma about farming in Cambodia, from climate to crops and the challenges that farmers are facing there. Liste…
Episode 85: Lewis Hughes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:17
Lewis Hughes, land steward and local-food distribution pro Hear about Lewis Hughes's journey into farming, from conventional pig and corn farms to international agricultural research to organic farming and cooperative fa…
Episode 84: Nasuha Lenuh [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:24
Small-scale farmer and entrepreneur Nasuha Lenuh — nicknamed R — talks about the tree crops grown in her region, the southern part of Thailand. Hear about her family's tree crops, from rubber to durian fruit, and how R h…
Episode 83: Melissa Stewart [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:02
Military service members and veterans farming program and aeroponic gardening with Melissa Stewart Listen to Melissa Stewart's story about the West Virginia National Guard's Patriot Guardens program — the only agricultur…
Episode 82: Jenny Howard Owen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:12
Flexibility in farming, connecting with the natural world, and the Organic Association of Kentucky with Jenny Howard Owen In this episode of Hobby Farms Presents: Growing Good, listen to Jenny's story of her love of farm…
Episode 81: Robert Frew & Juan Carlos Arango [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:40
The hazards of grants, letting vegetable plants go to seed and lessons in water rights with Robert Frew and Juan Carlos Arango Robert and Juan Carlos practice permaculture and a culture of sharing at Sobremesa Farm, just…
Episode 79: Pattie Baker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:29
Pattie Baker talks about WWOOFing — traveling to work on farms — gardening and finding hope. Hear about how 9/11 spurred Pattie on to start gardening, from zero interest to a need to plant a seed in the name of hope. She…
Episode 78: Bonnie Warndahl [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:19
How to find your dream farm, with Bonnie Warndahl! If you are searching for your dream farm, this podcast episode with Bonnie Warndahl has you covered. Bonnie searched for years to find the property that is now her Winno…