HMEG Excursion: Backyard prairie, raingardens and produce gardens Mon, Sept 24th 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

The Hamline Midway Environmental Group is taking it on the road during the summer of 2012 to visit people and places in the Midway to learn about neighborhood eco-activities. This summer we have seen the hoop house and Cherry & Tim's, checked out how Autumn & Joe have a carless family, and headed out community gardens on Community Garden Day in August.
 

In September, the HMEG Excursion is to Hannah and Mike's house to tour their full-yard gardens. Interested in boulevard gardens? They have that.Got yourself a new rain garden? They have two rain gardens full of wet tolerant natives. Trying to grow a bit of food in your yard? See their produce plot and woody trees and shrubs which provide fruit and veggies. Want to attract pollinators? How about a backyard prairie!  They have got a glorious one with prairie grasses and asters in full autumn color. Their back yard was converted from turf grass to a lovely place where all the plants are either native to Minnesota or edible, and where birds, butterflies and bees thrive.  Hannah is a plant ecologist at the DNR and is a founder of the Horton Park community gardens.

Excursions offer  a relaxed time for a  tour,  and ask a few questions. But equally important, excursions are a chance to visit with fellow Midway neighbors over light refreshments and good company! 

Mon, Sept 24th 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Want to  attend?  Send an rsvp to steph@hmeg.org  or 612-508-4415 and she will send you the address, and keep also  you posted if weather is an issue.

Midway Green Spirit Community Garden is open for Community Garden Day on 8/11

On Saturday, August 11, 2012 community gardens across the State of Minnesota will celebrate Community Garden Day, a statewide community garden open house . On this day, 60 participating community gardens will host events in their garden that are free and open to the public.

In the Midway,  Horton Park Community Gardens & Midway Green Spirit Community Garden BOTH  will be hosting events.  See Horton's schedule here (including an 11:30 guided tree tour) 

Here is the schedule for Midway Green Spirit Community Garden:

The garden will be open from 12-3 pm and visitors can do our Show and Tell Activity at their own pace, meandering through the garden to read what our gardeners have learned and what makes them proud!  

~1 pm Community Circle: One of our gardeners will talk about the volunteer effort to grow and donate food to a local food pantry. 

~1:15 pm Growing Peppers for Seasoning: Another gardener has been growing peppers for 10+ years and has developed his own method for preparing the peppers to make spice blends.

~1:30 pm Beehive Demonstration:  One of our bee-keepers will talk about caring for the beehives at Green Spirit. 

The purpose of Community Garden Day is to provide an opportunity for the public to learn more about these community spaces directly from the people who steward them and the events will be as unique as the gardens in which they are located.

Got Electronics? Old Computers and more? Appliances? Bring them to a FREE...

This Midway event is a community service of Jobs Foundation and Hamline Church United Methodist.



Saturday, August 11, 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Hamline Church
1514 Englewood Ave, St. Paul (near Hamline University)
(Look for signs near Snelling and Minnehaha for lot entrance.)

Electronics to Bring:
Game Consoles
Cell Phones and PDAs
Monitors ($10 on CRTs)
Cords, Cables and Mice
Switches, Routers and Hubs
CPUs, Memory and Disk Drives
Laptops and Desktop Computers
Satellite, Cable and TiVo Receivers
DVD Players, VCRs and Stereo Receivers
Plus much more.......

Appliances to Bring:
Humidifiers
Microwaves
Dishwashers
Water Heaters
Air Conditioners*
Washers and Dryers
TVs Larger Than 27”
Refrigerators and Freezers*
$10 donation for items containing freon


Free will donations are accepted. Charitable tax receipt provided for donations.
All personal data is destroyed. Recycled components are delivered to USA end-recyclers that are ISO 9901, ISO 14001 and R2/RIOS Certified. Hazardous materials are not shipped out of the USA to be disposed.

Help the environment! Help Hamline Church and Jobs Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization and county and state-licensed e-waste recycler.

Questions?
www.JobsFoundation.org, www.techdump.org 763-432-3117
www.hamlinechurch.org Virginia 651-633-1820 Jane 651-646-3473

Tree Tour at Horton Park Arboretum on Community Garden Day 8/11

Horton Park Community Native Plant Gardens to take part in Community Garden Day 2012!

You are invited to visit Horton Park on Sunday, August 11th, as part of the Twin Cities wide Community Garden Day.  Come and enjoy free refreshments, music, and tours of the gardens and arboretum.  You will get to see the latest blooms and butterflies in the gardens and may even get a chance pitch in!  

Event Time: 11:30-2pm (tree tour at 11:30)

Street Address: 1383 Minnehaha Ave W, St. Paul

Also note: Midway Greenspirit Garden is also open from 11am-3pm! Make a plan to traverse Hamline Ave in the Midway to reach both gardens.  At Greenspirit, you will find an interactive garden show-and-tell  where gardeners have provided reflection on their plots and experience and demos on their foodshelf donations, beehive and growing peppers.  See this link for details.

