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.