Hello
Gardeners,
Thank
you to all the volunteers who helped packaged seeds on Monday. We added over
350 packages to the seed library. I added more beans, peas, lettuce, sweet and
hot peppers, and lots of annuals and native plants including seeds that can be
directly sowed with no stratification. Come check it out!
Tuesday
night we had a great bunch of people together to talk about foodscaping or
edible landscaping. I suggested
gardeners may want to rethink their front yards as a possible location for more
food plants. Generally, people seldom use their front yards for activities and
so it sits very lonely in the landscape besides when we have to mow the lawn or
rake the leaves. But front yards are frequently very sunny places and a great
place to grow fruits and vegetables. While the snow and ice are falling these
next couple days, ponder this possibility. It’s only due to an outdated
tradition that we seldom use our front yards for more than just show.
Two
great pioneers of edible landscaping were also topics: Ruth Stout and Rosalind Creasy.
Both have written several books available on Amazon.
I
also recommend a great permaculture book: The Vegetable Gardener's Guide to
Permaculture: Creating an Edible Ecosystem by Christopher Shein.
Even if you don’t embrace all of the permaculture
practices, you will find many nuggets of useful tips to use in your gardening. veggie-permaculture
One obstacle to growing plants in any location is lack of sunlight.
There is a General Rule that states:
If we eat the fruit it needs 8+ hours of sunlight
If we eat the roots it needs 5-6 hours of sunlight
If we eat the leaves or stem it needs 4 hours of sunlight
BUT it really should be called a 'General Guideline'. I think many people are put off by these statements and don't even attempt to grow vegetables because they think they don't have enough sunlight. My yard is part-shade and I grow tomatoes, parsnips, and many other vegetables. I do choose the sunniest locations and my yields are certainly much smaller than gardeners who have full sunlight, but I still get produce.
Try growing lettuce, chard, kale, chives, cilantro, spinach and other leafy vegetables in your partial shady areas. You might be surprised.
Another obstacle is those 4 legged furry creature, aka rabbits and deer. Besides a fence, it seems nothing is fool-proof, but here is one suggestion that works for one of our gardeners.
Last
night a gardener shared a unique way to foil the deer that raid her gardens. It’s
a Nite Guard Solar-Powered Night Animal
Predator Light, Model NG-001. It’s a flashing red LED light that repels deer as
they think the light to be the eye of a predator. It is solar powered.
See:
nite-light
Looking
forward to Spring!
Pam
Upcoming Events:
April 25 – 6:45 -8:30 pm, Big
River Big Woods Wild Ones Meeting,
The
Universe Beneath Our Feet: Restoring Soil Ecosystems - Kassie Brown
Soil
is one of the last truly uncharted territories. It is also the key to
solving most of the problems we face today. Healthy soils clean and hold water,
re-mediate pollution, sequester carbon, and grow resilient plants. Healthy soil
is built by countless microbes working 24/7 – and they need our help! This talk
is for anyone interested in learning more about the vast and complex ecosystem
beneath our feet. It will be led by Kassie Brown of Renaissance Soil, a St.
Paul based non-profit dedicated to regenerating soil through education,
outreach, and action opportunities.
Place: Autumn
Grove Park, 1365 Lydia Avenue West, Roseville, MN Map
More
info: https://bigriverbigwoods.wildones.org/
Big
River Big Woods Wild Ones chapter is also doing a plant sale. You can order
plants now. See their website above.
April
16 – 7 -8:45 pm, FamilyMeans building, 1875
Northwestern Ave, Stillwater,
Monitoring
Rare Plants in Minnesota’s Prairies, plus a Discussion of Rare Plants Found in
the St Croix Valley — Derek Anderson, Minnesota Biological
Survey, DNR
An
important part of conserving rare species is tracking them over time through
repeated monitoring. Monitoring allows for a better understanding of life
history, trends in population numbers, and responses to management
activities. In Minnesota, we monitor several state and federally listed
plant species. This includes the federally endangered Minnesota dwarf
trout lily (Erythronium propullans), the federally threatened western
prairie fringed orchid Platanthera praeclara) [pictured
right], the federally threatened prairie
bush clover (Lespedeza leptostachya), and the state species of
special concern, small
white lady’s slipper (Cypripedium candidum).
We
will look at some of the things learned over the course of monitoring these
species (some of which have been monitored for over 30 years). This work
has largely been accomplished through the help of citizen scientist
volunteers. We will end the program by looking at some of the rare plant
species found in the St. Croix River watershed.
More
info: http://stcroixoaksavanna.wildones.org/
May 10-12 Friends School Plant
sale. All neonic free vegetable, annual, perennial, native, tree, shrub, bulbs,
seeds and indoor plant sale at the State fairgrounds. See http://www.friendsschoolplantsale.com/ for more details.
May 18 – Ramsey County Master
Gardeners Plant Sale, 8 am-2pm, “The Barn”, 2020 White Bear Ave, Maplewood, MN
Sale
of plants not treated with neonics. Proceeds benefit the Master Gardener
program.
Jun 1 – Landscape Revival
Plant sale, 9:00 am -
1:00 pm, Shepherd
of the Hills Church,
3920 Victoria St N, Shoreview, Minnesota (MN) 55126
3920 Victoria St N, Shoreview, Minnesota (MN) 55126
The
Shoreview Native Plant Expo and Market offers gardeners one convenient location to
shop for Minnesota native plants from 6 local native growers and learn how to
use the plants from conservation organizations. The goal of Landscape Revival
is to promote the use of native plants by educating about their benefits for
wildlife habitat, pollinators, water quality and landscape diversity. Plants
sold at the sale are neonic free.
Jun 9 – Landscape Revival
Plant Sale, 9:00 am -
1:00 pm, Oakdale
City Hall, 1584 Hadley Ave N, Oakdale, MN 55128
The
Oakdale Native Plant Expo and Market offers gardeners one convenient location to
shop for Minnesota native plants from 6 local native growers and learn how to
use the plants from conservation organizations. The goal of Landscape Revival
is to promote the use of native plants by educating about their benefits for
wildlife habitat, pollinators, water quality and landscape diversity. Plants
sold at the sale are neonic free.
*Why is neonic free a
good thing?
Neonicotinoids
are a widely used family of insecticides which adversely impact pollinators as
well a song birds and aquatic invertebrates. One problem with neonics is that
they persist in the plant and the soil for many years. The Friends School Plant
sale has an excellent webpage on this topic here: http://www.friendsschoolplantsale.com/blog/post/neonics
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