The Seed

Compost Is Heating Up!

2012-01-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

Organic gardening and farming are based on the notion that when we build our soil’s natural fertility through composting we strengthen our environment and grow the land’s capacity to provide us with health.

It’s a pretty good system when you think of it. We throw out scraps, and the scraps become our food. So simple, so elegant, so effective.

At Giving Tree Gardens, we’re such big fans of compost because we’ve seen it’s powerful results. Our gardens and lawns have all quickly filled in and grown with health and beauty using nothing but good healthy compost for fertility.

Last spring Giving Tree Gardens began working with farm partners to build Grow! Twin Cities Urban Farm. At this 12 acre city farm growers with various talents ranging from tomato and potato farming to bee keeping and mushrooming have come together to grow food for urban eaters. This farm space has been the perfect place for us to launch our composting operations.

With consultation from local composting experts Peter Kern, owner of Kern Landscape Resources, and Professor Tom Halbach, from the University of Minnesota, we designed an 85 feet long compost pile. Friends of the farm and Giving Tree Gardens employees set to work transforming our greenhouse and hauling in the compost pile’s base layers of wood chips and landscaping waste.

We now bring in 2 tons of Minneapolis’ finest coffee shop, vegetarian eatery, and beer brewery waste per week to compost inside our largest greenhouse. Composting takes place inside the greenhouse for two reasons. First, composting in the greenhouse means that our pile doesn’t stop cooking all year long. Second, and more importantly, the fact that we’re heating our greenhouse without any petroleum products means a huge environmental win for everyone involved.

If you’ve purchased food, beer, or coffee from Peace Coffee, Harriet Brewery, Caffetto Coffee Shop, Tao Foods, or Second Moon Coffee Shop, then you are contributing to healthy soils, and local food production at our Grow! Twin Cities Farm.

If you’d like to support more of our farming and composting efforts, there are great ways to get involved. You can sign up to volunteer, donate to the farm, or sign up to follow our newsletter.

Many thanks to all the hard working compost helpers!

Gardening At School, Growing Healthy Kids

2011-06-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

Whenever a young person learns to garden, the future grows a little more green and healthy.

When and entire school learns to garden together, sustainability sprouts in the imaginations of tomorrows community. This spring, Giving Tree Gardens worked with the Anoka-Hennepin School District to teach some of the basics of Earth- friendly food gardening to students at two schools in the district. We had so much fun working with students and staff that we’ve just got to share the good times with the rest of the world.

Imagine what our communities would look like today, if all of us as kids had the opportunity to learn to grow our own food at school. Instead of learning to grow food, the daily school lunch is the most engaging and oft repeated lesson that our kids get about food. What is that lesson?

It was an honor for us at Giving Tree to be invited to garden with the students at Mississippi Elementary and Northdale Middle School in Coon Rapids. Composting, edible weeds, the importance of avoiding chemicals, soil preparation, seed planting, native plants, habitat creation, and companion planting were the subjects of 3 all day gardening classes. School staff and teachers brought the students out in shifts. Over 400 students were able to get their hands dirty digging in to learn how to grow healthy food and habitat.

Kids naturally know how to bring out the fun in gardening. Between cow poo, worms, and rotting food all in the compost, there was quite a lot to laugh about. The fun didn’t just stop with talk of compostables, we all got to dig in to the gross, delightful compost and learn how to use our garbage to make garden gold!

At Mississippi Elementary we built on a theme that we had started last year when we extended the garden installation within the schools Nature Center to include 6 crescent moon shaped garden beds. Every grade came out to plant, and each got their own garden bed to prepare and plant with different companion planting arrangements. Within each bed we also planted one native butterfly attracting plant so that we made sure to grow habitat for our winged friends along the way.

At Northdale Middle school we worked with 7^th and 8^th grade students in the schools AVID program to plant a highly accessible veggie garden and two fruit trees right out the back door. Plants were all arranged in companionship groupings, and both the apple and pear tree that were planted were given their best friend plants of dill and mint to grow by. Some of the students were very impressive with their strong knowledge about organic vegetable gardening!

Both of these school projects were funded by SHIP grants (State Health Improvement Program) from the State of Minnesota Health Department. These grants are designed to “help Minnesotans live longer, healthier lives.”

Gardening for medicinal and edible plants as well as sustainable habitat development are among the most effective long term strategies we have available for increasing health in our communities.

Imagine how healthy our children would be if all of our schools had organic student led gardens to grow even half of the food the kids eat for lunch. Thanks to the SHIP grants, and the imaginative staff in the Anoka-Hennepin Schools and school district, we have planted the seeds of healthy change in a couple of local schools.

Grow! Twin Cities, New Urban Farm

2011-04-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

Prayers can come true if you live them. A Lakota Sioux elder once told a group of folks I was sitting with that if you want to see your prayers come true you have to live them. What he said struck a chord with me. If I pray for a healthy environment then I need to work for health in the environment. By this way of living I am empowered to work for a miracle. I like that because life on this planet seems like it needs a miracle right now.

From a grower's point of view, we can start living our prayers for healthy food, clean water, and a clean environment when we pick up a shovel and begin digging in to the work of transforming our food system, one steaming scoop of compost at a time. We've got a hard row to hoe in order to see our prayers for health and sustainability come true, but there's no better time to start transforming the way we grow our food than right now, and right now Giving Tree Gardens is digging in. We're proud to announce our collaboration with local food activists and farmers in the creation of Grow! Twin Cities, a model urban farm and multi-cultural growers co-op right on Rice Street.
Plans include growing organic, heirloom vegetable starts in our greenhouses during the spring followed by heirloom peppers, tomatoes and melons during the summer and of course, we’ll be making tons of compost all season long. Several immigrant farmers will use the tillable land to grow for market. Plans may also include a beekeeper and fish farmer and growing other plants including; herbs, natives and plants for permaculture landscapes. Long term plans include replicating similar sites throughout the Twin Cities area.

Grow! Twin Cities will pool the talents and resources of local farmers from a variety of cultures to build this farm and co-op and begin the work of strengthening our local food system and bringing health to Twin Cities tables. There is room to Grow! with us, farmers and market gardeners looking for land and greenhouse space for rent in the Twin Cities should call (612) 492-1435 for more information.

You Can Help!

Grow! Twin Cities is currently holding a fundraiser plant sale. Purchase strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry plants for planting in your own yard and help grow this exciting new urban farm with every purchase! Plant sale order forms and more information are available by calling (612) 492-1435 or
emailing Russ Henry (rhenry@gtgardens.com)....

Watch for a new Grow! T.C. website sometime after spring planting season...

Together with your help we can Grow! Twin Cities!

Food Is The Second Medicine

2011-04-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

The following is an excerpt from an interview that Russ Henry did with Growing Power as a part of Growing Power's series of interviews about race, justice, and the food system.

Food is the second medicine.

My wife Shaunna tells me that water is the first medicine and food is the second. Shaunna is a beautiful Lakota Sioux woman who knows her heritage. Her grandparents taught her that water and food are medicine. What keeps us healthy and helps us most when we are sick are clean water and good food.

We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. When our feelings are hurt or we’re down we might say our spirits are low. When we feel great we say we’re in high spirits. Our feelings are one reflection or dimension of our spirit that our bodies can easily perceive.

Our bodies’ condition can affect our feelings and spirit. Hormones, wounds, illness, health, touch and sensuality, all of these physical realities in our bodies interact with our spirits to help us feel emotions. Water and food provide our bodies with the energy to continue hosting our spirits. It’s common knowledge that our bodies absorb the physical qualities of the food we eat when we digest it and strip it of usable nutrients. What would happen if folks everywhere started to recognize that the spiritual qualities of the food we eat are absorbed and used by our spirits?

Have you ever heard someone say that Love is the most important ingredient in their cooking? More then one professional chef has told me this and though I love to cook, I’m not a chef. By trade I’m a gardener and farmer. In my experience, the same ingredient that good chefs pour into every dish in order to bring flavor to life is also the most important tool we have for growing healthy food. Love guides any holistically healthy growing operation. Love of people, love of Earth, and love of life are a few of the tools that growers can use everyday in their pursuit of health. Of course not all food is cooked with love and not all food is grown with love, sometimes food producers have other guiding principles. What principles helped guide the production of the food that you eat?

Some folks understand the concept of voting with a dollar. The idea is that when we spend money on something we are effectively voting to have more of that thing be produced. By spending our money we are also asking to have more of the spirit or emotional energy that surrounds the production of the items we purchase be created in the world. So if we ask the local farmers who refuse pesticides and plant heirloom crops for more of their food then they’ll do their best to grow more and the spirit of harmony and cooperation is fostered in their fields, but when we ask the farmers who spray pesticides and fertilizers and who plant genetically modified organisms for more of their food, they too do their best to grow more and the spirits of destruction and disease are fostered. This all comes home to our personal feelings and spirits when we ask ourselves a couple of sometimes hard to answer questions: Do I know where my food came from? Do I feel good about the place that my food came from? Do I feel like my food is full of healthy living nutrients, or is it possibly tainted with poisonous pesticides? When we look at food from this angle we see that from the moment we purchase food, it begins having an emotional impact on our own spiritual health and the health of the planet, an impact that we are in control of by the power of our choice.

When we honor ourselves we feel better. We honor ourselves when we give ourselves those things that are holistically good for us. We are fully connected in every way to this beautiful planet, the condition of the planet’s living systems guide the condition of humanity. When we honor life on Earth we foster health in our environment, when our environment is healthier so are we and we feel better. To honor our environment is to honor ourselves. Do the choices you make about food honor yourself and the environment?

We are descendants and we are ancestors. Our ancestors made our lives possible and our descendants will only know life if we leave the world in functioning condition for them. I’ve heard it said that we did not inherit this world from our elders, instead we borrowed it from our children. If our ancestors had not honored us we would not have the chance to honor our descendants or have any fun ourselves. Should we leave the world a fun and functioning place for our kids and grandkids to enjoy? Should we choose to promote harmony and health in our lives by eating food that promotes harmony and health through its very production, or does it only matter what food tastes like and how much it costs?

Prayers can come true if you live them. A Lakota elder once told a group of folks I was sitting with that if you want to see your prayers come true you have to live them. What he said struck a chord with me. If I pray for a healthy environment then I need to work for and make choices that promote health in the environment. By this way of living I am empowered to work for a miracle, I like that because life on this planet seems like it needs a miracle right now.

Water is the first medicine and food is the second. What is good for us is also good for our home planet. Clean water and healthy organically grown food have the power to heal our wounded environments, bodies, and spirits.

Growing A Sustainable City

2011-03-31T07:07:00.000-07:00

The city that gardens together grows sustainably together. Gardening is perhaps the greatest tool for building sustainability that we can all share.

Gardens can improve water quality, air quality, access to food, and personal health. Cities that actively nurture the gardening and urban farming efforts of their citizens reap the benefits of healthy communities. The nurturing of sustainable cities starts with the roots of the community. Wherever there is a strong activist gardener population, you will find wonderful green ideas and initiatives sprouting up all over!

Rain gardens capture and filter rainwater run-off, community gardens and urban farms grow healthy food for people, locally grown food requires less trucking which keeps our air cleaner, fruit trees on the boulevard provide habitat for migrating birds and meeting places for neighbors.
A city full of healthy gardens is a sustainable city full of happy people. Each city in Minnesota has it’s own unique approach to sustainability. In this volume of the Seed, we’ll have a look at two cities in the metro area to see some great examples of how local governments work with residents to incorporate all kinds of great gardening into their sustainability plans in order to grow happy, healthy cities.

Minneapolis

Homegrown food, local food, or food security, however you want to look at it, Minneapolitans' taste in food is rapidly evolving.

According to Gayle Prest, the city’s official Sustainability Director, “Gardening is an integral part of the long term sustainability plan for Minneapolis”

With more then 100 community gardens and 33 farmers markets, this city is obviously hungry for healthy change. Leading the charge for this change is an official city organization called Homegrown Minneapolis which is dedicated to nothing less then building a healthy, local food system for all Minneapolis residents.

Homegrown has recently been hard at work on an Urban Agriculture Policy Plan that will guide city land use decisions related to urban food production and distribution. The plan will help identify where and how land should be used to grow and distribute food through community and commercial gardens and urban farms. In short, this new ag-plan will help Minneapolis scale up to the next logical step in urban food production. By defining and allowing for urban farms, and market gardens, and by amending the zoning code to better accommodate urban agriculture this innovative plan will allow Minneapolis residents to have more control over their food choices, and more access to healthy homegrown food.

The time to support the Urban Ag Plan is now, call your city council person today!

-Update: Your Support Helped Get This Passed!-

“The key to all of this is to start with deep rich organic soil made from our own compost”

Gayle reminds me as we talk about the city’s goal for having curbside residential compostable waste pick up by 2014. This point is especially powerful as it shows yet another great way to improve our environment and our gardening habits at the same time. When we compost we reduce the amount of garbage going to burners and landfills and we improve our garden soil, that’s the kind of sustainable solution we can all grow from.

Maplewood

Oakley Biesanz, Naturalist for the City of Maplewood, explained to me some of the gardening strategies that are helping to grow a sustainable future for residents there.

Maplewood is a statewide leader in controlling water quality through rain gardening. With over 620 city installed rain gardens now thriving in residents yards, 60 more growing on city owned land and many more to come Maplewood is proving that rain gardens are an effective and beautiful way to keep waterways clean and healthy. With the city’s support and promotion rain gardening has become the standard for dealing with storm water run-off in Maplewood.

At the Nature Center where Oakley works, the mission is to enhance resident’s awareness and understanding of land, water and wildlife resources; to empower the community to become stewards of the environment. This mission is clearly evident in the Demonstration Gardens, which include rainwater gardens, woodland wildflower and prairie butterfly gardens and a small section of no-mow grass.

For lawn enthusiasts, Maplewood has developed the Mow-Hi Pledge This pledge to cut the grass no shorter then 3 inches and leave all the clippings on the lawn will help residents reduce fertilizer and watering costs and environmental impacts. Of course it doesn’t hurt that there’s a grand prize drawing for folks who are willing to take the pledge.

Community gardens are sprouting up in Maplewood this spring as part of a multi-city effort to improve access to food growing space. Working with the Maplwood-North St. Paul Parks and Rec. department, School District 622 and a local church, the two cities will now be able to offer over 650 community garden plots available to the public this spring.

In the long run, sustainability is just the only common sense approach to life, and gardening is the simplest approach to sustainability that we have available.

Whether you’re filtering rain water run off through rain gardens in order to keep the ground water, rivers, and lakes clean or keeping nutrients in your neighborhood by composting in your back yard, or maybe even growing your own food and medicine at home or with neighbors in a community garden, these are all among the most Earth friendly, community building habits humans can all share.

It takes a village to raise a garden and no one should be left out of the process. From youth to elders, from city council members to dirt gardeners, we all have a stake in helping to grow a sustainable city right where we live and we all need to work hard and connect with our community if we are going to see success.

Gardeners, take the opportunity this spring to think globally, garden locally and start to grow a sustainable city!

Click here to read this article in its original newsletter format!

Photo contest winner!

2011-02-11T08:14:00.000-08:00

This ant visiting a forsythia picture took a second place in the Men's Garden Club of Minneapolis Photo Show!

Magnolia in the Breeze

2011-02-10T12:56:00.000-08:00


Best in Show! This picture I snapped last spring of a magnolia in the breeze was awarded a prize by The Men's Garden Club of Minneapolis.

Gardeners Get Involved

2011-02-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

An optimist looking over their own garden fence might be inclined to say something like “Wow, the vegetable patch is half full.” A pessimist looking at the same plot would say, “shucks, the vegetable patch is half empty.” but when a giving person comes upon that same garden they say “Look at all those vegetables, I’m going to go find some hungry people.”

Gardeners are natural givers, because the garden teaches us the importance of giving. When we give our plants compost, they thrive and produce. When we give our bodies home grown foods, we thrive and are productive. When we share all this productive health by giving the gift of access to gardening to folks who wouldn’t otherwise have it, we share one of the most profoundly transformative gifts imaginable. For many a gardener there’s almost no greater feeling then to share a skill, tool, piece of land, or even just a nice conversation that will help another gardener grow. Minneapolis is a giving and green city. As a gardener and volunteer, there’s never a shortage of great organizations here that I can get involved with in order to share the gifts gardening can give.

