We had a booth at the Wild Ones spring conference on Saturday, and at the Chisago Lakes Home & Garden show this weekend. Upcoming are the Isanti County Master Gardeners Burst into Spring on March 6, and the Chisago County Master Gardeners Town and Country Expo on March 13. We are also planning to be at the Living Green Expo at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds on May 1 & 2. Watch this space for more information!

Here’s a cool new idea – celebrate Christmas with an elegant, fragrant northwoods Balsam Fir and you’ll be helping to protect our old growth White Pine forests from wildfire.

These trees are harvested as part of a best management practices program to protect and foster an old growth stand of White Pine trees near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Often, a conifer forest can become clogged with an understory of younger trees such as Balsam Fir that provide easy fuel for wild fires. The more fuel down low in the forest, the hotter and more damaging will be any wild fire that comes through. An important conservation practice in mature stands is to remove many of these smaller trees.

Fortunately, these young 7 to 12 foot Balsam Firs make beautiful traditional-looking Christmas Trees. Since they must be cut this fall and winter anyway, why not turn waste into a cherished and responsible Holiday decoration? You can do this by pre-ordering your Christmas tree from the Urban Earth garden center co-operative in south Minneapolis. Stop by and see a sample – it’s in their entry lobby.

7-12 foot tree: $50 ea.

2-4 foot “Tabletop tree”:  $25.00 ea.

Contact Urban Earth Co-op for further details.

910 W. 36th St.

Minneapolis, MN 55408

(612) 824-0066

photo by Roy Robison

Did you know that fall is a great time for planting perennials and generally sprucing up your garden? Your garden has made it through another spring and summer. You have some ideas of what has worked and what hasn’t. The heat stress and mosquitos are gone. But the soil is still warm and conducive to good root growth.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, October 8 so you can join Landscape Alternatives’ Roy Robison in a presentation about the benefits and opportunities of gardening with native plants in the fall. Bring your native plant questions and ideas. Roy has several decades experience helping people experience the wonders of native plants in the landscape.

This last session for the season will begin at 7:00 PM at Urban Earth Co-op at 910 W. 36th St. Minneapolis, MN. $8 nonmember $5 members. Why not become an Urban Earth member today?!

For questions call Urban Earth at (612) 824-0066 or Landscape Alternatives at (651) 257-4629.

We are proud to announce the delivery of plants for the new Center City industrial park development’s rain gardens (12 in all)!

OK, it has been a busy summer and we’ve neglected the blog along with a lot of weeds in the garden! The biggest (and most enjoyable!) distraction has been the preparation for our daughter’s wedding. We hosted the reception in the old barns at our home farm which took a lot of hard work on the part of the wedding couple and family. Let’s call it wedding sweat equity. We scrubbed every inch of the place- several times!
 

The wedding went without a hitch and everyone enjoyed the barn dance afterward.