Archive for ‘Organic Gardening’

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May 11, 2011

Grab your gloves. It’s (nearly) time to plant!

Wait for it, wait for it…  Go!

The “Average Last Frost Date” for the Twin Cities, Minnesota is May 15th.  Exactly what does that mean to gardeners?  It means planting time…. sort of.

Average last frost date means just that.  It’s an average.  Some years our last frost is earlier, some years later.  (I think last year it was in January.) Granted yesterday was more like a hot summer day in August with temps reaching 90+ degrees and thunder storms and tornadoes last night, but it is Minnesota.  (Remember last week?  We had snow.)  The weather the rest of this week and moving into this weekend is forecasted to be more like a “normal” upper mid-western spring.  Since I left my crystal ball at the bowling alley the last time I was there and meteorologists don’t forecast out that far, we’re not sure what next couple of weeks will look like weather-wise, so go ahead and plant, with caution.

If you’re putting in veggies or annuals, keep in mind that you need to be watching the night-time lows.  If it looks like temps are going to drop down into the mid- to low-30s be prepared to cover your plants and if temps get really low, possibly lose a couple.  The other thing to keep in mind is that warm season crops, such as tomatoes, will not benefit from being planted early and actually will just “sit there” until the soil is warm and the weather is right. Perennials on the other hand, can be planted without much concern.  The worst thing that can happen to most of them is a really, really cold snap can damage their buds and cause them to drop some of their flowers.

So, if you have the hankering like I do.  Go ahead and plant, but have some old bed sheets handy, “just in case”.

Now, get out there and get dirty!

Kate

Posted in Flower Gardening, Organic Gardening, Perennials, Veggie Garden | Leave a Comment »

May 6, 2011

Plant sales and Living Green!

Can you feel it?  It’s like a buzzing, fluttering, whooshing sort of feeling.  It’s everywhere!  Spring is FINALLY here in Minnesota and the energy is amazing.  The sun is shining and we’re supposed to have a near 70 degree day.  This week I got 3 new issues of gardening magazines, 3 plants and seeds for my Children’s Garden arrived and plant sales are everywhere!  I love it, I love it, I love it!

Much as I’d like to keep it a secret, I have to put a shout out to the HTC Plant Sale located at the Hennepin Technical College Brooklyn Park Campus. Although there are many plant sales out there, this one is close to my heart. Not only because I went to school there, but also because the plants being sold are grown and cared for by the Landscape and Horticulture students.  Deb Kvamme, one of the instructors, is one of the most passionate plant people I’ve ever met, so she makes the sale very fun.  They always have the standard bedding plants, veggies and herbs, but if you get there early enough, you’re guaranteed to find something unique as well.  There are 3 greenhouses bursting with plants and the sale is run like a well oiled machine.  It’s worth the drive.  The sale runs May 5th, 6th and 7th from 9am – 7pm.  Go!  You won’t be disappointed!

Another plant sale “must do” this weekend is the Friends School Plant Sale held at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds Grandstand.  If you’ve never been there, it’s GI-NOR-MOUS.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  They even produce their own catalog with plants that are available at the sale.  View it online, it’s an impressive list to say the least!  The Friends School sale runs Friday, May 7, from 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., Saturday, May 8, from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 9, from 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm. Sunday is discount day.

While you’re at the fair grounds visit the Living Green Expo.  There you can learn about how to live a more mindful, sustainable life.  There are seminars and vendors with everything from gardening and composting, to cooking, to solar, wind and water, to energy savings, to rain gardens and permaculture and even organic lawn care just to name a few.  The Living Green Expo runs Saturday, May 7th from 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., Sunday May 8th from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Do you have a favorite sale I didn’t list?  Let everyone know!

Not in the Twin Cities?  Check your local paper or garden club for sales, grab a friend and go!

Enjoy all things green this weekend!

Kate

Posted in Cooking, Environment, Healthy Eating, Landscaping, Mindful Living, Organic Gardening | Leave a Comment »

May 5, 2011

Community Garden and such

I know, I’m sure after my last post you thought that I had a terrible run-in with the raccoons and that was the end of Walnuts and Pears.  You can relax, the raccoons have not gotten the best of me, yet.