Gardening Matters, a Minneapolis based non-profit agency has been busy organizing several social service providers city-wide in order to help them work together in the garden. Many local agencies such as Waite House, Sabathani Community Center, and Youth Farm and Market Project have been working to increase Minneapolis residents’ access to gardening for decades. Gardening Matters plan is to link up all these great organizations along with local gardening volunteers and businesses to create Garden Resource Hubs that residents in need can access for garden classes and information, planting space and gardening resources.

Gardening Matters is working with activists, businesses, and neighbors from across the city in order to have the resource hubs up and running by the spring of 2011. In the meantime, this month’s issue of The Seed will introduce you to a few of the grand gardening groups getting together to give their green gifts through the gardening resource hubs. If you’re a gardener with some time to give, you may consider a donation of your expertise and elbow grease to some of these great organizations. Click here to find out more!

Willie Nelson Peace Institute publishes Russ Henry

2010-10-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

Willie Nelson has been my hero since I was a little cowboy. Now I'm all grown up and I still look up to the red headed stranger. Willie has spent his whole career standing up for family farmers who have become powerless in our country.

Willie knows that medical marijuana and industrial hemp have the growing power to save American family farmers from going belly up, and he's fought to show us all that Marijuana is medicine given from god, not a dangerous drug as owners of the alcohol, paper, and cotton industries in America would like us to believe.
Willie's strength, determination, and grace have inspired me in my own career, and shown me how to be strong enough to stand up for what I believe in.
I believe that medical marijuana's time has come in Minnesota, I believe that we can't afford to let our politicians drag their heels on this one. Willie Nelson apparently agrees and he's published a blog post that I submitted just in time for this election season, demanding an end to the prohibition of this our magic medicine. Click here to read how medical marijuana can strengthen and grow Minnesota's locally grown food movement!
God Bless Willie Nelson, and God Bless Our Family Farmers!

Breaking The Rules

2010-10-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

Most of my heroes are outlaws.

My heroes are folks that are not afraid to stand up and defend what’s right, no matter the cost. My heroes are folks who are brave enough to live a life full of meaning and passion even when the rule-makers of the day demand banality and submission.

Rachel Corrie stood in front of those bulldozers with a force of will no army can stop. John Trudell still works for peace and justice even after his mother in-law, wife, and children were taken in a fire that was set to silence him. And good old Willie Nelson, no matter how many times the authorities bust him down for his choice in medicine, he keeps on touring ‘round the world raising money for struggling family farmers that the government has priced off the land. If they can do that, if they can all be so brave and free, then so can we.

We should be inspired by people... who show that human beings can be kind, brave, generous, beautiful, strong-even in the most difficult circumstances.

~Rachel Corrie

Right now the world could use some garden outlaws. Gardens hold the potential to heal what ails us in so many ways, from reducing global carbon emissions, to providing people with affordable healthy meals, to securing local economies, to growing community health and cultural wealth. With all this potential at our fingertips, we can’t let the rules hold back or working hands any longer. We need to stand in the way of the march of industry, plant our plants, and sing our songs, and cultivate our culture so that we can grow a healthy planet once again. Read below to find out how you can be a garden rebel, and a outlaw hero in your own back yard!

Good Guys Break Bad Rules

They keep makin’ ‘em, and we keep breakin’ ‘em!

When one of us stands up and breaks a bad rule alone, that person becomes an example to us all, a hero.

When all of us stand up and break bad rules together, those bad rules change!

The eagle is a living symbol of freedom.This eagle survives in the same habitat that we all share and live from, the eagle is also a symbol of our own well being. The fight for freedom and health in America is far from over, my friends. Complying with rules and rule makers that persuade us to destroy habitat, sells the foundation of freedom out from under our feet. Without the freedom to live in a healthy environment, we have no freedom at all!

Freedom isn't a gift handed down from the king, freedom is a jewel stolen by the peasants!

Rise up, break the rules and steal back your freedom!

Bad rules hold back our creative spirits, bad rules keep us from our true nature. Bad rules are made to be broken by good people, so let’s all prove our honor for this Earth that made us, let all good people band together now and break the rules till the rules are good once again.

We don't run, We don't compromise, We don't quit, We never do. We look for love, We find it in the eyes, The eyes of me, the eyes of you.
~Willie Nelson

These Rotten Rules Have GOT TO GO!

Rotten Rule 1.- No Weeds:

Weeds are free food and medicine. Dandelion, purslane, lamb’s quarters, creeping charlie, nettle, and plantain are just a few examples of the weeds that the rule makers tell us are bad plants while in reality these plants provide us with the most nutritious and abundant source of locally produced food. This is a simple matter of access to health. Why pay doctors and food companies, if we have free healthy food and medicine at home? When I look at the shelves of any big box grocery store, I can tell that the rule-makers of today don’t care for our health as much as they care for their profit.

We can’t eat the grass they tell us to grow in our yards, but we can eat the weeds they tell us to kill. Now does that make sense to you?

“Let them eat grass” ring a bell for anyone?

Rotten Rule 2.

Yards Should Be Tidy:

Ever been to the jungle? How ‘bout the woods, prairie, or meadow? You really don’t see row plantings in nature. Rows are for folks who don’t believe in abundance. The natural world preaches abundance at every turn. Mother Nature eschews boring old rows in favor of filling every square inch of land with an ever-shifting variety of plants uniquely suited for their home environs. To plant the exact same corn or tomato in the exact same spot year after year is one practice nature never intended, it’s just too draining on the soils. We need to let our gardens grow us as much as we grow them, and have a long loving look at what the environment is trying to grow in our yards before we go tearing out everything that didn’t come with a price tag.

Rotten Rule 3.

Gardens Cost Money:

Really this rule is much more sinister then first glance would reveal. Gardening is a human tool by which we gain access to food, health, and beauty. Gardening also connects us with our earthen nature. If we go around telling ourselves that this amazing, connective, life supporting activity is only for the wealthy, we might as well go ahead and sign away our entire life’s labors in the pursuit of someone else’s happiness. As long as we’re working for the man, we’re not working for ourselves.

Join a garden club, connect with Comgar, talk with neighbors, friends, or family who garden, there’s no shortage of ways to connect yourself to a garden. Find some place that you can start getting your hands dirty in the pursuit of health.

One of the easiest ways to break this rule is to start composting! Compost is wealth pulled from waste, and you’ll never find a bigger return on investment in health then your time spent composting!

Gardens don't need to cost the farm! Let your friends help, collect seeds, grow your compost pile from garbage, and throw a garden party to share the fun!

Rotten Rule 4.

Illegal Animals:

This rooster's on the lam. While chickens are allowed in the city, Johny Law finds roosters to be a feather too foul.

I live in a city that has a rich heritage of back yard farming. One of the most common man-made objects I come across while excavating city soils are horse shoes. This city used to have cows, pigs, sheep, horses, goats and chickens as common in back yards as lawnmowers are today. We used to gather our own fresh milk and eggs every morning from the barn out back and saddle up the horse to go to work. This city is no different then any other in America in this aspect. Animal husbandry is a rich and important part of the cultural heritage of a majority of the folks now living here. Unfortunately, we are now denied the freedom to practice our heritage by the City of Minneapolis, Animal Control Department.

Lets go down the list, Horses, Cows, Pigs, Sheep, Goats and Roosters…. All Illeagal.

Chickens, Ducks, Turkeys, and Bees…. Legal but unreasonable and cost prohibitive licensing required, less rule breakers face up to $2,000 in fines. Why do they have these bad rules in place? If I had my guess it’s so that wealthier folks in mixed income neighborhoods can spare their eyes and noses from the real life sights and smells of people living as people should.

Why should we pay fees to the city just so we can care for our own basic needs? Seems to me like the sheriff of Nottingham no longer wishes to be paid off in eggs and mead, but would like our silver instead. Avast ye scoundrels! Let the good people be free!!

Until recently beekeeping was illegal in Minneapolis, and even today the tax man wants a cut just for a resident to get a beekeeping permit. Ask old Friar Tuck, no one should come between a man and his mead! Free The Bees!

"I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is an herb and a flower. God put it here. If He put it here and He wants it to grow, what gives the government the right to say that God is wrong?"

~Willie Nelson

Rotten Rule 5. Illegal Plants:

Marijuana is medicine and it’s legal for use in 14 states.

Marijuana is also an easy to grow plant that can be sold for between one and four thousand dollars per pound depending on the variety and quality.

Now if you’re an urban Minneapolis farmer who is really trying to make a go of it selling tomatoes for a dollar and a quarter per pound or potatoes for sixtynine cents per pound while rent is already too expensive and taxes are on the rise, you might just look over the fence at your compatriot urban farming friends in Denver or Detroit and deduce that medicinal Mary Jane is an urban farmers best friend.

Medicinal marijuana in Minnesota is a must if we are to keep urban farmers from going bust. The only reason they keep this weed illegal anywhere is to line the pockets of pharmaceutical companies instead of farmers. That’s the kind of BS that I’d like to see turned into compost!

Imagine a city filled with farms and gardens that provided affordable organic food and medicine for its citizens. Legalizing medicinal marijuana is the only way we are going to make this wonderful pipe dream a green reality.

To all the rulebreakers, to all the rebels, to all tomorrows heros, I tell you, you are not alone.

Dare to dream, dare to live, and inspire those near you to dare to be free!

"No matter what they ever do to us, we must always act for the love of our people and the earth. We must not react out of hatred against those who have no sense."

~ John Trudell

An Introduction To Health, The Seed #42

2010-09-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Did ya ever get catch a cold and think “maybe I should have eaten more then just chips and ice cream for the last few days?” Do you ever pick up something heavy in the morning and think not long afterward how a good stretch would have prevented you from the daylong backache you’re about to endure? Maybe I’m forgetful, or maybe I’m just getting older, but I need a little help from a healing heart every now and then.

After growing up in a family that relied on regular old take-a-pill-if-you’re-sic western medicine, I wasn’t ready till just a few years ago to start seeing healers that practiced anything other than standard U.S. medical school procedures. Sometimes I figure I’m one lucky guy. I think I’d still be going to the take-a-pill doc for my various ailments if it weren’t for the very lucky fact that so many years ago I was blessed to meet Katherine Krumwiede. I knew right away that Katherine would be a lifelong friend, but it wasn’t until after I made the leap of faith and called her for help, that I would come to know her as a trusted healer.

I remember calling her office for the first time a few years ago when I was suffering from a back pain that was keeping me from moving. I had mostly had bad luck with western doctors, spotty luck with non-western doctors and this time I wanted to talk to someone I could trust. While I knew she’d been in practice for a couple of years, I don’t get sick a whole lot and hadn’t yet visited so I still had no idea what was in store for me.

Now at this point I’m used to seeing the doctors who want to have me take a pain pill and go see a specialist, or tell me something less then reassuring like “I’m not sure what it is, but it will probably go away.” Looking back, it’s silly to think that I’d pay to go to a doctor and not expect healing, but that’s the space I was in. So when I visited Katherine and the pain in my body went from stifling to entirely manageable in one treatment, then entirely gone in two treatments without chemical drugs or side effects, I was sold, hooked, and permanently changed. I’d seen the light, and I wasn’t going back.

Since that first magical treatment I’ve gone to Katherine for every ache I can’t shake. Not only is she an ace with the acupuncture, but Katherine’s understanding of the plant world and use of the healing power of plants never ceases to amaze this gardener.

This special edition of The Seed is dedicated to the health of our readers and their loved ones. Click below to hear from the healer herself, Katherine Krumwiede, proprietor of Diamond Stone Oriental Medicine.

Stefan's Fantastic Farm

2010-08-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

Stefan Meyer is one guy we could all learn a lot from. As the driving force behind Minneapolis’ most ingenious new food production business, Growing Lots Urban Farm, Stefan is demonstrating for all of us the potential power held in the ground beneath our vacant urban lots.

For the last few years, the city of Minneapolis has begun to take the importance of locally grown food seriously. Through encouraging the growth of farmers markets, and official initiatives such as Homegrown Minneapolis, the city has sprouted seeds of change that should improve our health, habitat, and happiness as they grow. As politicians congratulate themselves for being so wise and Earth-friendly, green thumbs around town welcome this emerging atmosphere of tolerance toward nature in a city where inspectors routinely cite homeowners for “Overhanging Vegetation”, and until recently bees and chickens were illegal creatures.

Now that the officials have decided we can go ahead and grow, smart folks like Stefan aren’t waiting around for them to change their minds. Late last year Stefan got together with Redesign Inc. a local community development corporation that encourages all kinds of good green growth throughout Minneapolis. With a little help from these folks, and a whole lot of hard work Stefan has pushed the way forward for the development of Minneapolis’ first parking lot-covering urban farm.
Where once was blacktop now tomatoes are growing! This is just the type of change welcome in a city hungry for homegrown health. Click Here to find out more about Stefan’s fantastic farm and the amazing power each of us has to grow our city!

The Seed Volume 40, Butterfly Gardening

2010-08-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

Why do we love butterflies so much?

Is it the beauty and freedom that define their days? Is it the transformative potential of the chrysalis that attracts us? After all, butterflies are just bugs too, right? How is it that we save so much room in our hearts for one bug and have entire industries devoted to the extermination of other bugs?

Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.

~Nathaniel Hawthorne

Whatever butterflies are doing that strikes our imaginations and warms our hearts, they seem to be doing it better then any other insect around. While the dragonfly can impresses us with speed, agility, and grace, the butterflies’ lackadaisical charm flutters ever deeper into our hearts. While the honey bees work day and night to serve our human purposes, so many people react to their little striped suits with sheer panic, but come the lazy butterfly hopping around on the breeze and people everywhere stop to smile. I think if I was an ant or a spider I might be a little jealous of those gaudy butterflies.

Whatever the reason, folks love butterflies, and that’s good enough for me. When we make a home for butterflies, we make a home for all nature. Whatever jealousy the other bugs might feel for butterflies surely would abate if they had any notion that in honor of these little winged wonders, wantonly destructive humans take a momentary pause from laying waste to the land to build butterfly sanctuaries and gardens where all sorts of creepy crawlies can make a cozy home.

As a naturalist, I think it’s high time we humans started devoting more space to the other creatures we share this planet with, and if butterflies can guide the way towards a healthy habitat, so be it!

I’ve heard it said that love is like a butterfly; it goes wherever it pleases and it pleases wherever it goes. I suppose then that just as we need to prepare our hearts if they are to receive love, we need to prepare our yards if they are to receive butterflies. This month’s volume of The Seed is dedicated to preparing the hearts, minds, and yards of Minnesota gardeners to receive the whimsical love that only butterflies can give.

We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.

~Carl Sagan

"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."

~Hans Christian Anderson

The Butterfly Effect

Tiny actions can have huge effects on complex systems. The butterfly effect is a theory used by scientists and storytellers alike to explain the notion that even seemingly insignificant actions can have a huge impact over time. With this in mind I like to ask myself a seemingly tiny question.

What is the effect of my life on the Earth’s living systems? The size of this question however should not be judged by the number of words it takes to ask, but by the millennia it takes to answer.

Our daily decisions have impacts far beyond our capacity to understand.

Monarchs below and Western Tiger Swallowtail above feast on the nectar of summer blooming native perennial plants. Butterfly gardening grows beauty and environmental health. I like to plant a few deeply rooted butterfly attracting native plants in amongst my vegetable gardens. Not only are my vegetable crops helped when the perennial roots draw moisture from deep in the ground durring the heat of the summer, but the butteflies are happy to see the free food I've grown them, and I'm happy to see the butterflies!

I like to think of myself as a snowflake falling on the side of a mountain, helping to build an avalanche. I may be one of countless billions of tiny, seemingly unimportant, unique forms, but without my weight on the mountainside would the avalanche take longer to fall? Does my positioning help other snowflakes land and hold fast?

