Making a Home for Pollinators on an Urban Flower Farm: How Engelbrecht Farm is Supporting Native Insects and Farm Sustainability

Tricia Engelbrecht is the owner and operator of Engelbrecht Farm, a flower farm in Waverly, Iowa, specializing in seasonal flowers for CSA members, florists, farmers markets, workshops and U-picks on the farm. Though the focus of Engelbrecht Farm is flowers, Tricia also grows vegetables such as beans, tomatoes, potatoes and peppers, sold primarily as CSA or at local farmers markets.

Enrolling in Beneficial Insects Cost-Share Program: Enhancing Farm Health and Native Insect Habitats

During the spring of 2024, Tricia applied for and was accepted into the Practical Farmers of Iowa's beneficial insects cost-share program. Run in partnership with the Xerces Society, this program focuses on planting beneficial insect habitats on urban farms that serve their local communities with fresh foods such as fruits, vegetables, herbs and honey. Tricia first learned of this program at PFI's annual conference in January of 2024. “I learned about the program and then decided to just apply and see. I applied in early summer and the application was painless and was quick to fill in; just a few questions and that was it!” Tricia's motivation for signing up was to further enrich her farm's health and fitness by increasing the food and habitat supply for native beneficial insects in her area. According to the Xerces Society, the number of honeybees across North America has increased to the highest numbers yet, while native bee populations continue to decline. Introducing a single honeybee hive means 15,000 to 50,000 additional mouths to feed in an area that may already lack sufficient flowering resources. This increases competition with native bees and raises the energy costs of foraging, which can be significant. Establishing an area's native trees, shrubs, grasses and forbs encourages the establishment of native insect populations.

“We have two high tunnels, and we try not to spray in there at all, so I use beneficial bugs to mitigate pests," Tricia says. "We have Japanese beetles and aphids, so increasing the number of native insects that can feed on those really helps the flower farm. Plus, there is the beauty of the pollinator strips and knowing we are providing habitat for critical natives.”

The Planting

Grace Yi of Practical Farmers of Iowa, alongside Sarah Nizzi of Xerces Society, conducted a site visit to Engelbrecht Farm to determine the best places for planting pollinator habitat on Tricia's 15,000 square foot urban farm. The main pollinator strip that was planted is a five-foot strip that stretches 100 feet along the edge of the farm. By September, Tricia and her family, along with several volunteers were planting the pollinator strip.

For Engelbrecht Farm, site prep for the planting was minimal and included tilling the chosen area and then letting regrowth occur for two to three weeks before tilling again to ensure all weeds had been eradicated or removed. Tricia's urban farm is on the larger side of such farms, but for those with smaller plots, tilling and site prep is just as important to prepare the site for a successful planting. “All the plugs for the planting came from one supplier. Xerces chose most of the plants, those that would be most beneficial to pollinating insects, but there were a few I requested as well, like butterfly milkweed and prairie clover,” Tricia said. “They also provided a nice mix of grasses in the planting too for insect shelter. We received around 2,000 plugs in total and had them all planted in one day.”

Tricia exclaims that her experience working with Practical Farmers and Xerces Society was positive and easy. After the plugs were delivered, she followed a spacing guide of one foot between plugs and had enough additional plugs to plant a smaller strip on the opposite side of her garden, near her two high tunnels. Unlike larger scale programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, there is no formalized maintenance plan to follow  after the initial planting. While Tricia admits that a follow-up plan would be great for future projects, she likes the simplicity of the beneficial insects cost-share. “There isn't a follow up maintenance plan or any kind of survival monitoring plan in place, but I'm pretty confident that with the number of plugs supplied to us, close to $3,000 worth, that the majority of those should survive,” Tricia says. “For those that don't, depending on how large a gap they leave, I will probably re-seed those areas with grasses or native flowers from local nurseries.” Xerces provides direct technical assistance and written resources on site preparation, seeding, establishment and future management to all farmers participating in the beneficial insects cost-share program. Tailored habitat plans are provided as needed.

What the Future Holds and Advice for Others

While the application, prep and planting process were straightforward for Engelbrecht Farm, Tricia does have some advice for those wanting to do something similar on their own urban farms, the first being to make sure your intended pollinator plot is ready for planting. Weed removal is critical, as is continually weeding as the native pollinator plants are establishing themselves. “It can take several attempts over a series of weeks to really remove all the weeds because they grow back just when you thought you got them all,” Tricia says. “In the end, my best piece of advice is to find a program like this one that can help you get those beneficial plants and insects onto your farm. Providing habitat is essential to healthy farms.”

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Funding for this project is made possible by USDA NRCS Iowa, Ceres Trust, Practical Farmers of Iowa and Xerces Society.