Adding Pollinators to Our Gardens with Kind Bee Farms

Since we moved into our home several years ago we’ve been trying to establish more pollinator-friendly areas in our yard. We planted perennial flower beds wrapping around our house which are now well established, and we also have a veggie garden we plant every summer. One item that we’ve been wanting to add has been a solitary bee house to help make our space even more bee-friendly. Thankfully Kind Bee Farms was kind enough to send me one of their all-inclusive bee kits to try! | This post contains an honest review of product provided by Kind Bee Farms |

Kind Bee Farms is unique in that it's an all-inclusive bee experience - you don't just get the solitary bee house, but you get baby leafcutter bee cocoons to hatch too!

The whole kit is well packaged and thought out and comes with everything you need to get started. Since our kids will be home this year remote learning/homeschooling, we thought this would be a great project for science enrichment too.

Once you open your kit, you have the choice whether to let your cocoons start the hatching process inside or outside. We opted for inside so our kids could get to see them come out their cocoons - and don’t worry, letting these bees hatch inside your house isn’t as scary as it sounds! The cocoon box comes with a breathable window so you can see the process and keep them contained. Once 1-5 bees have hatched it’s time to bring the box outside, take the lid off, and put it in the loft of your bee house.

Once our bees started to hatch, we moved the cocoon box out to the bee house. We loved how the bee house looked on our potting bench but realized the afternoon sun was too intense here so we ultimately decided to hang it on our garden fence. This worked out well so our kids could keep a good eye on the bees too. These bees are non-aggressive so I’m personally not worried about our kids watching them up close.

Hello little bee friend!

We’ve had a few bees hatch over the last few days and I’m excited to see the rest of them hatch, move in, and pollinate our fall flowers and veggie garden!

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End of Season Update: Ultimately we only had a few bees hatch and then they stopped… I was worried maybe a brief cool spell we experienced had done them in but after hearing back from Kind Bee Farms I found out that they unfortunately had some warehouse and processing delays due to COVID restrictions which affected their cocoon timing. They were kind enough to offer those who didn’t have a great hatching experience free cocoons next year which I thought was great customer service. I’m really looking forward to trying again next year and am sure we will have great results next time!

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- I received this item for review from Kind Bee Farms but all opinions expressed are my own.  Please see our full Disclosure Policy for more information -   

DIY Potting Bench - Based on Plans by Ana White

I’ve been wanting a potting bench for a while now - something by the back door to display some decor, use as an outdoor work station, and double as a place for UPS to leave packages. After looking around online and at local stores, I couldn’t find anything that I liked that fit the narrow space - so I did what any #woodworkingmom would do, I decided to build it myself. | This post is not sponsored but does contain affiliate links |

{ Note: The plans I worked from were from Ana White and can be found HERE }

I came across these Ana White plans for a Simple Potting Bench on Pinterest and thought it was perfect! It was exactly the simple, rugged style I was looking for and easy to tailor to our space too. Most of the wood needed were 2x4’s, which are sturdy and cheap - and thankfully between our garage and my father-in-law’s garage we had all the wood scraps I needed to piece together this project. Since I used leftover wood we already had, this project cost me nothing which was pretty amazing!

Since I only used what wood we had on hand, I had to make do - some of the wood was pressure-treated, some was not, some had knot holes or gashes, and not all of it was “true” (straight). But that was fine by me as this was to be a rustic piece for outside.

Before I started building, I followed Ana White’s “cut list,” cutting and making piles of all the wood in the dimensions I would need to build the project. I carefully chose the lumber for each section to minimize how the knot holes, gashes, or crooked pieces would be seen in the final piece. For our potting bench I made it 4 inches narrower so it would fit against the small wall next to our back door and because of this I had to adjust my cut list and refigure some of the overall dimensions.

The next step was constructing the shelves individually - attaching the outer planks first, checking for square, then spacing out the middle planks and attaching them. To build this whole project I used an Impact Driver, which made the entire project go much quicker and easier.

To attach the legs, I laid the project on it’s side and carefully measured the distances between the legs as well as up the legs before attaching the shelves to makes sure everything would be as level and as square as possible.

Finally to make the project look more “finished” I added some wood scraps to the sides of the project to conceal the butt ends of the shelves and make it look a little more polished.

I also decided to add some 1x3”s to the front of the shelves to make it look a little more polished from the front as well. (I did not counter-sink these screws, but I should have as they were more noticeable than I was expecting in the finished piece.)

Then came time for painting - I chose to paint the whole potting bench in several coats of my favorite Valspar Stainblocking Bonding Primer/Sealer. This stuff has great coverage and really covers and seals well. My one regret was not giving all the wood pieces a single coat of paint before assembling - as once everything was assembled it was a huge pain to get in all the nooks and crannies.

Finally I finished the project by adding a few little hooks underneath the shelf (very similar hooks linked here), from which I can hang tools or decor. I’m really happy with how this came out and how quickly it came together. I can’t wait to decorate it with some plants come next spring!

PS - I’m thinking this potting bench would also be great for parties and BBQ’s! It would be perfect on a patio or deck as a makeshift buffet table.

UPDATE: Spring, 2020

Just wanted to give a quick update after I made the potting bench last Fall: Over winter we decided to store it in our shed, just so we wouldn’t have to snow blow and shovel around it all winter, but as soon as the threat of snow passed in early Spring we brought it right back out. It’s been wonderful to have for planting and working on outside this spring, and due to the current Pandemic situation we’re getting more packages than ever so it’s great to have a designated spot for deliveries (and right in view of our security camera too).

For decor right now I'm keeping it very simple, especially since the potting bench is utilized daily for mail - there's just a garden rock, a metal barn star (hung from a special hook that doesn't damage vinyl siding), and a small potted lavender plant with an American flag - all items we already had around our house.

Summer, 2020 - sharing another little decor update for the potting bench:

I found this weathered piece of wood in our scrap bin and thought it would make a cute sign for the potting bench. I used my Cricut Machine to design and cut a stencil that said "Fresh Cut Flowers 5¢" and used it to paint the sign. I think it looks cute and it's a great finishing touch!

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