Now let’s take this frozen metaphor to the next level because it’s time for an avalanche of change when it comes to human behavior within the living planetary system, and I’m one little snowflake who’s ready to throw his weight around.

Whenever I improve local habitat by building butterfly gardens, I feel like a hero of global proportions. I know that my work is creating a vital space not just for lovely little butterflies, but for many nations of creatures who have been run out and threatened by industrial living. I’m not alone, and many people of all walks of life are working with the same goals of growing habitat, improving ecosystem health, and ensuring a safe place for us to live. Someday soon an avalanche of change must descend on our way of life.

Since an avalanche can be a bumpy ride, we’d better go ahead and get those butterfly gardens started so at least we’ll have something pretty to distract us along the way.

Butterfly Gardening 101

Simply put, if you want to see butterflies, plant native flowers. The most inviting homes for butterflies will have different types of native flowers that bloom and provide nectar all through the growing season. To ensure your yard has more butterflies then the Jones’s next door, also plant some caterpillar host plants. One classic example of a caterpillar host plant is common milkweed, which hosts monarch butterflies and seems to grow as freely as the butterfly it hosts. If monarchs are your goal, make sure you also plant meadow blazingstar, no other nectar-bearing bloomer can make the monarchs line up like this form of Liatris. Monarchs are also strongly attracted to other forms of milkweed, black eyed susans, coneflowers, and ironweed.

Why stop at monarchs though when there’s so many wonderful little butterflies out there to see. Variety is the spice of life, and the more types of native plants you have in your yard, the more likely you’ll see rare forms of butterfly. Caterpillar host plants include: Artemisia, which is preferred by Painted Lady caterpillars, Hackberry trees which host many creatures including the American Snout and Tawny Emperor caterpillars while Violets, Purslane, and Sedum which will host the lovely Variegated Fritillary.

Many butterflies will have widely varying food sources. Much more then nectar passes the pointed proboscis of our protagonist. Various butterflies will eat everything from leaves and rotting fruit to dead animals and dung. The greater the variety of native plants you grow including trees, shrubs, blooming perennials and ground covers, the more diverse will be your yards selections of foods, and the more the butterflies will flutter by.

A butterflies' beauty is bold and obvious. While other garden bugs may appear to human sensibilities as creepy or scary, they are no less important then the butterflies.

We like the butterflies, are all connected to, and reliant on a living planetary system stocked full of a huge variety of bugs. In order to protect one type of insect like the butterfly, we must protect all of the other insects, plants, and animals that live in the butterflies ecosystem.

Hints for Butterfly Beginners:

1. Good plants from good sources.

Locally, the best butterfly plant selections are sold at 3 garden stores. Visit all three, they each have different selections and really cool gardeners on staff. Landscape Alternatives, and Outback Nursery are my top stops for butterfly garden plants. Roy at Landscape Alternatives is especially knowledgeable about local butterfly plant selections.

2. Good dirt makes good gardens.

Ignore the silly rumors that native plants like “starved” soil. I don’t have any idea where or how this rumor got started, but it’s a downright lie. The meadow, prairie, and woodland soils from this region, are some of the richest soils I’ve ever encountered and I’ve checked out dirt around the world. If you want success with your new butterfly garden, before you plant, remove any sod, wood mulch, landscaping fabric, or other impediment to growth, and lay down at least 6 inches of fresh compost (not bagged, never trust a dirt bag), after laying down the compost turn it into the soil with a shovel leaving large chunks of the soil undisturbed. After the compost has been incorporated into the soil, simply cover with more compost till the surface of the garden is smooth and then plant away till your garden is full and your heart is content.

3. Cover the ground in green.

I call this notion “living mulch”. Not only will this practice keep more moisture in your soil, but by shading the ground, it will help ensure that you are packing your space with plenty of plant diversity. Lawn grass doesn’t count. Sod grass lawns provide habitat for neither butterfly, nor bird, nor beast. When designing your yard, plan for as little lawn, and as much garden as possible. If you make the flowers happy, you’ll make the butterflies ecstatic!

4. Grow many layers of canopy.

When we build habitat, it’s good to let nature be our guide. Before the Twin Cities existed in this area, there was forest. When we wish to heal the land locally, we need only help recreate the forest. Native trees and shrubs should be included in the plan for any well landscaped twin cities yard. I like to plant meadow plants around and underneath newly establishing trees. Meadows are what the forest uses to recreate itself and fill in the gaps after windfalls and forest fires. Think of our city building and farming practices as being as destructive to the local forests as a fire or tornado, then you can begin to see the amazing amount of repair we need to create in our environment before it will be healthy again.

5. Never EVER use pesticides or chemical fertilizers.

Butterflies are delicate, and we aren’t all that much tougher then them. It doesn’t take much to upset the balance of health in any ecosystem. We’ve already discussed how tiny decisions have big impacts, and this is certainly the case here. Think of butterflies as the canary to your back yard coal mine. If there’s so much poison that delicate butterflies are getting sick, then wake up dummy, so are you. Nature did just fine thank you before we meddling humans came along with our chemical solutions and sprays. The last thing anyone wishing to grow butterflies should want to do is poison their yard with pesticides or chemical fertilizers.

The gentle breeze blown by a butterflies beating wing in your back yard could just be the catalyst for the creation of a current of cultural change in America. Life is funny like that. Little actions in one place can have huge impacts in seemingly unrelated, far away places. A friend of mine once said to me of butterflies “they should be called flutter-byes, that’s what they do”. I couldn’t agree more. Now is the best time to plan a butterfly garden, before the growing season flutters by.

The Seed Volume 39, Eat A Weed

2010-08-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Eeyore said it best,

“A weed is a flower too, once you get to know it.”

I never cease to be amazed at the fear that passes over folk’s faces when I suggest to them that dandelions or creeping charlie are valuable in the landscape.

Maybe it’s because I’m a rebel, or maybe it’s because of my respect for plants, but I’ve always loved weeds, in fact I can safely say weeds are my heroes. Take the dandelion for instance. How many of us are completely unaware of the power of this plant?

Dandelion is only the Diana Prince like moniker through which the super hero also known as Taraxacum hides her secret Wonder Woman identity. Providing free nourishing food, and medicine for the masses, offering soil fertility, and perfect plant companionship for tomatoes and other shallow rooted crops, and all of this in a form that is simple, ruggedly beautiful, and completely unstoppable. Sounds like your average garden super-hero job description to me.

I for one think weeds are terrific. I think it’s silly to be terrified of flowers.

Gardening is a co-creative process, the gardener and the garden both creating away night and day, each with their own ideas and intentions. As a landscape designer I like to remind myself that humans are far from alone in their desire to alter the world around them to better suit their own needs. Every time a bird in the woods eats a seed and poops it out that little bird increases the population of its favorite foods in the forest. This very humbling notion means that all the high-browed landscape design schools, students, and practitioners are essentially performing the same function that a bird performs when it shits. So while we landscape designers have our notions and practices, the birds, animals, plants, soils, and landscapes have their own notions and practices, which brings me back to weeds.

Nature uses weeds to perform functions that are often beyond our capacity to easily grasp or even understand at all. I like to point out to folks that in a lawn made of sod grass for instance, our hero the dandelion will drive roots into the earth allowing minerals and nutrients from deep in the ground to be accessed by the shallow rooted turf grass. The channels made in the ground by dandelions roots also help drive water and air downward increasing the overall capacity for root depth and allowing water to enter the water table instead of rushing off to damage local creeks, rivers, or lakes.

If the garden is like our mother in how it knows us, nurtures us, punishes us when we deserve it, but loves us unconditionally, then the Earth is like our grandmother. The Earth let’s us do what we wish, and she gives us everything we can need or want, but she knows so much more then we can imagine that we are silly to question her ways.

When you go back far enough in time, it’s plain to see that the “gardens” of this Earth created the very bloodlines of those who call themselves “gardeners”. From this humble perspective we can rethink what it means to be a weed, and if indeed it may be that the worst, most pernicious weed seeds sprout in our own imaginations.

Let us yank from the root the damaging notion that some plants are evil. Let us instead see beauty, life, and nourishment wherever we can, and let’s all celebrate the fact that nature cared enough to give us each other and the rest of the creatures on this lonely planet to keep us happy and healthy.

Click Here to learn about some of the terrific edible and medicinal weeds that grace the presence of our Minneapolis yards and gardens.

The Seed Volume 38, Evolutionary Gardening

2010-08-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

Evolutionary Gardening

It has been said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with just one footstep. I suppose that’s true. I also figure that if I’m gonna be traveling a thousand miles, that first footstep should be pretty well aimed. The evolution of both the garden and the gardener represent a journey that takes place not in distance, but in time, and as a garden and landscape educator I understand that I’m responsible for giving out the best information and resources to guide folks along the path toward a healthier environment. So, if I were standing along the trail you travel and you happened to ask me which direction you should aim your energies to find a healthy thriving landscape, I’d gladly point the way. If however you asked me to map the evolution of your garden, my response might be a little more mysterious. The map I’d hand you would have nothing but the following question written on it:

“How do you honor your environment?”

Evolution is the process of adapting to change, and work that honors our environment is the best tool we have to help our planet adapt it in these changing times. Truth be told, I can’t tell you how to honor your environment. I’m happy to show you some of my favorite ways to give admiration for Grandmother Earth, but your answers to this tiny question of global proportion will be both as common as our human experience and as unique as our varied personalities. I have been blessed to visit so many great landscapes and gardens in my time, each a unique reflection of the gardeners who created them and the environments where they are growing. In these gardens I’ve seen hundreds of methods and means of achieving healthy harmony in earthen environments. So, while the bad news is that I have no one right way to show you, the good news is that I have seen many right ways that I can share with you, and I can tell you that allowing yourself to change your garden habits in any way that will create healthy habitat for yourself and the local wildlife is an evolutionary concept worthy of praise.

This months newsletter is dedicated to a very old notion with a fancy new name…

Evolutionary Gardening!

"The poison and pollution in our environment affects how clearly we see things. We need to use our intelligence and organize our consciousness and our perceptions of reality. This is hard work, but it must be done. We are in an evolutionary reality. We are never given something we can't handle. It's about activating the thinking process, about the real value of our ability to think. I say don't believe anything the corporations hand us, whether it is TV, ads or the news as they tell us it is. I am a human, a member of a tribe, not a subject for corporate mining and exploitation. I don't trust their corporate "democracy". We humans must think for ourselves. That's what we need to give to the next generation."
~John Trudell

"We must go beyond the arrogance of human rights. We must go beyond the ignorance of civil rights. We must step into the reality of natural rights because all of the natural world has a right to existence and we are only a small part of it. There can be no trade-off."

~ John Trudell

“It's about our D and A. Descendants and ancestors. We are the descendants and we are the ancestors. D and A, our DNA, our blood, our flesh and our bone, is made up of the metals and the minerals and the liquids of the earth. We are the earth. We truly, literally and figuratively are the earth. Any relationship we will ever have in this world to real power -- the real power, not energy systems and other artificial means of authority -- but any relationship we will ever have to real power is our relationship to the earth.”

~ John Trudell

Evolutionary Landscaping

Charles Darwin tells us that “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”

Well folks, change seems to be knocking at the door to humanity demanding it’s way in. Between changing economies, climate change, and changing social values, our species is facing a paradigm shift so drastic in scope that every living human culture has begun preparing for a different tomorrow.

Maybe you’ll agree that within only a few hundred years of industrialization, we’ve done an incredible amount of devastation to our delicate home. Our warring cultures demands for efficiency has lead to an attempted homogenization of natural human processes throughout the planet. Here in America industry gives us food and water, and industry carries away our waste. Industry helps us birth our babies, raise our children, store our wealth, wed our lovers, occupy our adults, hospice our elders, and burry our dead. All of these interactions have been designed by the industries offering them to take wealth and power away from the folks who purchase their products and services and put that power into the hands of industrial leaders in the form of money and brand devotion. All of these interactions also represent a sort of degeneration instead of the evolution we’re gonna need to undergo to keep our species kickin’ around on this planet we call home.

Now it might strike some readers that here, the owner of a company offering landscaping services is essentially telling folks to stop shopping. I suppose I have a slightly different view of landscaping then most others in the trade. Giving Tree Gardens seeks at all turns to empower community, clients, and anyone that will listen with the knowledge, resources, and methods that will help them engage with and honor their world a little bit more. We offer services to those without the time or ability to do the work themselves, while encouraging a do-it-yourself mentality through our various forms of consultation, our community classes, as well as our newsletter, blog, and website.

Inspiration is among our most precious resources.

Rain Barrels are a highly evolved idea! Click here to find out more about rain barrels!

John Trudell is one abundant source evolutionary inspiration. Mr. Trudell is a brilliant author and public speaker. Perhaps the most striking thing I heard him say while he gave a speech in Minneapolis a couple years back touched on the concept of revolution vs. evolution. John shared the notion that revolution based on the word “revolve” will only get us back where we started just as the Earth finds itself back in the same spot every new year. He said that we should become evolutionary instead of revolutionary. He helped me understand that if we are to move on beyond our problems, we must do the changing because our problems won’t just change for us. So what kind of changes should we make in our landscaping habits? Sure I’ve got some ideas for you, but I wanna hear your ideas too.

Worms are fun, gross, and good for the earth! Click here to find out more!

The full answer to the question of how do we all honor our environment together will only be found when we all explore together a few more basic questions.

Who am I?, Where am I?, and What am I doing here?

Who Am I?

This question is important because who you are informs your needs, and your environment should be able to provide your needs. The answers to this question include things like your ancestry, community, tastes, family, point of view, relationships, age, personality and more. To take a step further into the landscape we begin asking questions such as: What plants are culturally relevant to you? How have your ancestors traditionally raised or gathered food? What are your favorite flowers? These questions and many more will begin to show us what we need from our environments, and the next question will begin to show us how those needs may be met.

Where Am I?

I love this question. My answer to this question begins with one well-annunciated word. America! I see such a heavy European influence in the local landscape from sod grass lawns to man made ponds to parking lots and freeways, that I find myself often needing to remind folks that indeed we are in America, and that if we are to honor this place so that it may support us, we should recognize the needs of the land beneath our feet.

Every place has plants that are native to it. Here in America, native plants fed wildlife and people for millennia before the conquistadors, pioneers, and settlers (some my ancestors) invaded this land and started causing widespread damage here. If these American plants fed folks for such a long time, why shouldn’t we who call ourselves Americans eat them again? What are the native plants in your region? What are the uses of these plants for you and the native wildlife? To honor your space you must know, respect, and support the life that was there before you arrived.

What Am I Doing Here?

Just what are you doing here? This is a pretty big question. We spend our days and nights eating, working, traveling, visiting, sleeping, purchasing, communicating, any number of normal and abnormal human activities fill our time. Just what are these activities? Are they good for this space? Do our actions honor our environment?

Every one of our actions impacts our environment. Some of our actions have a positive impact in our environs, some much less so. What are the local, regional, and global environmental impacts of some of your landscaping decisions? Are the plants that are culturally relevant to you able to live here without damaging this space? Are you able to live here without damaging this space? How can you do what you need to do and still live in harmony with the land around you?

A rain garden can filter rainwater to recharge aquifers that we all drink from, growing even just tomatoes at home can reduce the amount of petroleum it takes to make your meals, and native tree plantings can support migrating wildlife from around the globe, these are all small, locally made decisions that have profound positive impacts in the larger ecosystem. So what are you doing here?, and what are the impacts of the actions you make? Are you acting with honor towards this place that supports you?

Inspirational sources abound in this world. A friend and former neighbor Bob Milner is yet another inspiring mentor in my life. Bob is a marketing wizard and a community activist since….., well he may have invented marketing and community activism, but Bob and I were sitting and chatting marketing strategies one afternoon when he turns to me and says,

“Russ I want to give you something, ……Evolutionary Gardening, that’s what you’re doing, that’s what you should call it, you should trademark this idea, it’s yours, I’m giving it to you”.

In honor of Bob, and his really good idea, I’m happy to go ahead then and tell the world what I think it means to be an “Evolutionary Gardener” as he so eloquently put it. I’m probably not going to go for the trademark though, I just can’t find it in me take any credit for a process as old as time.

