With that beautiful stretch of eighty-degree weather we had last week the ground is erupting with flowers, not to mention all the trees that are blooming right now. Forsythia is in full bloom and quince are starting to open. But that cold night we had on Monday lets us know that it is still only April, and you need to be careful what you plant. 

With those eighty-degree temperatures, my lawn has started to skyrocket, and I have a new lawn mower just itching for some action, but for a few years now I have been practicing "No Mow May". I have written about this every spring for the last few years since discovering the practice and the benefits to our pollinators. By letting the lawn grow taller in the spring, it allows the flowers (what we call weeds) to bloom and provide an early source of nectar and pollen to bees and other insects just waking up for the season. This early food source is beneficial because we don't have our flowerbeds filled or hanging baskets around the porch yet. 

Right now, my lawn is home to the white flowers of bittercrest, blue violets and, of course, those lovely yellow dandelions. These are the only offerings I have at the current time for the bees, so I won't mow until I have suitable replacements for them. I'll be getting some bees from upstate New York in the next two weeks, so I want to make sure there are flowers around to feed them. Some neighbors have forsythia, and my pear tree is coming into bloom, but the amount of flowers on the ground greatly outnumber any flowering trees or shrubs this time of year. When I get my bees, I want to make sure they have what they need to thrive. 

I've been using more honey now than any other time in my life. I have been replacing sugar any chance I get with honey to help control my blood sugar levels. Honey has a lower glycemic index than sugar and is processed slower by the liver so that you don't get sugar spikes in the blood. Honey is also sweeter than sugar, so you use less to achieve the same sweetness. 

I mentioned last week about being in Amsterdam for the tulip festival, while there I did some food research as well. Foods in Europe do not have the added sugars that we have here. Making a sandwich this week I noticed sugar added to Hellmann's mayonnaise, why, there was no sugar in European mayonnaise. If you can find Duke's mayonnaise, it doesn't contain added sugar. My bread too contained added sugar. Now before all you bakers out there get on my case, I know sugar is typically used in many bread recipes, but not every bread needs sugar. I had some canned peas last week that sent my blood sugar through the roof and when I checked the label, sure enough they were canned with added sugar. My grandmother never used sugar when she canned vegetables, it was just vegetables, water and heat. Looks like it is frozen peas from now on for me until my garden is ready. It seems sugar has been added to almost everything and it is hard to stay away from it. 

Alternative sweeteners have been gaining popularity of late, like stevia and monk fruit. Stevia has a glycemic index of zero and is typically two hundred times sweeter than sugar, so a little goes a long way. We usually have stevia in our herb selection in the garden center, and you can pinch a small leaf and grind it between your teeth and taste the sweetness. Stevia isn't for everyone though, my wife is not a fan, she says she can taste the difference in anything made with stevia. I can taste a difference as well, but the difference doesn't bother me. I've been drinking Poppi soda on occasion which is sweetened by stevia and agave. 

Watching out for added sugar has become an infatuation of mine lately as I am trying to get my blood sugar levels low enough to get off all the big pharma medications that I am currently using, and I seem to be on the right track.