Arboretum Tour
Over 60 new trees were planted in the park at an Arbor Day event this year by the city and the Friends of Horton Park to greatly expand the park's role as an arboretum.  Come at 11:30 to get a tree tour hosted by a St. Paul forester. It's a great way to learn about trees that do well in our area.

 Garden Tour
The neighborhood group Friends of Horton Park maintains the community native plant gardens at Horton Park.  We have native oak savanna, shade, and prairie gardens planted and maintained by volunteers with the support of the St. Paul Parks Department.  Our gardens provide a wonderful place to learn about gardening with plants native to Minnesota, which are often beautiful, easy to maintain, and provide nectar and seeds for native insects and birds.  Garden tours will be offered as requested between noon and 2 pm.

About The Friends of Horton Park
The Friends of Horton Park maintains the Native Plant Gardens at Horton Park.  We have native oak savanna, shade, and prairie gardens planted by volunteers with the support of the St. Paul Parks Department and neighborhood volunteers. Our gardens are a great place to learn about gardening with plants native to Minnesota, which are often beautiful, easy to maintain, and provide nectar and seeds for native insects and birds.

For More Info: hortonpark @ gmail.com

Horton Park Gardening Schedule 2012 & Polyphemus sighting

It's been an eventful spring at Horton Park, starting with the enormously successful tree planting event for Arbor Day in April, adding wood chips to the garden edges by St. Paul City Forestry staff & donations from the Friend's School Plant Sale in May, and a well-attended tour of the gardens by the Wild Ones in early June.  Wild Ones is a wonderful group that promotes the use of native plants and luckily, the group saw two big beautiful Polyphemus moths in the oak savanna garden during the tour! 

Below is the schedule for the rest of the summer. We'll send out notices if there are any changes.

All the best,
Hannah, Steph and Paul

Summer 2012 Horton Park Gardening Schedule

• Sunday, June 10, 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
• Sunday, July 8, 12:00 to 2:00 pm
• Saturday, August 11, 11:30 to 2:00 pm (Community Garden Day)
• Sunday, September 9, 12:00 to 2:00 pm
• Sunday, October 14, 12:00 to 2:00 pm

Rescheduled: 'Insect pests of fruit trees' to be at the Heartwood Festival on June 2nd

The rain chased away the demonstration table about 'Insect pests of fruit trees' on Arbor Day 2012, but HMEG,  Extension Master Gardeners & the Local Food Resource Hub are bringing it back for the Midway's big to do, the Heartwood Festival on Saturday, June 2nd! Anyone who got a fruit tree last fall in the HMEG give-away, or is a part of the Midway Local Food Resource Hub, or just is an aspiring home fruit tree grower will find this demo a great resource.

Stop by to learn the fairly simple ways of detecting the presence of fruit tree insects to determine when, or if any treatment may be needed. Learn to identify the Curculio, Coddling Moth, Apple Maggot fly, various leafrollers, sawfly and more. Integrated Pest Management (IPM), the method stressing least harm to the environment and consumer will be the key approach taught at this demonstration to provide home growers with successful fruit crops. Various insect traps and bagging fruit methods will be demonstrated. Lots of chances to ask questions.

'Insect pests of fruit trees'  at Newell Park on Saturday, June 2nd. from 1-4pm

Find the demo at the HMEG table! 

About the instructor: Ann Aurelius has been a dedicated Ramsey County Master Gardener for 7 years. She specializes in urban food growing and has spent extensive time with the Gibbs Farm apple orchard trees--learning about the pests that love to snack on them!

This event is part of the 2012 Midway Local Food Resource Hub educational opportunities.

Discounted Rainbarrels Available - Order Now!

Residents of Hamline Midway and neighboring communities are now eligible to receive rain barrels at a significant discount!  Choose from four different styles.

To receive this deal, you must:

• Be a resident of the Capitol Region Watershed District.
• Complete the order form and submit it with propert payment to: Hamline Midway Coalition, 1558 W. Minnehaha Ave, St. Paul, MN 55104.  Make checks payable to HMC.
• Attend a rain barrel and stormwater management workshop, 4:00 – 5:30pm, Saturday, June 2 at Newell Park (900 N. Fairview Ave). Participants will learn how to build, install, and maintain their rain barrel, as well as other techniques for stormwater management.
• Transport your rain barrel home at the end of the workshop.
• The workshop will be part of the Hamline Midway Heartwood Festival's Green Living Workshops. The festival runs from 11am-6pm in Newell Park, so come early to enjoy the festivities!