If you click on any of the pictures on the side of the page, you’ll be shown some of my favorite do-it-yourself methods for evolving your own yard and landscape. I love these particular methods because of their simplicity. I suppose simplicity is important because evolution is the process of tiny, simple changes one after another working together to create harmony.

With so much change in the forecast, I’m ready to do my part to make allies, share ideas, and develop the bonds of community that will help this land that I love so much, thrive in the face of change. By honoring our environments we honor ourselves, so my question to you now is, How do you honor your environment?

In Love With The Garden

2010-04-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

It’s so easy to fall in love with a garden.

Imagine your garden as a new friend. You start off tentatively getting to know one another. Happy moments turn into beautiful days and soon enough you are greeting each other with gifts. A little help from a friend is always welcome, but with this relationship it seems all the gifts you give just pale in comparison to the gifts that are so generously given back. You see how potent this is, and more then a little entranced, you start to give all that you can afford; your time, your love, your thoughtfulness, but your new friend just gives ever more, ever more, and always with astonishingly benevolent humility and grace. Any remaining doubts and uncertainties vanish, replaced by genuine interactions that always leave you feeling so lucky, so well loved, and nurtured to your very soul.

To put it’ in Minnesota terms, That’s a keeper! Darn near anybody would want a relationship like that. But the question is, do we all get to have this kind of experience?

Despite the handy fact that every bit of our food is ultimately sourced from a farm, a garden, or a natural environment, for some folks, falling in love with the landscape might as well be a few lifetimes away.

So, it would seem that while not every soul is blessed with this capacity to love a garden, we could all learn a thing or two from those who do. Sarah Greenfield is one of these lucky, loving gardeners who help inform the world. Talking with Sarah I always learn so much from her that improves my own gardening hobbies.

Sarah’s the kind of gardener that shines a little bit when she’s showing off her sprouted seeds. I think that shine must come from the warmth in her heart that she feels for her garden space. Click below to learn more about Sarah’s gardens and the food, flowers, and love that grows in them! CLICK HERE to read The Seed #37, In Love With The Garden

Vegetable Gardening Class Video

2010-04-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Have a look at this organic gardening video discussion hosted by the Longfellow Community Council in Minneapolis Minnesota. We had a great time talking organic gardens, Earth-friendly landscaping, and community empowerment! Click the link below to watch this fun video.

http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/embed/65882

Worms Go To School

2010-02-23T16:43:00.000-08:00

Worms Go To School!

Worms eat our food scraps and leave compost in the soil. Compost feeds the plants and the plants feed us. This winter the pre-schoolers at Anishinabe Academy in South Minneapolis are learning how this simple and respectful cycle works by growing worms fed with the kids own food scraps right in their classroom. While children at Anishinabe are learning in class about worms, soil, seeds, plants, food, and health, a team of energized, organized grown-ups from the school and community are learning how to grow opportunities for the kids to get their hands dirty in the garden.

I’m not sure if worms can smile, but I smile when I think about kids learning how to empower their health, respect their environment, and sustain their culture. The 7th Generation Garden Design Circle has taken root at Anishinabe in order to nurture these wonderful ideas and grow them into a verdant garden of opportunities for the children, families, and staff of the school. Through the development of curriculum based on native culture, nutrition, Earth-friendly gardening practices, restorative justice, and compost heaps of fun, the 7th Generation gardeners are growing awareness, community, and happy kids!

This volume of The Seed is dedicated to the Ojibwe and Dakota High-5 language classes at Anishinabe Academy. Thanks to the super smart kids and teachers in these classes, worms are doing their wiggly work to slime through the grime and turn garbage into garden gold! May the seeds they plant grow into a community of opportunity!

CLICK HERE to read The Seed #35, Worms Go To School!

The Seed Volume 34, Compost Growing Community

2010-01-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

In recent month’s we at Giving Tree Gardens have witnessed and helped facilitate an environmentally sound change in the way a few Minneapolis organizations view the waste they create. Almost every group or organization of folks has the potential to begin producing compost for use in urban farms as well as home and community gardens. Wherever people gather, they eat, and wherever people eat, they produce food scraps. While some organizations can put their food scraps to use on-site in their own compost bins, others turn their compostables over to local urban farms that are actively seeking food scrap donations for mass compost production.

This month’s volume of The Seed is dedicated to giving organizations on the verge of change a how-to guide for dealing with their food waste in an environmentally wise way. Read below for a list of green resources for employees and volunteers looking to guide their organization toward a healthier tomorrow, as well as step-by-step guide to building a low-budget, community enhancing compost bin.

CLICK HERE to read The Seed #34, Compost Growing Community!

Giving Tree Gardens Expands Archives!

2010-01-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

Giving Tree Gardens would like to welcome in the new year with a gift to all the gardening world!
Our newsletter, "The Seed" is nearly 3 years old, and with 33 informative issues currently in our archives, we thought it high time to make the archives a little more accessible. Visit our
new expanded archives to learn everything you want to know about organic gardening and Earth-friendly landscaping!

CLICK BELOW TO SEE THE NEW EXPANDED ARCHIVES!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SEED ARCHIVES

The Seed Volume 33, Garden Tool Review!

2009-12-21T13:21:00.000-08:00

Toolin' Around

"Give a boy an apple and he will eat for a few minutes, teach him to garden and he will eat well his whole life! When we teach our kids about organic gardening we give them the tools to build a healthy future!"

While it’s true that a determined gardener can do more with a rusty shovel then a lazy gardener can with a whole shed full of tools, it’s also true that when given the right tools for the job, determined gardeners are unstoppable. Coming across a tool that makes my work easier is like meeting a new friend, I’ll often find myself wondering how I ever got along without them.

The blanket of snow adorning our fair cities gives northern gardeners time for reflection on the seasons’ success and lessons so that we may continue profusely sharing our profound passions. In this spirit of sharing, Giving Tree Gardens would like to present this years cream of the crop from the world of garden tools. This month’s volume of The Seed celebrates with all our gardening friends a few of the handy tools that helped us achieve this season's garden accomplishments.

Talkin' Tools! A Few of my Favorite Things...

Having the right tools for the job makes life so much easier!

The Sod Cutter

Never do I feel like more of a superhero as when I brandish my freshly sharpened sod cutter and peel away at sheet after sheet of useless boring sod grass. I’m fond of telling folks new to using a sod cutter that this is one implement that turns a man into a mule. Though gasoline powered versions of this fantastic tool are available for rent or purchase locally, there’s nothing quite as satisfying to a gardener as using one’s own power and strength to cause a healthy landscape makeover to occur. Reddy Rents on Hiawatha is the spot to find both the human and petroleum powered versions of this fine tool.

Utilikilt!

"The Utilikilt offers a man freedom, comfort, and rugged durability, not to mention a nice fresh breeze through the hot summer work days. Hard working guys need to treat their tools with care, the Utilikilt is here to help!"

Freedom grows in this gardener’s gardens. Freedom to eat healthy food, freedom to enjoy nature, and freedom to know that I’m treating the environment with respect and love are just a few of my gardens gifts. With all this freedom flowing from the garden growth, it’s only appropriate that the gardener himself feels as free.

Utilikilts is a Seattle based company that brings freedom to men everywhere. As soon as I donned my first Utilikilt, I knew I was in love. I’ve never had an easier time jumping in and out of my truck bed, stretching through the garden for those hard to reach weeds, or attracting attention from passers by. Folks seem either impressed or surprised to see a hairy burly man, proudly wearing a tough looking skirt through the city. I couldn’t have guessed at the marketing power of the kilt, but after handing out hundreds of business cards to folks who approach me because of the kilts, I’ve become a firm believer.

The Weed Wrench

Perhaps the greatest time saving tool I’ve ever found, The Weed Wrench is less a miracle of modern engineering then an ancient, time tested design improved through the strength of hardened steel.

A little leverage goes a long way could be the work song chorus of anyone bearing this tool. Simply clamp the vice like metal jaws around the base of any weed tree you’d like to remove then lean back and let the 6 foot metal pry bar do the hard work. I remove a lot of buckthorn from Twin Cities properties, and this tool cuts a 2 hour tree removal down to 5 minutes. The Weed Wrench is worth it’s weight in gold, and from it’s price you might think that it’s made of gold. If however you’ve got a whole mess of buckthorn trees in the back 40, then this tool will quickly pay for itself in saved time and back pain. Check with Reddy Rents in the early winter months to see if they’ve got any slightly used Weed Wrenches for sale. You’ll save a good chunk of change and the Weed Wrench is so strongly made that even well used tools will still have decades of life in them.

I like this tool so much, I made an instructional video!

Felco #2 Pruning Shears

I never go anywhere without my Felco # 2 Pruning Shear. These are the handiest and sturdiest cutting tool I've ever owned, this garden helper will hopefully become a family heirloom.

Let me help you cut through the crap. Using a poorly working pruning sheer can wreak havoc on your woody garden plants, and frustrate the heck out of any busy spring gardener. The best pruning tools on the market are made by Felco. Their designs have blades that can be sharpened and replaced, steel springs that can be easily removed for cleaning, and they have slickest by-pass anvil design available. Of all the Felco products, the Felco #2 is my faithful companion. Every time I slide this tool out of it’s belt bound leather holster I trust that the branches I remove will be cut cleanly and without crushing. This is a great tool that every gardener would love to find in their holiday stocking. Felco tools can be found at any reputable local retailer of garden tools and supplies.

The Toughest Wheelbarrow in Town!

At Giving Tree Gardens we need the toughest wheel barrows around, and there's none we've seen tougher then the Brentwood Industries Pro-Boss. This barrow is a real mover and shaker with it's structural steel chassis and hardwood handles.

In the battle for the better barrow my 6 cubic foot Brentwood Industries Pro-Boss model is by far the best of the bunch. Before I met this beastly bucket on wheels, I was sure that I’d be buying a new wheelbarrow annually because of the abuse that I bestow upon them. This well designed wheelbarrow has thick steel legs and a larger then average hard plastic basin that won’t rust out. I fill my wheelbarrows with the roughest stuff, broken concrete, bricks, rocks, and sand, and I barely notice the wear and tear on this workhorse. Available locally at Klier’s Nursery, I’d recommend anyone considering a new wheelbarrow stop by to give this one a test drive.

A gardener’s work is truly never done, so we might as well equip ourselves with the tools that make our work go as smoothly as possible. Mother Earth Gardens, Reddy Rents, and Klier’s Nursery are a few local stores that work hard to offer us the equipment that can make our green-guided lives a little easier.

Any tool is only as useful as the hand that holds it, and our towns are chock full of hard working hands. If you’ve got a gardener in your life, consider giving one of these fine tools as a gift this year. After all, outfitting a gardener with good tools will likely pay off with healthy, beautiful rewards for years to come.

These young fellas hold the tools that will be used to build the future. With the huge environmental challenges ahead we need to make sure and leave our kids with the best tools possible. Organic gardening knowledge is absolutely one of the strongest tools that we have to gift to our children.

“Anything you can do needs to be done, so pick up the tool of your choice and get started”

~Ben Linder

"When the only tool you have is a hammer,

you tend to see every problem as a nail."

~ Abraham Maslow

"A worker may be the hammer's master, but the hammer still prevails. A tool knows exactly how it is meant to be handled, while the user of the tool can only have an approximate idea."

~Milan Kundera

Photos by Russ Henry ©2009 ,Text by Russ Henry ©2009 by Giving Tree Gardens, all rights reserved.
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Compost, It's Hot!

2009-11-19T16:08:00.000-08:00

These days it seems folks all around me are taking bold strides to “green up” their everyday lives. Whether we’re motivated to reclaim our health from the abominable agriculture and healthcare industries, or take back our wealth from the robber barons of the big energy companies, all of us are awakening to the idea that it’s time we followed that sage bumper sticker advice and remember how to live simply so that we may simply live.

Composting is one of the simplest things that I’ve ever learned. As a designer of Earth friendly landscapes and organic gardens, part of my job is to help folks implement changes right outside their doors that positively impact the entire global ecosystem. I routinely testify that there is no greater teacher of natural methods then nature itself.

So what does nature tell us about compost?

In nature there is no waste. Any creature lucky enough to emerge from the muck is quickly turned back into muck upon death, at which point another creature feeds on the muck created by the first creature. Life, death, rebirth, I’m guessing you’ve all heard about this process. When we compost we pay direct homage to this ancient cycle, and our gardens display the rewards of this environmentally respectful approach. What I’m getting at here is that nature shows us that compost grows great plants. Compost has always been the only sustainable means of creating fertility in soil.

Okay so enough about why we should compost, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

First of all, I’m through with black plastic compost bins. Frankly, I hate them. Ineffective, ugly, and misleading to folks, these bins are ridiculous. We already know that the act of composting at home is a way of copying nature. Ask yourself, when was the last time you found a black plastic compost bin on the prairie, or in the woods, or wetlands? Compost happens in nature completely unaided and unhindered by plastic bins. Instead all the parts of the trees, and plants grow up and then periodically or seasonally die off to fall loosely across an open area where the rain soaks the leaves, and the wind and animals stir the whole thing up. After a good sit on the floor of the forest or prairie, a dead leaf or fallen apple becomes soil. At home we copy this process, in an open air compost bin or compost pile we mix together our kitchen waste such as fruits and vegetables, coffee, egg shells, grains, and bread, with our yard waste such as leaves and grass cuttings.

This edition of The Seed is dedicated to the hundreds of folks who've asked me how they can make a functional, affordable, and aesthetically pleasing compost system at home. Giving Tree Gardens Russ Henry is proud to have partnered with another green thinker, Margaret Wilke to bring you two great gardeners thoughts on growing garden gold from garbage!

Garden How To : home composting made easy

When attempting to adapt open air composting to the urban environment a little experienced advice can be handy. I always describe the best urban composting system as the 4-Bin system that I learned from my friend Margaret Wilke. Simply make 4 bins that are at least 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep each. The bins should be made out of whatever re-usable construction materials you have around. I love to use chicken wire and stakes because they’re cheap and breathable. Make sure the sides of your bins allow for a lot of air flow, so if you make your bins out of wood leave a few inches of space between each board. Situate your bins in a location that is easily accessible so you don’t feel like you’re going for a hike each time you bring a bucket of kitchen scraps out.

If you are worried about ill-tempered neighbors or city inspectors, you could always plant raspberry bushes along the sides of your bins. That way the bins will be disguised and you’ll have a peace offering to share with any disgruntled passers by. Using your 4-bin system should look a little something like this:

Bin 1: This is a storage space for yard waste.

Bin 2: Whenever I’ve collected enough food waste in my kitchen scrap bucket I empty the bucket into Bin 2 and then I layer on a healthy dose of yard waste from Bin 1.

Bin 3: After Bin 2 is full, I move all of its contents into Bin 3.

Bin 4: After Bin 3 is full, I move all of its contents into Bin 4.

By the time you’ve layered and then moved your compostables from bin to bin a few times you’ve got yourself some real garden gold. Feed your new plantings plenty of this fine homemade magic and watch them grow healthy and bountiful. Give the entire garden a 2-inch layer of compost each spring in order to ensure a full season of growth.

Composting is not a science; it is an easy craft that anyone can master. The only other advice I can think of on the matter is to be flexible, adjust the materials and size of the bins to suit your needs. Don’t get hung up about your ratio of kitchen waste to yard waste, your yard’s a little piece of nature and there’s supposed to be way more leaves and grass cuttings then there are fruits and vegetables. Feel free to put some soil or already composted materials in with your bins, this can help speed up your composting process. Composting is easy, so don't let your scraps go to waste anymore!

Margaret talks compost

Margaret stands beside the compost system that she's been faithfully using for more then 20 years in the picture below. Composting is one of Margaret's passions, and her wisdom rubs off on anyone who visits her gardens!

Composting is one of my passions. I think it is because it is a kind of alchemy. You can turn things that people normally throw away into GOLD! Well, not real gold, but something as valuable as gold to anyone who gardens. You would have to pay a lot of money to get the kind of enrichment for your soil that organic compost gives you, and my bet is it wouldn’t be as good, either for the garden or for the environment.