A while back a friend and neighbor asked me to help her get a Community Garden started at her church and pre-school.  How could I refuse?!?!  So I took a little hiatus from blogging (perhaps you noticed) and dedicated my energy to drawing up a plan.  The plan actually consists of more than the veggie beds for the Community Garden.  Since this is for a church and pre-school, there are elements for the children and the young at heart.  The church was built in the 1950s and an addition was added years later.  Since then, there really hasn’t been much in the way of landscaping on the site and what once was there, is now gone.  So, other than the new fence and some existing retaining walls it was pretty much a blank slate.  There were also requests for flowers, minimizing maintenance around the fence and even addressing some water issues.  The goal is to make a hands-on learning space that is both bountiful and beautiful. The plan includes 4 raised planting beds, including one seating-height bed, a number of pots and planters and tee-pees for the children to grow gourds and ornamental vines on as well as play in.  There will also be a butterfly garden and edible landscaping incorporated throughout the rest of the site.

Even though our growing season in Minnesota is off to a bit of a slow start, they have a pretty aggressive schedule.  The goal was to have everything installed by April 30th so cool crops could get planted.  Unfortunately the weather didn’t exactly cooperate so the digging didn’t start until May 1st, but things are progressing nicely now.  They should be able to start planting by the end of the week and since the weather is still pretty cool, the crops should do just fine.  Check out the Bethany Gardens blog to see their progress and keep tabs on the gardens throughout the season: http://bethanygardens.wordpress.com/.

In the mean time, I’ve yet to get my cool crops in yet either, so hopefully this weekend I’ll be digging in too.

As a side note, the metal containers from my front steps have given themselves back to Mother Earth (rusted out) so I’m looking to buy or make some new planters/pots for my front steps.  If anyone has suggestions, please let me know!

Kate

Posted in Children's Garden, Edible Landscaping, Flower Gardening, Landscaping, Mindful Living, Organic Gardening, Veggie Garden | Leave a Comment »

April 26, 2011

Window peepers

As I sit working on a plan, my poor dog is stressing.  She keeps trying to go up and lay on my bed to sleep but every few minutes she hears something outside and comes back down to check it out.  She heads straight for the side window, paces around the table, looks out back, paces again, whines just slightly, then sighs.  After a few minutes of looking into the darkness with her head cocked, she gives up and heads back upstairs.  Minutes later the whole thing starts over.

A few days ago this went on for a couple of hours in the middle of the night/early morning.  It’s hard to get much rest with all of this going on.  Not to mention I get tired too!

My house is made of natural stone, not smooth river stones, but kasota and limestone.  The side of the house isn’t smooth.  Each stone steps in or out just enough to create a great climbing wall for raccoons.

Lately the raccoons have been spending a little too much time hanging out again, so I’m trying to figure out a deterrent for them.

Garden stuff I can handle, even when they climbed the Shepard’s hook that holds the bird feeders and bent it like it were a piece of wire I can handle it.  It’s when they’re peeping in my bedroom window that I get a little freaked out.

The problem is that they’re bold.  They’re afraid of nothing.  They’re not afraid of my dog or I’d let her out to chase them away.  Plus they’re almost as large as her, so I’m afraid they’d just hurt her. (Unfortunately I’ve seen what raccoons can do to pets.)  They’re also definitely not afraid of humans. I’ve been nose-to-nose with them on more than one occasion only separated by a pane of glass.

Having them transplanted would be pointless.  I live behind a nature center, so where there’s one, there are definitely more.  And as I’ve mentioned before, I typically don’t mess with the critters, and I don’t really want to mess these either.  I would just rather they reside in another portion of my yard.  Perhaps under the shed with the 60 lb. woodchuck.

So, I’m off to find some deterrent to sprinkle or spray to the perimeter of my house and roof.

I’ll keep you posted.

Kate

Posted in Critter Problems, Mindful Living | 1 Comment »

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