Please Note:

1.  Orders must be received by 5:00pm, Monday, May 21. Form is here 

2.  There is a limit of one (1) barrel per household.

3.  NO REFUNDS will be provided if you order a barrel but are unable to attend the workshop.

4.  A maximum of 50 barrels are available through this offer, so don’t delay!

This offer is made possible by Hamline Midway Coalition and the Hamline Midway Environmental Group, with funding from the Capitol Region Watershed District.

Sign Up for the Merriam Station Community Garden Plot Lottery

Merriam Station Community Garden is beginning its first season! A lottery will be held on 22 April to randomly allocate plots to gardeners. Those who are interested must sign up before that date. The Garden is centrally located among the Union Park, Hamline-Midway, and St Anthony Park neighborhoods in Saint Paul. Full- and half-size plots will be offered this year. All are welcome to grow with us. More information about Merriam Station Community Garden can be found under the Current Issues heading of the Union Park District Council site.


Location: Prior Avenue & Gilbert Avenue, Saint Paul
Cost: $35 for a full plot (roughly 20'x20'); $20 for a half plot
Questions: tanner.larsen@hmeg.org

How your garden can help butterflies and other pollinators flourish

Kristen Vesley writes about the Minnesota's Day-Flying Moths, Butterflies, and Their Native Food Plants talk hosted by the Como neighborhood in St. Paul in February 2012. This presentation focused on  butterflies, day-flying moths, and how your garden can help them flourish.  Heather Holm, horticulturist and author of the blog, “Restoring the Landscape with Native Plants,” discussed lifecycles of butterflies and moths, and their amazing adaptations and survival strategies. Here are Kristen's reflections:

Do you know how to plant with Question Marks and Commas in mind? No, this post is not about garden signage. Rather, Como-Midway residents who attended a recent Butterfly and Moth presentation learned about these descriptively named flying insects and much more.

On Sunday, February 19, at 2pm, horticulturalist and blogger Heather Holm shared slides and stories of her own lepidopteran encounters with a rapt roomful of people at the North Dale Recreation Center (part of a series of talks sponsored by the Como Community Council).

The focus of this talk was the importance of native plants with leaves that caterpillars eat—from trees to shrubs to vines to perennials. While "butterfly gardens" are increasingly popular, usually what's intended is attracting gorgeous butterfly adults. Equally important, according to Holm, are plants for the larval stage. Toads, frogs, bats, many birds, and others feed on larval-stage insects. (Holm's slides of neon-hued pink and blue caterpillars helped pique everyone's enthusiasm.)

A beautiful 4-color booklet from the Saint Paul Audubon Society was available for attendees describing and depicting natives that support larvae, adults, or both. (Fun fact: there are some serious specialist as well as generalist species. The Hackberry butterfly subsists entirely on hackberry trees.)

With decreasing wilderness, people were reminded, the habitats we create in urban spaces really make a difference.  Further, leaving native perennial matter standing for winter interest is not an eccentric thing to do, according to Holm. Snow on bent stalks is a pretty sight, but some of those hollow stalks could even house certain overwintering butterflies (and native bees) that otherwise might perish! The best time to remove last year's dried remnants is in the spring after the ground has warmed to about 50 degrees F, usually early to middle May.

For a good introduction to this topic, the book "Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, Updated and Expanded," by Douglas W. Tallamy, was suggested (note: the SPPL seems to have the earlier, slightly smaller version of this book): http://www.timberpress.com/books/bringing_nature_home/tallamy/9780881929928


To learn more, immerse yourself in Heather Holm's blog, "Restoring the Landscape," at:
http://www.restoringthelandscape.com/

A pdf of the booklet (and information on obtaining a hard copy) is available at:
http://www.saintpaulaudubon.org/publications/go-native-to-sustain-songbirds

Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants (Updated and Expanded) from Tiwww.timberpress.com
The perfect antidote to the belief that nature happens somewhere else. If you have a backyard, this book is for you — get outside and learn about the wildlife around you, and then do something to make a haven for species at risk.

Urban fruit tree growers, learn more about the insect pests of fruit trees at Arbor Day 2012!

Plum curculio

Maybe you got a fruit tree last fall in the HMEG give-away?  Or maybe you are an aspiring home fruit tree grower?  Either way, HMEG has arranged a great drop-in event to learn more about care of your fruit trees. This demonstration will  be set-up at St. Paul's 2012 Arbor Day celebration. Stop by to learn the  fairly simple ways of detecting the presence of fruit tree insects to determine when, or if any treatment may be needed. Learn to identify the Curculio, Coddling Moth, Apple Maggot fly, various leafrollers, sawfly and more. Integrated Pest Management (IPM), the method stressing least harm to the environment and consumer will be the key approach taught at this demonstration to provide home growers with successful fruit crops. Various insect traps and bagging fruit methods will be demonstrated. Lots of chances to ask question.