It all starts in the kitchen. We keep an old ice cream bucket with a lid handy in the kitchen sink. Everything that is plant based, that normally would go into the trash, winds up in the bucket instead. Even with just two of us these days, my husband and I, we often have a bucket or more of material to take out to the compost heap every day, especially in the summer. It makes us very aware of how much we are dependent on the products from the earth for our health and well being. Food comes from somewhere, and it’s not the grocery store! And plant material needs to go back into the garden to complete the God-given natural cycle that sustains life.

We compost as long as we can into the fall, and begin again in the spring as soon as there are any days above freezing. Actually, I should rephrase that. I compost as long as I can into the fall, and begin again in the spring as soon as there are any days above freezing. My husband just puts up with me.

Here’s what goes into the bucket from the kitchen:

All vegetable and fruit trimmings, skins, seeds, stems, leaves, etc.

Coffee grounds (very key because they have nitrogen that helps the compost “cook”)

Tea bags

Egg shells

Left over / day old / moldy bread products (no butter please!)

My family knows that Mom will have a fit if she finds a banana peel in the kitchen trashcan. Roses love bananas.

We add this kitchen mix to the compost pile daily and ALWAYS cover it with dry leaves or fresh green material such as garden trimmings and grass clippings (IF they are chemical free). It is amazing how fast those banana peels, potato skins, and broccoli stems break down and become completely unrecognizable! Eggshells take longer, so I generally try to break them up before putting them in the pile. If there hasn’t been rain for a while I occasionally water down the piles, but not very often. Once in a while I shovel some partially finished compost and/or garden soil over the top of everything to give it the microbes it needs to break down. That also ensures there are no odors from the pile for neighbors to complain about. Keeping the fresh additions from the kitchen COVERED is key to having an odor free pile. It keeps inquiring animals at bay as well. Also you won’t attract flies or bees when the fresh stuff is kept adequately covered.

Above, the compost process begins in earnest when kitchen scraps are mixed with yard waste in Bin # 1

A mix of green(kitchen waste) and brown (yard waste) materials is ideal. I use everything from the garden EXCEPT weeds with seeds. I have learned the hard way that weed seeds will make it through most backyard composting systems. These piles are not usually large enough to generate the high heat needed to kill weed seeds. I am also very careful about which spent flowers with seeds I put into my compost piles as well. Your garden will be entirely black-eyed susans, for example, or purple coneflowers if you put the flower heads with these seeds into your compost. I generally cut off the flower heads and then throw the stems and leaves into the compost. Otherwise I just pull up over-zealous plants when they’ve finished blooming and pile them in a dark corner under the evergreens in the back of the yard where they are out of sight. There they break down but don’t get enough light for the seeds to germinate.

Bins number 2 and 3 show us the various stages of waste becoming soil. Bin number 3 below is full of healthy happy compost just waiting to spread its organic fertile magic!

As for brown material, hay without seeds will work, but is expensive. I have sometimes used oat straw that has seeds in it, the kind used for Halloween decorations, particularly if someone gives it to me free. If I’m sure the pile will be completely composted, then I feel okay about adding it to the compost pile. The sprouts of oat seeds from the straw are easily identifiable and pull up readily if a few of them make it through the composting process. But, I wouldn’t want them all over the garden, so I don’t use oat straw as mulch.

Once a summer I do a major turning of the piles. This is when a strong husband comes in handy. But I have done it myself, it just takes a little longer, since I have to do it a bit at a time, not all at once as hubby prefers (“Let’s just get it over with!”)

Margaret's compost system is the most functional home composting method that I've ever seen. Notice how the posts are all slotted which makes moving and scooping the pile very easy.

Making compost in Minnesota has the advantage of the freeze / thaw process that helps break down organic matter without any help from you at all. It takes about a full season to make really good compost. Once you have the cycle started you can easily keep it going and will be supplied with compost pretty much throughout the growing season.

I have three compost bins that my husband built for me at least 20 years ago. They are about 4 feet across and 5' deep. They stand side by side with removable boards in the front of each bin, and also between the bins so that turning material from one bin to the next is not too difficult. I always keep fresh material separated from the 1/2 completed compost, and from the aged compost, so three bins are needed.

Once a bin is emptied by using the compost for potting-up spring plants or spreading it on the gardens, I turn the next most finished compost into it. This aerates the pile and gets it cooking. Then I turn the least finished compost into the just emptied bin and start a new pile. Composting fits naturally into the cycle of growing and life in the garden.

Try it you’ll like it!

From the kitchen to the garden and back to the kitchen, Margaret's compost system is easy to build, fun to use, and it makes the best dirt around, just have a look at Margaret's gardens to see for yourself!

~Margaret Wilke

Growing Power In Minneapolis

2009-10-22T12:33:00.000-07:00

In our fair cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the gap between the haves and have-nots is so striking that it can literally be tasted. The difference in food selection and availability between low-income neighborhoods and wealthy neighborhoods is painfully obvious. In this world, far to few folks acknowledge that access to healthy foods is a basic human right.
Now's the time for us to stand up together and work for a better future, where healthy food is available and accessible to everyone.

Click below to read how Giving Tree Gardens has worked this growing season with an amazing array of folks from around the country to start growing community power, personal health, and food justice here at home!

CLICK HERE to read The Seed #31, Food Justice!

Russ Henry and GIving Tree on the RADIO

2009-09-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

WE'RE GONNA BE ON THE RADIO!
KFAI Radio Without Boundaries is going to air a documentary featuring Giving Tree's Gardens at the Seward Co-op and Deli in Minneapolis
This Thursday the 24th of September during the 6pm news!

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE FULL 7 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY!

The Seed Volume 30 is online! Fermenting the Harvest!

2009-09-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

Harvest time is here, and organic gardeners everywhere have an abundance of food on their hands and plates! Organic gardeners are health conscious folks, and there's no more healthy a way to preserve your bumper crops for winter storage then through the use of fermentation!
Giving Tree Gardens would like to help empower folks everywhere to take their health into their own hands, click below to learn how to turn your fall harvest into a winter full of health with the power of kimchi fermentation!

CLICK HERE to learn how to grow your own HEALTH SUSTAINING KIMCHI

Wild Night!

2009-09-11T11:48:00.000-07:00

Russ Henry of Giving Tree Gardens made quite a splash on Wednesday night with his fall garden class at Mother Earth Gardens. Delighted class participants sampled 3 flavors of garden grown kim-chi and drank their hearts content of a delicious raspberry home-brewed beer all the while discussing the fine arts of composting, home food production and storage, as well as fall garden maintenance and planting ideas.
The class was so much fun that one happy pupil went home and blogged all about it. So impressed were we with this posting, that we'd like to share it with our audience as well!

Be sure not to miss the fun of our next class this Saturday!

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT A WILD NIGHT OF FERMENTATION FERVOR

Free Class:

When: Saturday September 12th @ 1:00pm

Where: Seward Co-op 2823 East Franklin Ave S

What: Take a tour of the Seward Co-op’s new landscape with Giving Tree Gardens owner Russ Henry. Learn how to grow beautiful, bountiful gardens at home. We’ll talk about food production, native plants, garden aesthetics, soil health, habitat creation, composting, and anything else that you’ve got a question about. This is a great opportunity to learn how to grow health in your own back yard!

Free Garden Classes!

2009-09-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Free Class 1:

When: Wednesday September 9th @ 7:00pm

Where: Mother Earth Gardens 3738 42ND AVE S MINNEAPOLIS

What: Get Ready for Autumn in the Garden! The irrepressible Russ Henry will walk you through fall plantings, mums, cool weather annuals, fall maintenance, winter prep, brilliant fall color, and ideas for what to do with all your garden harvest.....End your garden season with a splash of color, and prepare your gardens for another year of organic abundance!

Free Class 2:

When: Saturday September 12th @ 1:00pm

Where: Seward Co-op 2823 East Franklin Ave S

What: Take a tour of the Seward Co-op’s new landscape with Giving Tree Gardens owner Russ Henry. Learn how to grow beautiful, bountiful gardens at home. We’ll talk about food production, native plants, garden aesthetics, soil health, habitat creation, composting, and anything else that you’ve got a question about. This is a great opportunity to learn how to grow health in your own back yard!

Garden Newsletter #29

2009-08-18T21:48:00.000-07:00

Garden projects can tie communities together and add value and beauty to neighborhoods, Giving Tree Gardens latest issue of The Seed highlights how one garden in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis is doing just that. Have a look at this latest multimedia volume of our newsletter to see beautiful images of these new growing gardens while you read about the community involved garden project and listen to a 7 minute audio documentary by the blogger Katey Sleeveless!

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE VERSION OF THE SEED #29

Giving Tree Gardens, Seward Co-op rain garden project featured in The Underbelly Of The Sun Blog!!

2009-07-29T11:44:00.001-07:00

Russ Henry (aka Rooster) owner of Giving Tree Gardens toured the gardens at the Seward Co-op with Ms. Katey Sleeveless, musician and blogger at The Underbelly Of The Sun. The two talked all about Rooster's gardening inspiration, all his great plants, attracting birds, butterflies, and bees, and how community gardens can deter crime and supply a neighborhood with comradery as well as fresh organic produce. Click here to have a look!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE UNDERBELLY OF THE SUN BLOG!

The Seed 28: Salad Bowl Garden

2009-07-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

Early this spring while the snow was still melting, I noticed how badly the water pooled in a low spot in my lawn. A large puddle formed that thawed to a thick slushy consistency during the day and froze into a chunky icy mess each night. One night while walking to the garage, I slipped and had a close call with the ground, and it’s right about then that my determination grew some roots in my imagination. I decided that as soon as the thaw was over and the ground was workable, I’d set out to reshape the land in my backyard to accommodate and work with the available melt and rainwater.

Folks all around are digging rain gardens these days. Not only can we use rain-gardens to filter the water run-off from our properties, but when we use native plants in our rain-gardens we can create bird and butterfly habitat in our own back yards. As I sat inside the warm house rubbing my bruised knee and plotting against that slippery back yard mess, the thought occurred to me that if I was going to go to the trouble of making a rain-garden habitat for the birds in my back yard, I might as well go ahead and make some habitat for my family and myself as well. After all food plants tend to require a lot of water, and so I thought why not feed two birds with one hand and stock a rain-garden with my favorite edible plants. Seeing this garden take shape in my minds eye, suddenly I realized what it was I was about to create. This is how the story of the Salad Bowl Garden begins!

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE VERSION OF THE SEED #28

The Seed 27: Container Gardening

2009-07-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Container Gardening

"Are you doing any gardening this season?" This is often the first question out of my mouth when meeting someone new in the springtime. Far to often, I get a response that goes something like “I would but I live in an apartment”.

As an avid gardener who has himself lived in a few different apartment buildings, I’d like to once and for all dispel the myth that apartment dwelling folks can’t garden.

Container gardens have always been an excellent way to bring the spirit reviving power of plants to folks who live surrounded by concrete. This month’s volume of The Seed is dedicated to bringing the garden to the gardener, as we showcase, the Giving Tree Gardens approach to container gardening.

Plant Profile: Aloe Vera

Aloe barbedancis

Why run to the drug store when you could heal your minor burns with the nearest house plant? An aloe plant is a sheep in wolves clothing. Though it looks tough on the outside, this african succulent has a soft, healing heart.

Recorded human use of aloe vera dates back to the 16th century. Though it came originally form Africa, the cultivation of aloe long ago spread through China, Japan, Jamaica, Russia, and the Americas. Useful in healing small wounds, burns, and helpful in treating high blood glucose levels, the medicinal uses of this plant are still being discovered today.

This tropical cactus will grow with ease in a houseplant container. Just give it a sandy potting mix and water once every two weeks. One thing to consider with most house plants including aloe is letting them grow outside for the summer. I'll transition all my houseplants to the porch or patio slowly so as not to sunburn the leaves that are used to growing indoors in low light conditions. Aloe is especially sensitive to sunlight and if transitioned outside too soon it will easily burn. I give mine one hour of direct morning light every day for a week, then I'll step it up by one hour each day week after week until it's fully ready to be outside all the time. The growth and health that results from this patient process is well worth the bother. I consider it a blessing worth working for to have a plant with such amazing healing powers growing nearby.

PICK YOUR POTS

Planter boxes, pots, and container gardens come in as many shapes and sizes as humans can imagine. Choose your favorite look and set a theme for your home or patio by using similarly styled containers throughout your space. I love terra cotta for its simplicity and sleek lines. I use varying shaped terra cotta pots throughout my home to create a visual context and flow, like a melody for the eyes.
In order to add a little spice to the mix, I use different styles and types of containers in addition to the terra cotta throughout the house.

No matter what your style, make sure that the container you plant in has a hole on the bottom. Proper drainage is key to allowing soils to dry between waterings.

Any potting soil that stays constantly wet, will start to go rotten and develop unfriendly fungi. If the container that I’m using is exceptionally large, I’ll often use a plastic pot turned upside down at the bottom of my big container to take up some space, improve drainage, and make the planter lighter.

POTTING SOIL

Potting soil is the sustenance for our precious plants. Like any fine food, potting soil is best made from scratch. I find potting soils that include freshly composted materials never need to have any organic fertilizers added to them in order to keep plants happy and healthy.

When I need to make a batch of potting soil in a rush, I’ll use a blend of three ingredients in equal proportions, the first of which is farm-post available locally at Kern Landscaping in St. Paul. Then I’ll grab some pre bagged potting soil, and CoirBlock. The farm-post is an excellent source of plant food while the CoirBlock made from shredded coconut hulls can replace the use of habitat destroying peat-moss products. Together with the pre-bagged potting soils, this mix will provide a nutrient rich, water retaining, fluffy textured soil, which will provide for a full season of growth.
DESIGN

Laying out the design of your planters and containers is a fun challenge that can be a source of enjoyment and learning year round. The easiest trick to making your planters stand out is to build in contrasting textures and colors. I’ll use spiked, ferny, and broad textured leaves all in the same container. I love combining dark purple or red foliage with bright golden green flowers or leaves. Repeat or reverse these contrasts in several pots throughout your home in order to bring out more of that sense of melody. Often I’ll choose a tall plant for the middle or back of a planter and then I’ll place shorter plants around the base of these. Cascading or drooping plants blur and soften solid lines when used at the edge of planters.

PICK YOUR PLANTS

Choosing great plants for your containers is as easy as choosing great plant stores to shop at. I grow everything from tropical palms and bananas to rosemary, kale, and sweet potatoes in my planters at home.

Have fun throughout the year and change some of your planters out seasonally. Start with pansies and leafy greens in the spring then replace the pansies with heat tolerant annuals for the summer time. As your leafy greens fade in the heat of the summer, change them out for herbs or funky tropical houseplants. When the tropicals and annuals are threatened by frost switch them out for kale, pansies, and mums in the fall. Follow up with a mix of evergreen boughs in the late fall for all winter long beauty.

Don’t be afraid to stuff your planters a little too full of annuals. At the beginning of the growing season, I’ll use more plants then I’ll ultimately need and then thin them out as they grow. This way I’ll have full planters for much more of the season then I otherwise would.

Call me impatient , but I think our northern growing season is too short to waste waiting around for our pots and planters to fill in.

Containers also present an excellent opportunity for northern gardeners to grow some otherwise not so hardy plants in our Midwestern back yards. Friends of mine have grown zone 5 and 6 hardy Japanese Maples in large containers which they wheel into a garage for winter storage. Bringing marginally hardy plants into a closed garage for the cold season is an excellent way of keeping lovely and delicate plants alive through our harsh winter.

HOUSE PLANTS

I’m such a green thumb that I’d probably go a little nuts in the long Midwestern winter if I didn’t get to surround myself with houseplants. In addition to your usual suspects of spider plants, pothos, aloe vera, and sword plant, I like to grow herbs, orchids, palms, tropical pines, and just about anything that will thrive indoors throughout the wintertime. Some of my favorite houseplants have been handed down to me from family members, and friends such as a couple of Asiatic begonias gifted to me by a local business owner who hails from Cambodia. Consider mixing two or more houseplants in the same container to create an intriguing blend. I love the mix of my tall, spiked sword plant with some short round leaved sedum.

