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Author Archives: Mary Schier
Insects Arriving Early
Yesterday I had a close encounter of the delightful kind. I had stopped at Bachman’s Cedar Acres on the way home from the Twin Cities and was looking at some dianthus for a spot on the rocks in my front … Continue reading
Something is Growing in the Straw Bales
I haven’t planted anything in the straw bales yet, but something is growing! I have a big crop of mushrooms in one bale and a smaller crop of grass popping out of some of the other bales. Both of these … Continue reading
Hardening Off: Seedlings on Wheels
I haven’t written much about seed starting this spring, because I’ve cut back on the number of plants I’m starting. After several years of seed-starting efforts, I’ve figured out that I do best starting tomatoes, Yvonne’s giant salvia and maybe … Continue reading
Posted in Build it!, Seed starting
Tagged Colleen Vanderlinden, hardening off, seed starting
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Weed of the Week: Stinging Nettle
My hand is tingling as I type this because yesterday I pulled some stinging nettle without wearing gloves. Ouch, ouch, ouch. I usually make this stupid mistake once a year. I see it in the garden, I grab without thinking, … Continue reading
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Free Trees!
In honor of Arbor Day, the Rice County Master Gardeners will be handing out free tree seedlings today at several locations around the county. In Northfield, we’ll be at Just Food Co-op starting at 3 p.m. The trees are provided … Continue reading
Posted in Master Gardeners, Trees
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Straw Bales Heating Up
I’m not sure if the warmer temperatures yesterday were the main factor or if decomposition is afoot, but my straw bales are starting to heat up. Yesterday, I detected definite heat from the bales and one of the bales registered … Continue reading
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Weed of the Week: Wild Parsnip
Since our early/weird spring started more than a month ago, I’ve been noticing more weeds and more unusual weeds in my yard. I hope others are not having this problem, but in case you are, I’m going to do a … Continue reading
Taking the Straw Bales’ Temperatures
I have been checking the internal temperature of my straw bales to see if they are starting to decompose inside. According to the information from Joel Karsten at strawbalegardens.com, the bales should start to heat up about now. I checked … Continue reading
New Straw Bale Garden
Last week, I attended a presentation on straw bale gardening with my friend, Penny. We both left Joel Karsten’s talk very excited to try this new type of container gardening. So over the weekend, I located a farmer near New … Continue reading
Posted in Container Gardening, Fruits and Vegetables
Tagged Joel Karsten, Straw bale gardening
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Return of the Eastern Tent Caterpillars
I first noticed the tell-tale tents of eastern tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum) in the nature area near our house about a week ago. Sure enough, when I did my post-freeze assessment of the backyard, a tiny nest was clinging to … Continue reading