Its all at Horton Park on April 28th for the city of St. Paul’s Arbor Day celebration at Horton Park from 10 am to 1 pm.


About the instructor: Ann Aurelius has been a dedicated Ramsey County Master Gardener for 7 years. She specializes in urban food growing and has spent extensive time with the Gibbs Farm apple orchard trees--learning about the pests that love to snack on them!

This event is part of the 2012 Midway Local Food Resource Hub educational opportunities.

2012 CSA Farm Directory available

From the The Land Stewardship Project:

Spring is just around the corner and eaters in Minnesota and western Wisconsin who want to receive fresh, sustainably-produced food on a weekly basis during the 2012 growing season can reserve a share in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm today. The Land Stewardship Project’s 2012 Twin Cities, Minnesota & Western Wisconsin Region CSA Farm Directory provides detailed information on over 80 farms that deliver to locations in the region.
For a free copy, visit www.landstewardshipproject.org/csa.html or call 612-722-6377. Free paper copies are also available at the Land Stewardship Project's South Minneapolis office, 821 E. 35th St., Suite 200.
Community Supported Agriculture is an arrangement where consumers make a "culinary connection to the land" by buying shares in a farming operation on an annual basis. In return, the farmers provide a weekly supply of fresh, natural produce throughout the growing season (approximately June to October). Most of the farms focus exclusively on fresh produce, although a few also offer shares for other food items such as meat.
Subscriptions are often sold out by early spring, so shares should be reserved early. The details of the share arrangements such as how much and what kind of food is offered vary from farm-to-farm.

CSA VIDEO: Ever wonder what it's like to belong to a CSA farm? Check out this new three-minute video by Larry Schmidt and Katy Podolinsky: Community Supported Agriculture: What to expect when you join a farm.

Arbor Day Plant and Play at Horton Park

• Looking for a reason to spend some time at a Midway park with the family?
• Ever wanted to plant a tree in a local park?
• Want to learn more about what you can do with your outdoor space?

Come out to Horton Park on April 28th for the city of St. Paul’s Arbor Day celebration at Horton Park! With the guidance, volunteers will be planting over 70 trees in Horton Park. After the planting, the Midway Frogtown Arborators will share some brass tunes. Tours of the park’s trees will be offered periodically, as well as slack line and tree climbing opportunities for the kids. In addition, Friends of Horton Park will be opening the community gardens for the season and attendees can partake in that activity too. While at the park, you can get a tattoo, press plants for a City Herbarium with Works Progress, learn about fruit tree pests and diseases from Ramsey County Master Gardeners, make a stem-dwelling native bee nest with Befriending Bumble Bees, climb a tree, listen to the Midway Frogtown Arborators, and more! The planting will start at 9:00 a.m.(you can register on site beginning at 8:30), rain or shine, and run until 10:30. The rest of the day’s events will run 10 am until 1:00 p.m. There will light refreshments provided, but visitors who plan to be there for long are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch. This event is co-hosted by Friends of Horton Park, the Hamline Midway Environmental Group (HMEG) and St. Paul’s Natural Resources. Come anytime during the event! You can pre-register to help with the planting by heading to this registration link, or if needed by contacting Andy at 651-632-2411 or Andy.Rodriguez@ci.stpaul.mn.us. For other inquiries contact steph@hmeg.org.

Location:   Hamline and Minnehaha Aves in the St. Paul Midway
Date:         Saturday April 28th
Times:       Registration for planting: 8:30am
                  Planting: 9-10:30am
                  Activities, refreshments, demonstrations and community garden opening: 10am -1pm

HMEG night at the library: Seed swap, winter sowing, and screening of 'Taking Root'

Beat the winter blues and get inspired for a new growing season! Bring your seed collection and catalogs to share. Trade seeds for an exciting new specimen to grow, peer through seed catalogs, learn how you can plant those seeds in the winter (winter sowing) and then take in a film about how planting trees transformed a nation. TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy. Learn more about the film at: http://takingrootfilm.com/.

Wednesday February 22, 2011 at the Hamline Midway branch library auditorium

• 5:30-6:15 Seed exchange and winter sowing demo.
• 6:15-7:45 Film
• 7:45-8:00 Wrap-up/clean-up

Come to all or part of the evening! This event has free admission and will have light refreshments; Do bring your own covered beverage container and bowl to reduce waste. (However, if you plan to be there from seed time to film ending, you may want to bring along a bit more nourishment.)

A note for parents- This event is intended mostly for adults. This film may not be suitable for children (some violence, recounting history of Kenya). Please do your due diligence before bringing your kids.

This event is brought to you by the Hamline Midway Environmental Group (www.HMEG.org), Hamline Midway Library Association, U of MN Master Gardeners, Mississippi Market, and is part of the community events/education offered by Hamline Midway's new Local Food Resource Hub