Grow your own food, or raise a cash crop at home by setting up with a few grow lights from Midwest Supplies. Many folks find they can raise fine herbal crops, or grow amazing tropical flowers inside through the long winter with a little help from some man-made sunshine. I’ve seen Minnesota homes with tropical ginger and tomatoes growing inside in February. This miracle of modern convenience isn’t for everyone, but if you have a very low light apartment, you may consider a grow light to help brighten your space.

No matter your living space, container gardening can help bring a full and verdant feeling to your home. If you’ve been holding back your urge to garden because you’re landlord won’t let you rip out the lawn or parking lot, then wait no more. Container gardens are one excellent way of greening up your urban environment.

~CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THIS ISSUE OF THE SEED~

2009-06-08T10:13:00.001-07:00

http://ping.fm/MKGau ...Giving Tree Gardens featured on a blog!

2009-06-04T14:30:00.001-07:00

http://ping.fm/9XygW

Important Info For Twin Cities Tree Huggers!!!

Emerald Ash Borer On The Loose!!!

2009-06-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

This invasive pest has come to Minnesota, and it may well affect the ash trees in your neighborhood. Right now, there is an ash tree quarantine in effect throughout the Twin Cities, and people are getting pretty worried. As always, though, it is important to take a measured view of the situation.

First, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has information on their website to help you figure out if your trees are infested. If you do have infested trees, they recommend that the trees be removed. Here at Giving Tree Gardens, though, we see tree removal as a last resort, and decided to look around to find out if there were any other options.

After doing some research, we found Vineland Tree Care, a local company that has lots of experience with all things tree related. I spoke with Jim Walsh, and he did a good job of clarifying the emerald ash borer problem, as well as options for dealing with it.

It's a tricky problem for a number of reasons. First, early detection of infestation is extremely difficult, because emerald ash borers are really small when they're young and first starting to do their damage. They can spend a year or two chewing tunnels through a tree's vascular system before ever becoming visible. This vascular structure is what moves water and nutrients throughout the tree's trunk and branches, and needs to be intact for any treatment to be possible.

The only time treatment is effective, then, is during this early-stage infestation, and diagnosing the problem involves wounding the tree by removing some bark and wood. If the tree is infested, and you want to try and save it, Vineland Tree Care offers a treatment that consists of drilling holes in the trunk and injecting an insecticide. This must be done a couple of times over a period of a few years. It isn't ideal by any means, and normally Giving Tree Gardens doesn't advocate the use of any type of chemical insecticides, but this is the only alternative to removal that we know of at this time; an option for saving the larger ash trees that we value so much.

A final point that Mr. Walsh raised, and one that bears mentioning, was that these types of issues are great reminders of the need to always plant more trees. By maintaing a healthy urban forest with many types of trees at all life-cycle stages, we can ensure that any pest or disease that comes through is merely a nusiance, and not a disaster.

The Seed 26: A Community of Gardens

2009-05-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

With every new flush of spring garden growth comes the promise of a stronger community. Gardening is once again gaining popularity, not just as a relaxing pastime, but as a tool that communities have at their disposal to help them grow strong, independent, food secure, and beautiful.

No gardener is an island. When groups of folks get together to build gardens we learn from each other, we get to know each other, and we make our lives more sustainable with every seed planted. Neighbors working together routinely turn blank sod grass lawns, and empty city lots into organic food producing, eco-system enhancing gardens.

The time for this kind of transformation is ripe in American life. As food and health care costs grow, the need for inexpensive access to healthy organically grown food is more and more apparent. Suddenly folks throughout urban areas are realizing that their sod lawns aren’t doing anybody any favors, and that the time for change is upon us.

We’re not in this life alone. The planet acts as a whole living system. The health of each part of the planet is dependent on the health of the whole planet. Due to global climate change it’s become apparent that we’ve got to stop pretending that we’re the only important creature here. It’s not only time to grow our own communities, but those communities of wilderness that we’ve been a part of removing and keeping at bay for so many years.

When we honor the land that we live on by planting native species, when we honor the planet we live on by growing our own food as close to home as possible, and when we teach each other how to do these things, we share vibrant sustainable lives.

This month Giving Tree Gardens has been hard at work putting these noble green ideas into action. We’ve built food gardens with kids, installed native rain-gardens with community members, attended garden club meetings, taught seminars, and talked with every green thumb passing by. This volume of The Seed will highlight some of these community-building efforts as an example of the awesome power of neighbors in action.

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The Seed 25: Let Freedom Grow

2009-04-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

Sharpen your shovels, and turn your compost pile, Spring Has Arrived! Nation wide, gardeners are busy preparing for the upcoming growing season, and from the look of things, this year will be a time of garden expansion throughout the land.

Even in this troubled market, seed sales are a boom industry raking in 20-30% gains over last year’s sales. Gardening is the new favored pastime of many a cash strapped American family. Presenting an example to the world, First Lady Michelle Obama’s even getting in on the action, as she put her strong arms to work digging a Victory Garden into the White House lawn!

This profuse blooming of garden interest is just what the world needs right now. The U.S.D.A. is about to release a new Plant Hardiness Map that details what anyone with a lick of sense has by now accepted as fact, the “inconvenient truth” that the earth’s climate is rapidly warming. Vegetable gardens and local composting efforts are two of the best ways for folks to work at home toward a healthier, happier planet.

While the Obama’s of the world may be planting the seeds of victory in their gardens, I reap the bounty of freedom in my back yard. Freedom from chemically grown, dangerous, over priced food, the freedom to enjoy the beauty and bounty of life on earth, and the freedom to live with respect for the planet that raised me are all a part of my garden harvest. It’s this humble gardener’s opinion that victory without freedom is meaningless! This spring and summer as I install gardens throughout the Twin Cities, I’ll be sowing the seeds of freedom. I invite everyone reading this newsletter to do the same. Together we can reclaim our planet and our lives from the carelessness of our elders, to give our children and grandchildren hope for a healthy life.

In this month’s issue of The Seed we’ll take a look at some of these garden headlines that define and inspire this new movement to reclaim the good life. With a little luck, and a whole lot of compost, this spring gardeners everywhere will help freedom grow!

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The Seed 24: A Farm in the City

2009-04-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Formerly a city garbage dump in the middle of a low-income neighborhood, the site that St. Mary’s Urban Youth Farm now occupies and beautifies, was once a blight on the community. In the mid 1990’s neighbors along with local gardening activists organized to turn this wasted land into a community asset.

Cheerful and informative, Naomi Goodwin, director of St. Mary’s Urban Youth Farm was kind enough to talk with me about the goings on at the farm, and the story she told was one of transition.

Since 1995 when ground was broken on this garden, the space has served to improve the health and lives of the community. Despite recent funding shifts away from community gardening projects, area residents have continued to recognize and benefit from the farm’s bounty. Youth volunteers work alongside trained gardeners to produce food that is sold at discounted rates in local farmers markets. The young volunteers are trained in skills that they can utilize and market the rest of their lives, while the community receives the benefits of affordable locally grown organic produce.

Birds, butterflies, bees, and other local fauna find a home in the native plants that hold the hillside in place, all the while compost bins overflow and the blades of the windmill turn lazily in the soft breeze. Walking into this garden was like seeing a dream come true. Not only did I feel like I’d suddenly stepped into the countryside, but I could clearly see all of the basic Eco-friendly gardening steps that I teach folks here in the Twin Cities working on a larger scale then I’d ever seen in a city.

Several local organizations work with the land at St. Mary’s. While various groups of volunteers tend to the crops, others work to keep the beehives buzzing.

Naomi impressed me with her sense for the overall health of the space. “We have so many volunteer’s here that sometimes things get out of balance.” Naomi explained, “We used to get a lot more migratory birds stopping by the pond, but since more of our land has gone to food production, and less to native plants, the system is out of balance and we aren’t providing enough habitat to entice them here as much.”

The full vision for the space has not yet been realized. Physical changes such as adding a water pump to the windmill. Once the windmill is pumping, then water from Isle creek pond, which sits in the middle of the farm, can be used on the crops. Organizational shifts away from agency to agency competition for land use and towards a more collaborative approach are also needed before the farm functions to it’s highest potential.

Despite this room for improvement, St. Mary’s Urban Youth Farm is an example of excellence in landscaping. Transitioning this space from a dump to an urban farm has proven to be an enormous benefit to the community. Gardeners everywhere can learn from these neighbors good work, and those of us lucky enough to have our own little corner of the earth to shape, should heed the good example of the folks at St. Mary’s. Wherever we can we need to turn open urban space into habitat for earthlings of all stripes.

In Minneapolis and St. Paul our yards and parks give us green space on nearly every block. I hope for all our sake that many more of us here at home begin to recognize our unique responsibility as citizens of these gorgeously green cities to preserve, and maintain the lush vibrancy of our home towns. I know for my part, I’m planning to put a rain garden full of native plants in the back yard this spring in order to provide habitat for birds and butterflies. After all I figure, why have a yard, when I could have an enchanting, urban oasis!

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The Seed 23: In Love With the Redwoods

2009-04-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

Driving North up California’s hwy 101 is a bit like traveling backwards in time, the landscape seems to grow more ancient as the road makes it’s way North. As my partner Shaunna and I drove away from San Francisco’s rolling, paved inclines the cityscapes gave way to large eucalyptus groves and sage covered hills. Not far North of the city we soon found wine country with mile upon mile of leafless rows of, pruned and still dormant grapevines. We traveled onward eventually entering the woods as the day turned to night over the highway. Sometime after nightfall I had to wonder aloud if my road weary eyes were playing tricks on me, as up ahead of our car I started seeing what looked like giant walls right next to the road. The illusion only lasted a moment because when we approached these enormous structures Shaunna and I realized that we were seeing coast redwoods up close for the first time. Excitement filled the car, and all that was heard for the next few miles from either of us were gasps of shock and the occasional “Oh My God!” Both of us had been dreaming of seeing these trees since we were kids, and driving through them for the first time at night was a little too distracting.

We pulled off to rest the night in Garberville, just before the start to an old scenic highway named Avenue of the Giants. The next morning I shined up my camera lens and the two of us set out to meet the trees that had stirred our imaginations since childhood.

Our first stop that morning was only a few miles outside of Garberville. The Avenue of the Giants is a 31 mile stretch of old highway 101 that twists and turns it’s way like a river through huge redwood trees. All along the way there are places to pull over and explore the woods. We quickly made our first stop in a grove of trees wider and taller then either of us had ever seen. We both took time to thank the trees, to pray for their protection, and to put out some tobacco as an offering for them. While walking our way toward the Eel River that snakes through the forest I noticed a scurrying below me and bent down to grab the little salamander at my feet. We took our pictures with this handsome fellah, and put him back where we found him so his family wouldn’t miss him too long.

Walking among the giants Shaunna and I wondered what it must have been like for the native folks who lived here in the undisturbed beauty of these forests a few hundred years ago. We figured this rich and abundant land must’ve made for some fine living. Waking up beneath the protective canopy of these elder trees, and walking down to a river teeming with life to sing a grateful morning song sounds like a pretty good way to start each day. These trees have witnessed the people passing through them loose the greatest wealth mankind ever knew, the ability to live in balance with our environment. When peoples needs are freely provided for by their surroundings, folks end up with a lot more time to sit back and just be grateful for the life they live. I guess that’s basically why I spend so much time encouraging folks to grow their own food. When we grow our own food at home, and mix those food plants in with some native plants for the other creatures to enjoy we start to live in a way that taxes our environment less and begins to bring our corner of the earth back into balance. If we all just do our little part and empower those around us to do the same, we’ve got a chance to experience some of that fine living too.

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The Seed 22: Healthy Yards, Healthy Lives

2009-04-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

We need food, we need air, we need water. Generally speaking we need all of these things to be clean and free of toxins. We share these needs with the rest of the creatures on this planet. These common needs of all earthlings are best served when the world around us is balanced. For example, If the microbes in the ground are fed nutrients in the form of a cow pie, then the microbes in the ground help the roots of the grass take up water and nutrients, and the grass can grow up tall to feed the cows. The cycle starts all over when the cow lifts her tail to waive goodbye to the grass she has digested.

Now, if for some horrible reason the ground is treated with chemicals such as fertilizer or pesticide then the microbes in the ground will be killed off to a degree that the grass will now not be able to grow without the assistance of the chemical fertilizers. Instead of being dependant on easy to produce cow pies, the food cycle on the planet becomes dependant on environmentally and economically costly products. This is one tiny example of imbalance in a world full of similar circumstances.

We need only look around us to see the world out of balance. We can see the air we breathe, as it’s laden with chemicals. We can taste bleach and metal in the water we drink. Our rivers and lakes are overgrown with invasive species and toxic run off. Our food travels thousands of miles in petroleum burning vehicles only to arrive to our dinner tables laced with carcinogens and bacterial diseases. These problems are only a drop of water next to the ocean of trouble this planet is facing. Enough Is Enough! It’s time we clean up our act!

In a time of need like this the world has only one place to turn. Gardeners, I’m talking to you! It’s time we put our heads and hearts together to keep this planet from self-destructing. Giving Tree Gardens is happy to announce that we’ve come up with a plan to guide brave gardeners everywhere in their heroic efforts. Our plan is strong in that it’s simple and ready to be adapted to the creativity, lives, and yards of anyone willing to pick up a shovel and work toward a better, healthier day.

In this special edition of The Seed, Giving Tree Gardens is proud to announce the launch of our new free educational program: Healthy Yards, Healthy Lives, 7 Steps for Growing Personal and Global Health in Your Own Back Yard!

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The Seed 21: Change Begins At Home

2009-04-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Let’s begin this month’s newsletter with a riddle:

What does a parking meter hold, a baby need, and a politician always promise?

You guessed it, Change!

Recently there’s been a lot said in this country about the subject of change. It seems to me as though many of my fellow countrywomen and countrymen have had their hopes for America renewed by the symbolic election of Barack Obama, a man who promised in his victory speech that, “Change has come to America”. Well this humble gardener couldn’t be more ready for some changes in America! The changes I’m most excited about however, will require much more then symbolism and politician’s patriotic promises. Real change is as inevitable as the snow that will soon blanket our yards, and once real change has taken hold, it will effect every part of what we see and do just as the snow changes the landscape. One big question many Americans are forming for themselves right now is "How do we stay ahead of the learning curve of change?" Many of us have a sense that there are going to be adjustments that need to be made to the way we live our daily lives if we are going to keep ourselves and our communities livable and economically viable, but what will these changes look and feel like?

Change is what makes a gardeners life exciting. We watch for the seasonal changes in our yards, we rearrange garden beds to give us a different sense or feeling in our landscape, we happily observe trees growing taller and perennials spreading out. Change comes as natural to a gardener as the sunset or the moonrise, so this gardener has a few suggestions for how Americans could change the way they live with their landscapes, while positively impacting their own lives, and the way the entire community functions. This month’s newsletter is dedicated to long needed change, and the capacity we each have to make this world a healthier, happier, and easier place to live.

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The Seed 20: Gardens on Franklin

2009-04-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

The Seward Co-op Grocery and Deli on Franklin Avenue in South Minneapolis has been a source of growth and nourishment for the entire community. Healthy, organically grown produce, wonderfully prepared foods, and customer service that is second to none are just a few of the regular offerings of this fine institution.

Giving Tee Gardens has been blessed with the opportunity to work with The Seward Co-op for the last four years in order to create yet another high quality daily offering, namely an organically maintained blooming landscape that offers year round beauty. Thanks to the teamwork between these two organizations, what was once a drab parking lot is now a space that the community can enjoy.

While the co-op moves locations to a few blocks further East on Franklin Avenue this winter, Giving Tree gardeners will be readying our garden supplies, and sharpening our shovels for the beginning of our next phase of gardening along Franklin Avenue the following spring.

In honor of a job well begun, and much more gardening fun to come I give you this volume of The Seed, an homage to one of my favorite gardens at one of my favorite places in all the world The Seward Co-op Grocery and Deli.

