Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Edible Landscaping and Upcoming Events


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 It’s only due to an outdated tradition that we seldom use our front yards for more than just show.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.

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
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.

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
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

No comments:

Post a Comment