The most recent episode of Grow it, Minnesota is an interview with Alan Branhagen, author of the Midwest Native Plant Primer, a great new book on how to design a home garden with native plants. The book offers a way to approach designing the landscape as well as profiles of 225 native plants that work in Midwestern gardens. Why Native…
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I’ve been a home canner for a long time, making jams, pickles and sauces using the water-bath canning method. But I’ve always had a fear of fermentation — something about the prospect of leaving foods on the counter until they started to bubble with live bacteria brought out my inner germ phobe. But after interviewing Minnesota author Stephanie Thurow on…
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As part of my summer pledge to visit more public gardens around the Twin Cities and beyond, I drove over to the western suburb of Plymouth last weekend to visit Millennium Garden. This beautiful public space was built to mark the turn of the 21st century. Funded by city and private money, it opened in 2003. The garden is located…
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Most (maybe all) master gardener and garden club garden tours have been cancelled this summer due to COVID-19. Understandable, but still a bummer for those of us who can’t think of a better summer activity than exploring a garden. So, I decided to create my own garden tour in 2020, visiting public gardens within a short drive of my home…
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Lemon trees are self-pollinating, but when they live indoors nature may need a little assistance. Here’s how to be the bee.