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The Seed 19: Mile High Gardens

2009-04-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

Wherever I travel I visit gardens. I’ve visited fancy Parisian topiary gardens, I drank coconut milk fresh from the machete sliced hull in tropical Jamaican gardens, I’ve admired the proud overflowing window boxes of cottages in the German alps, and I’ve wondered at the selections found in Costa Rican garden stores. It seems everywhere I go I can connect with the space and the people easily through my love of gardens and plants. In many of the gardens that I’ve visited I’ve found gardeners hard at work planting, preparing the soil, or maintaining their precious little piece of earth.

Gardeners seem to be an easy lot to connect with in general, and when I’m visiting with gardeners in places new to me, I just love asking folks about the local methods, climate, seasons, soils and plant selections. This month I had an opportunity to connect with gardeners in mile high, Denver Colorado as I visited the city and explored the famous Denver Botanic Gardens.

Lucky for myself, and anyone else Denver bound, the locals are a friendly and helpful lot. I found plenty of gardeners to chat with throughout Denver and enjoyed myself thoroughly walking through the amazing garden displays at the Denver Botanic Gardens, and visiting with the gardeners who shape them.

When talking with gardeners from other areas I’m always looking out for the similarities and differences between my gardens at home, and those that I’m learning about. The range of possibilities seems to expand when I learn what folks in different parts of the world are up to. Below is a little of what I learned while visiting the Denver Botanic Gardens.

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The Seed 18: Garden Design 101

2009-04-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

Garden design can be a daunting subject even for some of us with green thumbs. I’ve encountered lots of folks who are somewhat mystified by the abilities of others to design attractive gardens. I must admit I recall a time when although I’d had years of experience working in nurseries, I was intimidated by the prospect of making my own garden designs. As with any investment in time, energy, or money, it’s important to feel successful in order to boost confidence, and I’ve come to the conclusion that success in garden design is achievable for anybody willing to be patient with themselves and their garden.

After a few years experience designing gardens, I found that there’s an important learning process behind every successful design. It should come as no surprise that the first learning curve in any garden design involves plants. Take a moment to consider the space you wish to garden. Is it sunny, or shady, or a little bit of both? Is your space wet or dry? Now take this simple checklist to the garden store and begin to open the doors to your imagination. Have your friendly neighborhood garden store clerk show you around to the plants that fit your site. Before buying anything make a checklist of what you find. Start with the plants that catch your eye. Mark their shapes, sizes, textures, bloom times, and leaf and bloom colors. Look for plants that contrast with each other in color and texture. Choose plants in a variety of height ranges. Have a look at trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals. The more plants you consider for your landscape, the more informed you can feel about your choices.

Once you’ve made a complete checklist of all the plants that catch your eye, sit with your list for a while in the space to be gardened. Take in everything that surrounds the space. You’re going to want to choose plants that work well with their visual environment so determine what it is that defines the edges of the space. Is it up against a house or fence? You wouldn’t for instance want to place a large shrub in front of a window, as that may block the view, but you may want to use some plants for blocking the sight of utility meters or a compost pile. Consider whether you’ve got a canopy to tie into visually through the use of large shrubs.

Next imagine the plants on your list at their full size and start by placing these imaginary creatures in the new garden. I like to build from the back of a space toward the front starting in back with the tallest plants. At this point it may be helpful to get out some sticks or marking tools to poke into the ground wherever you think the plants could go. Once you have found potential homes for the largest of your selections, begin to place markers for the mid-sized and smaller plants as well. With some smaller plants you may want to plan for groupings to be planted instead of individuals. I love for my gardens to draw my eye up and in, so I like to have very short plants in the front, and create a sort of asymmetrical stair step effect by building upward in height till my eyes find the tallest plants in back. For the health of your gardens it’s important to plan the space so that it’s covered in green. Too often I see gardens that are mostly wood mulch with plants scattered throughout. We don’t want your new garden to end up looking like the gas station or bank up the road, so instead of planning to use mulch, plan for ground covering plants in and around the larger plants. After you’ve found a place for all of your plant selections step back and imagine them all together. While imagining the new garden notice if there are any empty spots. Ask yourself if there is enough variation in height, and texture. Determine whether there is enough collaboration of textures as well, do some of the plants shapes or textures get repeated throughout the garden thus pulling the eye along? Make sure your list will create a garden in bloom from the time the ground thaws in the spring till the hard freezes of fall hit. Consider the winter season. Ornamental grasses can be a beautiful accompaniment for the garden as their slim textures will still be present throughout winters as well. Many plants will act as snow catches through the cold months giving us gardeners a reminder of the glorious growing season past, while providing us hope for the warmth and growth to come.

It is now be time to fill in any weak spots on your plant list and then head back to the garden store to fill up your family truckster with all of your green selections. After you’ve prepared the soil with compost you’re going to be ready to place your plants in their potential homes. Remember the key word here is potential as building any garden is a sculpting process, and your plant placement may need adjusting once you see the plants in the spot that you’d imagined them. Move the plants around until your satisfied with their placement and…. You’re ready to plant!

If you thought that up until now you’ve been very patient with this process, you may be surprised at how much more patience is required to enjoy watching your garden fill in and become itself. Just like with our children, we may have hopes and desires for what they will become, we may even spend our lives guiding them along, but ultimately our children and our gardens are a reflection of so much more then our desires and hopes. The things we love have a life of their own, and the best any gardener can hope for is to be available to offer guidance throughout the growing process.

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The Seed 17: Garden Melodies

2009-04-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

What is it that makes some gardens so inviting while other gardens seem like the same old landscaping? Health is a very important factor in making a space seem beautiful, but even some healthy gardens don’t draw in or excite the eye. It is also important for a space to feel balanced. Some folks would understand balance to mean symmetry, but even symmetrically planted spaces can feel out of balance if the yard surrounding the garden isn’t taken into account. New and unusual plantings are yet another way to stimulate a gardener’s eye, but again without the proper context, health, or balance unusual plants may just look out of place. Once a gardener learns to compost, the health of their gardens can be almost assured. Finding balance in your landscape can be a bit more challenging until you learn to view your garden in three dimensions.

Balance is found by making your new plantings come into context with everything that shares the space of the new plantings. To find balance I always look to the tallest elements in a landscape first. The tallest elements are usually trees and / or buildings. A planting that is properly in balance will allow the eye to stair step down from the highest point in the landscape. Often times this will mean having large under story shrubs near trees or buildings, and then shorter shrubs or perennials surrounding the tall shrubs.

Part of what can be discovered in the process of balancing the taller and shorter elements in a garden is a sense of rhythm. This sense of rhythm will play out in terms of height as well as length. Think of your garden for a moment as though it were one of your favorite songs. In most of the songs we like there is a continuous flow of notes arranged into chords and these chords into melodies. If each plant is a note in a song, and each grouping of plants is a chord, then we can see how we can create different chords by grouping different plants. Once a few chord groupings of plants are made it is only a matter of arranging these groupings in a somewhat repetitious matter so as to create a melody.

Some of my favorite music has a sort of raw, un-produced sound. I liken this sound to a natural environment where there is repetition, but never exact repetition so the eye is always surprised in its journeys. Changing the plant groupings somewhat throughout your garden will probably only add to the natural, un-produced feel of your landscape. That visual connection with the natural world could be enough to turn your boring yard into a landscape sanctuary, where just like when we listen to a great song, we can set down our stress and be transported to a world that makes sense.

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The Seed 16: Beneficial Organisms

2009-04-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

No Plant is an Island

The garden is a truly magical place. For every gift of the garden that we can see, taste, or feel there’s a million hidden gifts that we may never be able to perceive except in our imaginations. Imagine the micro-cosmic universe of the soil. Tiny soil fungi called Mycorrhizae live partially in the soil, and partially in the root hairs of the plants. These soil fungi aren’t free loaders though as they live symbiotically feeding and watering the plant roots in return for carbohydrates given by the grateful host. These fascinating fungi are only the final step in a process of turning nitrogen in our atmosphere into nitrates that our garden plants can easily absorb to help them grow. This nitrogen fixing process is a story involving a host of characters from the friendly mycorrhizae, to the soil detrivores like worms and millipedes, to the nitrogen fixing roots of legumes like beans and peas. This incredible, complex tale of converting nitrogen in the air into food for the creatures of this planet is just one of the hidden, magical stories our gardens can tell if only we learn to listen.

I’ve heard it said that all of the problems on earth could be solved in the garden. Yep… I think that’s pretty well put. I see that much magic and potential in gardens, but I also believe that the inverse is equally true. Most of the problems in the garden can be solved by looking to the earth. After all the beauty of a garden is but a small reflection of the magic of the whole earth. In this newsletter we’ll explore a few of the magic solutions that wise old Mother Earth has presented for all gardeners to learn from.

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The Seed 15: A Season to Begin Again

2009-04-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Long chill spring times like this one afford gardeners plenty of time to split and divide perennials. Some folks take advantage of the extra cool weather, using this time to re-vamp tired soils in existing garden beds. I’ve already consulted this season with quite a few folks who just wish to make their current garden beds look a little more healthy, vibrant, diverse, and full. I’ve been telling these folks it must be their lucky year. In years like this we have plenty of time to lift out the newly emerging perennial plants, re-work the garden soils where they came from with a healthy amount of compost, and replant the original plants together with some exciting new selections. In past extended cool seasons I’ve had impressive results from this very practice. I helped a friend through this process a few years back and he referred to the farm-compost that we worked into his soil as “super-poo” by the end of the growing season. I always tell folks the same thing, once the bed is empty of plants or grass, just turn in 6 inches of compost with a shovel or garden fork, leaving large chunks of existing soil where it’s possible. Once the soil and compost is turned together use a couple more inches of compost as a mulch layer. Plant, water, and Stand Back! Transplanting existing iris, coneflower, sedum, and a host of other perennials in this manner leads to such abundance that you may just have to back up after you water in your new gardens so you’re not shoved aside by the rapid growth! If your replacing sod and you haven’t got any transplants to fill the space then starting with baby plants in a temperate season like this is also an excellent idea, as the cool weather helps reduce the shock of transplanting seedlings or starter plants. In the St. Paul yard show to the left you can see how we’ve reworked the soil, and replaced the struggling sod with a garden of baby plants that are already showing signs they’re enjoying their new home. As this garden fills in the roots will penetrate the earth sending water deeper then grass could ever thereby feeding the trees in the yard and the water tables below. The diversity of plant life in this garden will be a home to birds, bees, butterflies, and a menagerie of other native wildlife, yet another task that a sod lawn could never perform. It may just be this gardener’s opinion, but the new garden should surely be more delightful for the passing neighbors then even a perfectly healthy grass lawn could ever be. We’ll be sure to check back in with this young garden later in the season to see what our fresh start has produced. Sometimes in life we wish we could just start over. If your compost bin is half empty then maybe you’ll be thinking how much work all this sounds like, but if your compost bin is half full then maybe you’ll see how lucky we are to be given the rare opportunity to begin again.

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The Seed 14: Waking Up With Spring

2009-04-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

My first act of gardening this spring was to prune an apple tree. Late in the month of March before the snow and slush made it’s last hurrah, I visited my friend Valerie’s back yard to get her apple tree cleaned up in time for the growing season. Valerie and I paced back and forth around the tree spying branches to cut back. We worked for about a half hour to remove any branches that were rubbing each other, as well as any branches that were crisscrossing the canopy of the tree, or too tall for us to reach with a ladder. By the time we were done the tree had a shape that could be likened to a wine glass, which should make the fruits on this producing creature even more accessible for Valerie and her grandkids.

Even before this early gardening trip, I was noticing the first signs of spring pushing out of the gardens, yards, and parks in the city. Plantings along the South sides of buildings are among the first to wake up in the urban environment. After that comes the forming maple buds that mark the clear blue sky with thousands of tiny red and yellow dots, and with them a flurry of winged activity in the tree tops. Vibrant male cardinals, as loud visually as they are vocally are easy to pick out on the bare branches of neighborhood trees. Mallard ducks can be seen flying overhead in pairs throughout the day. The colorful world seems to be stretching and yawning, waking itself from the long white dream called winter.

Now that the snow is gone, I’ve been a busy gardener. It feels therapeutic to peel back the layer of hay that protected the plants from the drying winter air, winds, and sun. This layer of winter mulch caught all the garbage, salt, and leaves that was thrown or blew on it throughout the cold months. As I pull off the spent dirty hay to bring it to compost I think of how it can be helpful for all kinds of creatures, to peel off the protective layers that they build around themselves in this stressful world. The farm compost that I layer on top of the freshly raked gardens dress them up just as much as it promises to re-invigorate their soils for another season of growth. I love a good metaphor and there’s nothing like spreading a healthy layer of shit around a garden to remind me that if we allow it to compost and change, all the shit that we create together will eventually settle in to make us healthier and stronger then before we made it. At least I really hope this concept applies to gardeners as much as to gardens.

While I’ve been out in the backyard or over at the Co-Op gardening I've had plenty of breaks in the raking and shoveling due to all the folks that stop by to visit. You’ll get no complaints from me about these welcome interruptions. Talking with passing friends and neighbors I can see moments of vibrancy that remind me of the cardinals and maple buds in the tree tops. Like the bulbs and perennials slowly pushing out of the ground until you can hardly even imagine a world where they didn’t cast a proud shadow, the folks in this city emerge in the spring warmth from beneath thick winter layers to show the world their own vibrant colors.

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The Seed 13: Sue's Garden

2009-04-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

Sue Hensel is about as cool a neighbor as a person could ask for. I first met Sue when we worked together on a neighborhood committee. One of the goals of our group of neighbors was to foster a greater sense of safety in our neighborhood. I remember one meeting in particular when Sue invited all the neighbors over to her art gallery to have a neighborhood art night. Sue opened the doors to her gallery and her heart as she welcomed all us neighbors into her creative space. I remember thinking how lucky the neighborhood is to have someone so dynamic and giving. Sue and I easily became friends, so when she asked me to come up with some ideas for her landscape I was more than happy to help. Together we thought up a plan and soon Giving Tree Gardens was hard at work turning Sue’s yard, which at the time she deemed “the dead zone”, into a functional, beautiful space. As Sue and I worked together to drastically transform her landscape, I realized that a transformation was also occurring within me. Working close with such an accomplished and openhearted artist as Sue gave me the opportunity to discover and express the artist within myself. For this month’s issue of The Seed, I sat down with my friend and client Sue Hensel to talk about the garden that helped a gardener grow.

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The Seed 11: Margaret's Garden

2009-04-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

Acomplished gardener Margaret Wilke graciously invited Russ Henry, owner of Giving Tree Gardens, into her home for tea, cookies, and a plate full of garden talk early this January. Here are some excerpts from that garden chat.

Russ-“ I remember when we began working together you were a bit nervous about certain aspects of this project, what was it that made you nervous and how have things turned out?”

Margaret- “Well it was quite a big space and I wondered if it might be too much work. Could I make it look nice? It was just a bigger project than I had ever tackled before. I still have aesthetic concerns about how to balance things out, but I feel more comfortable now that I won’t make too many big mistakes.

If I do, . . . Oh, well.”

R-Well, we’ve still got shovels!!

M-“Yes, that’s right! The front yard was a bit of a surprise to me. I didn’t realize how different gardening in the front yard is from gardening in the back yard! In the back yard you’re kind of doing your own thing. You don’t worry if your hair’s looking crazy. In the front yard it’s a whole different deal! The whole world is out there having a good time watching you! I remember one guy in a pick-up truck who rolled down his window and said, “Hey I like your garden, but I don’t like where that plant is over there.”

R-“Drive by criticism? Well that’s one way to meet a neighbor.... Did gardening in the front yard help you connect with other gardeners in the neighborhood, aside from the drive by type?"

M-“There are two other front yard gardens just half a block down. One fellow has quite a few native plants in his front garden. This was my first year out there in the front. I think next year we’ll probably end up sharing plants. That would be fun!"

R-"Can you gage what kind of effect your new garden has had on the neighborhood as a whole?"

M-“Oh my goodness! It’s fun! … People really raved about it! The neighborhood is very enthusiastic about it, which is just great…. I had a whole contingent of people from the annual neighborhood picnic that wanted a tour and they came over right then!"

R- "We used a whole lot of compost in this garden, and at first you wondered if we needed as much as we were using, how did that turn out?"

M-“Well, as I’ve told you before, the compost saved the day, especially since we had such a hot dry summer. We ended up using 11 yards of compost in the front yard! We are on what’s called the Anoka Sandplain here. We have about two inches of topsoil, and then sand, sand, sand as far as you down as you can dig. Water, of course, just runs right through it. When it did finally rain, the compost just soaked it up like a sponge, which was great! Then it held the moisture so that even though it might seem dry on the surface, if I got down into it, [the soil] would still be moist underneath. I did break down and water occasionally during the hot dry spells, but not nearly as much as I would have to if we had just put a little bit of compost on the surface of all that sand. I also used quite a bit of my own compost when I planted things.

My family considers me a little bit over the top about my compost. When you make your own compost it has eggshells, coffee grounds, broccoli stems, plus all the spent flower stems and other green material from the garden in it. There’s more variety of nutrients in it than in the bulk-produced compost that’s mostly leaves and manure. When I plant something, particularly perennials, I always put some of my own compost in with it. I never have enough! It’s amazing how fast it goes. My family knows that if anybody’s caught dropping a banana peel in the trashcan instead of into the compost bucket, they’re in REAL trouble!! My husband will attest to that.”

R- “Any big plans for next season? What’s going to happen out there?”

M-“I want to make the new garden bigger. I still think there’s too much grass! I would like to figure out how to create more of a framework of evergreen material around which I plant annuals and perennials. The challenge with such a big public prominent garden is how to get it to look like something in the winter. It needs more structure, more architectural pieces. Figuring that out will be my next challenge.”

R-“What words of garden wisdom could you share with a less experienced gardener such as myself?”

M-“Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. They are just part of learning. Even with experience there are always surprises. Sometimes a plant that has done well for years will “croak” for no explainable reason. The one right next to it might be fine. Then a plant you thought was a “goner” suddenly flourishes. It’s just that there are so many variables. Light, moisture, bugs, timing of the heat or cold. There are a lot more things going on than we know about. The mystery of it is wonderful, if you just accept that there’s going to be a lot that is unexplainable. It’s not fully predictable. If you want fully predictable, then . . .”

R-“Rock mulch?”

M-“Yeah, that or the standard fare. But that’s not for me . . .

I need surprises.”

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The Seed 10: Variety is the Spice of Life

2009-04-22T09:55:00.000-07:00

We’ve all had one of those jobs. One of those same-thing-every-day-carpal-tunnel-for- the-soul kind of jobs. You've probably endured through weeks and months that left your brain throbbing like George Jetson’s finger after a hard day of button pushing. In fact any monotonous, dull, or unvaried interaction we have with the world around us leaves us feeling drained. How would your body feel if it had to eat the same food every day? What if you had to hear the same song every time you wanted to listen to music? Life would quickly begin to get a bit humdrum if all your choices could be counted on one finger. That draining sensation that accompanies a lack of variety in our lives is ultimately unhealthy because our bodies, minds, and spirits are biologically required to draw inspiration from a multitude of the earth’s gifts. Man can not live on bread alone, Right? ...In this way the life that is created on earth is born interdependent with a wide variety of the creatures already here. Yep, you know what I’m talking about here, the whole “web of life” idea. It’s not just a cute Disney movie theme. Actually it’s the way life works on this planet to create a healthy vibrant ecosystem, an ecosystem that is capable of covering this planet with teeming life from the driest desert to the depths of the ocean.

So if all the space from the hot Sahara to the bottom of the Pacific is practically frolicking with a smorgasbord of life, why shouldn’t we enjoy that same luxurious richness in our own space at home?

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The Seed 9: Reduce Your Ecological Footprint

2009-04-22T09:49:00.000-07:00

Fear not brave gardeners, I’m not suggesting that you go out and get a smaller pair of garden clogs to squeeze into. Instead I’d ask folks everywhere to examine the impact of our lawns, landscapes, and lifestyles on the local ecosystem. Think of your yard as a type of footprint that falls on the earth. Now ask yourself if that footfall is delicate and well placed, or are you just plodding along squishing whatever’s in your path? I know I’m preaching to the eco-friendly choir here, but I figure even a free range organic choir could use some good hymns when they go rambling into the world singing their big green ideas. The big idea here is that perhaps with a little honest examination we can find ways at home to reduce the size of our own footprint on the environment.

Oh Really???

One of the most intriguing things I encounter on a regular basis is hearing folks talk about sustainable concepts like they’re so new-fangled, out there, or fringe. Oh yeah, I get it, because the idea that we should keep living as a species, and that the earth should not die simply because we want luxury, that’s just so far fetched. This always leads me to ask the question,

What is so wierd about people not wanting to kill themselves?

Whenever I encounter a mass of folks blindly harming themselves with their own philosophies, customs, or beliefs I sit and wonder who might be profiting from these seemingly self-inflicted wounds, but then that’s just silly, who could possibly profit from millions of people pouring unneeded dangerous chemicals on their lawns every year??? Certainly not we organic gardeners, I can’t make a dime trying to sell my happy healthy clients on new-fangled, out-there, fringe ideas like better life through chemistry!

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The Seed 8: Put Your Garden To Bed

2009-04-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

A heavy frost has laid itself down on your garden bed. The leaves have wilted and turned color. Now before you go off to cover you gardens with a warm blanket of hay, you may find yourself wondering exactly what to cut back and what to leave standing in the garden.

The Minnesota wintertime landscape can be a bit stark. Usually by December most of what we see is covered in snow. At this point of the year, since your landscape is essentially a field of white it can be aesthetically important to have some texture in the garden to break up the white monotony. Choose what to cut back in your garden based first on whether the plant in question will stand tall enough to catch snow and look pretty in the winter. Any herbaceous* perennial that stands shorter than about 12 inches is probably not going to be seen over the accumulated winter snow. Many of these shorter plants end up a soggy brown mush in the spring, and so it will just be easier to cut them back in the fall. Hostas are in this category. It can be challenging to make a garden bed look tidy in the spring with squishy rotted hosta leaves all over it. I like to leave standing, coneflower, persicaria, astilbe, mullien, milkweeds, and most grasses. Any tall plant that will catch some snow and cause a little texture to pop out of the white winter garden should be left to stand proud.

Be careful! There are a couple of common mistakes to avoid while performing cutbacks. First, there are a few plants that are deceptively evergreen. The first fall that I worked in gardens, I got myself into a bit of trouble with “the boss” for cutting yucca back. Yucca, hens and chicks, pachysandra, and some low sedum are all types of evergreens that at a glance appear as though they may be herbaceous. Some plants, such as St. Johns wort and Russian sage can be thought of as being categorized somewhere between an herbaceous plant and a shrub. These plants have partially woody stems. Plants like these will not fully die back to the ground, and if left standing they will sprout greenery in the spring from the dormant soft wood of their stems. Perhaps worse than cutting back an evergreen plant, would be cutting into the green thumb of a gardener. God know's I've gawked at many a galling gory gash gouged in good gardeners gloves after gripping greenery for cutting without regard or guidance. That is to say, please don’t cut your fingers off, at least not in the garden.

When a hard frost comes along you must snip it. When there’s dead leaves in your palm you must snip it. Unless of course it looks good through the winter, then wait till spring and snip it into shape! Let the evergreens alone, and for goodness sake, snip the gardens, not the gardener! It’s not to late to snip it. Snip it good**.

*Herbaceous: A plant that does not have a woody stem, and dies back to the ground every year.

**Snip it good: An explanation for all those who are too young, too old, or for those like me whose parents didn’t let you listen to rock music in 1980. This is a play on the 80’s new wave song called Whip it. Thank you Devo!

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The Seed 7: To Mulch or Not To Mulch

2009-04-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Mystery Mulch Unmasked!

Mulch is any material you use to cover a garden bed in order to preserve moisture, moderate the soil temperature, and suppress weed growth. All types of mulch are grouped into two basic categories, organic and inorganic. Types of organic mulch include compost, hay, leaves, wood chips, bark, peanut hulls, pine needles, animal manure, ground corncobs, and even recycled materials such as recycled wood or paper. Perhaps the most commonly used form of inorganic mulch is crushed stone. Plastic or fabric sheeting is often also used, sometimes in conjunction with other organic mulch such as wood chips. Both organic and inorganic mulches sold in retail stores are commonly little more than reclaimed industrial waste, as is the case with wood chips, which land developers must pay to get rid of before retailers bag it and sell it to us. Some of the newer post industrial waste products available for adventurous gardeners include shredded tires, aluminum foil, and my personal least favorite sewer sludge. For our gardening purposes here we will make one more distinction amongst mulches as we separate them into the categories of summer and winter mulch. Summer mulches are most of the above listed items such as wood and animal manure, while winter mulches are those temporary mulches such as leaves or hay, which we use to insulate our northern gardens from the drying winter wind and sun. Now that we know what we’re dealing with here let’s have a closer look at some of the more commonly used mulches.

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The Seed 6: Beat the Heat

2009-04-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

Hot enough for you? This is the perennial question that millions of Minnesotans seed their greetings with every year late in the month of July. Just like clockwork hardy northerners get to experience a touch of the tropics from the middle of July through the middle of August when the temperatures and humidity levels soar into the 90’s. It is at this sweltering time of year when many of the fruits of our gardening labors begin to pay off, and the legacy of our gardening mistakes are made clear. Fresh tomatoes, summer squash, and visiting Monarch butterflies are among the riches being touted in some of my friends gardens while other friends of mine it would seem have nothing to talk about but the terrible heat and drought. Why are some of us enjoying the heat like a party in a sauna, while others treat this weather as though it were a plague? Do the gods just like some of us better? Or do we have any say in the outcome of this gardening riddle?
In this months newsletter we’ll explore a few ways to “beat the heat”, and along the way we’ll see if we can turn one man’s plague into another man’s party.

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The Seed 5: Ornamental Edibles

2009-04-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

We've all heard that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. While this saying may have impacted many a baker or cake maker, we gardeners can whole-heartedly ignore it. Why? Because as any good gardener can tell you, you can have your beautiful garden and eat it too!

With limited garden space in the city, and a ever rising cost of store bought foods many urban gardeners are finding the benefits of planting their city yards with lovely edible plants.

“Let them eat cake” is the response infamously attributed to Marie Antoinette after being told that her loyal subjects could no longer afford bread. Perhaps if the lady Marie would have been trained in the gardening arts (or maybe if she just wasn’t so cruel) her answer would have been something more like “Let them grow gardens”.

Many city residents are concerned that their lawn space is too small or too shaded to grow edible plants. Some folks worry that edible plants may be less than lovely, and they don’t want to compromise their desire for a beautiful landscape. We urban folk can also sometimes forget that we have the power to care for some of our most basic needs in our own back yards.

I love to ask my new garden clients if they want to use edible plants in their landscape. Many of these new clients are surprised that this is even an option in the city. Many still are more surprised when I begin to tell them about the myriad of lovely edible plants that are available for their small, sometimes shaded urban yards. I assume that many folks picture rows of corn and soybeans when I first ask about using edible plants in their landscapes. This imagery is quickly replaced however when I begin to describe what types of edible plants I use, and how I use them.

Raspberries can be a very useful plant in the urban landscape. With their abundant fruiting and scratchy thorns raspberries can not only produce delicious fruit, but when planted near windows or fences they can also act as a green security guard for your property. Strawberries tend to be prolific growers and mix well with other low plants to form beautiful ground cover. Asparagus is easily blended into a sunny perennial border with its graceful ferny foliage. We’ve all seen apple trees in Minnesota, but many other fruit trees can grow in our northern climate as well. Plums, pears, and cherries will all thrive in a city lot if they are protected from the drying winter winds and sun. I’ll often suggest the use of Serviceberry as an under story tree. Serviceberry, Chokeberry, and Chokecherry will all abundantly produce sweet berries even in the shade. Nanking cherry is a reliable performer. Prolific white flowers followed by a stampede of red or white sweet cherries make Nanking one of my favorite edible shrubs. Some edible plants are very showy such as the twisted branching Contorted Filbert, which stands out well as a specimen plant in highly visible garden spots where it will produce edible filberts (a.k.a. Hazelnut). Smaller annual edibles and herbs are wonderfully attractive when used in a perennial garden. Kale and chard are two very nutritious plants that are available in a rainbow of colors. Sage, thyme, lavender, rosemary, parsley, chives, basil, cilantro, and so many more herbs are perfect in containers or at the gardens edge. If you need to find a fast growing vine to cover your fence or trellis consider one of the many varietys of edible grapes or perhaps hops vine. Either seclection is a perfect start for gardeners who wish to brew their own wine or beer.

When planning the edible landscape make sure to ask yourself a few questions. First you need to determine what if any maintenance is needed for the plants you are considering. Cherry trees and hazelnuts are relatively maintenance free whereas apples and pears will require pruning and clean up. There are many books available to help the novice gardener through the process of learning to grow edible plants. Look for books that are tailored to the specific plants that you are growing, as these tend to be more informative than those books that try to show us how to grow it all. Be sure also that any new gardening books you get to help you with edibles are focused on organic practices. Many gardening books are written with the sponsorship and guidance of the pesticide industry. Avoid these books and all of the health and environmental consequences of following their advice. Another question to consider about your edible plants is how they are pollinated. Many fruiting trees and shrubs will need to be cross- pollinated with another variety of the same plant in order to produce fruit. So a ‘Polaris’ blueberry will not produce fruit unless it is planted near another variety of blueberry such as ‘Northblue’.

Even a quick glance at the available edible ornamental plants will prove that there are a myriad of choices for attractive edible landscaping plants. With all the chemically altered farming practices and processed foods lining the shelves of grocery stores it seems as though the queens and kings of our time would declare to the hungry populace “let them eat fake”. A gardener knows better. We know we can have our enchanting, organic gardens, and eat them too.

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The Seed 4: Made in the Shade

2009-04-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

Made in the Shade

Urban gardeners everywhere are looking to make the most of their limited city lots. Unfortunately many gardeners feel that without direct sunlight they won’t be able to create beautiful gardens. I hear it so many times: “I’d love to put a garden back there, but it’s just too shady”, well take heart brave gardeners! Creating your own unique and beautiful shade garden will be simple with a little planning and research. Before you go get your shovels out CLICK HERE for a few garden tips to help you have it "made in the shade".

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The Seed 3: Plant a Garden, Save a River

2009-04-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Rain gardens are quickly catching on as an effective and beautiful means of controlling rainwater runoff. In Minneapolis and St. Paul our current storm water management system rushes rainwater from rooftops, parking lots, and roads directly to the Mississippi river. This rapid inflow of rainwater warms up the river causing algae to grow so fast that it deprives other aquatic life of oxygen. Along the way to the river the rainwater also picks up and brings with it substances that are harmful to the rivers health such as motor oil, fertilizer, and road salt. Residents of the twin cities are finding out that by planting rain gardens they can help deal with this problem in their own back yards.

As the rain seeps slowly down the path of the plants roots in a rain garden it is filtered into underground aquifers. This natural system of filtering allows the water that passes through to be both cleaned of the toxic chemicals and cooled from the heat that it has picked up on it’s way to the garden. This clean cool water is then passed into lakes, rivers, and streams ready to sustain native aquatic animals and plants. Gardens that capture rainwater offer benefits far beyond improved water quality for the people who live near them. Perhaps equally important as the positive effect on aquatic life produced in rain gardens is the fact that when planted with native plants they become a stopping place for migrating songbirds and butterflies. These visitors bring with them an immeasurable natural and aesthetic value. When done correctly rain gardens can be a cheap and easy way of maintaining a lawn, which can add beauty and value to the property. Once a rain garden is established it won’t require any irrigation like so many gardens and lawns. Responsibly managing the water run off from any property will also minimize land erosion and structural degradation of buildings that can occur near water down spouts.

Simply put, rain gardens are a beautiful, cost effective, and environmentally responsible way to maintain a property.

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