May 10: Happy Soil, Happy Plants

Do you know how much the health of your soil determines the health of your plants? This Seed Talk is about what is healthy soil and how do you improve your garden soil. Also, why healthy soil that is full of microorganisms is the best for improving vegetable yields, flowering plants and can even improve the health of our earth.
 
This is a Zoom meeting and you need to register on the Ramsey County library website at least 3 hours prior to the start of the Seed Talk.
 
Seed Talks are discussions with community members led by Horticulturist, lifelong gardener and one of the White Bear Lake Seed Library founders:
Pam Larson Frink

April 15: Bumble Bee Atlas

Bumble bee conservation crew at Xerces Society explains recent declines and ongoing conservation efforts. In this webinar we will discuss bumble bee ecology, how that interacts with ongoing conservation issues, and what we can all do to help.

April 15  2-4 PM CST

Register

May 2, 3, 10: Tree Planting Event at Hand in Hand Montessori

The children of the Hand in Hand Montessori, 211 N. McCarrons Blvd., Roseville, with adult supervision, have done buckthorn abatement in a section of the campus. At this event they will plant 100 native trees. Volunteers to help with planting are welcome. We do not need the volunteers to check in at the office if they meet me outside by the woods by the big green frog (just oustide the NW corner of the building.) Our HR person may have a little letter for each of the volunteers. I don’t think they have to sign anything and we will waive the ‘check in the office’ part because they are not in the building. We will dress for the weather, but can’t be out in lightning.

Dates and times:
May 2, Tuesday PM 1:00 – 3:00
May 3, Wednesday AM 9:00 – 11:40 (break at 9:40)
May 10, Wednesday PM 12:25 – 3:00 (no break)

May 9 will be the back up time slot in case trees arrive late.  1:00 – 3:00 PM.

April 27: Living Mulch

Kaitlyn O’Connor is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner based out of Winona, MN. In her role as a Plant Ecologist at ISG, she collaborates with an interdisciplinary team of engineers, landscape architects, and environmental scientists to restore habitat and integrate native biodiversity into the built environment. With a strong land ethic and dedication to land stewardship, she develops habitat management plans, designs site restorations, incorporates native species into urban landscapes, conducts biological surveys, and creates natural resource reports for local, state, and federal agencies. Outside of her professional work, she considers herself a homesteader and keeps busy with gardening, food preservation, and tending to her small flock of chickens.

Feb. 26: Wild Ones Walk – Reservoir Woods

1 to 2:30 p.m.  For the return of our Wild Ones Walks, we will revisit the Reservoir Woods Park in Roseville. We will focus on the newly restored prairie area, as well as the winding trail through a mature pine woods. Meet at 1:00 p.m. at the parking lot at 1901 Alta Vista Drive in Roseville; ample street parking is available if the lot is full.  Map

Big River Big Woods Seeks Native Plants Champion

Big River Big Woods Wild Ones exists to give the community a chance to learn about native plants through monthly meetings, garden tours, Wild Ones walks and other educational opportunities. We have a Board of Directors that plans, coordinates, and supports these activities.

To do our work as a board most effectively and efficiently we need a President to guide our work. The President contacts potential guest speakers for our educational programs and works out the logistics of their presentations. The President leads the monthly chapter and board meetings. The President helps the board brainstorm topics for future chapter meetings.

Current board members have many years of experience with Big River Big Woods and are a resource the President can depend on. The President works with committee chairs and project coordinators as needed to ensure the chapter programs and projects proceed smoothly. The President communicates with the national office of Wild Ones when needed and the national office is available for technical assistance and training.

This is a non-paid volunteer position. If you are interested or have questions, send an email to contact@bigriverbigwoods.org.

U of M ids more than 500 bees native to Minnesota

MPR News reports that researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified more than 500 bees that are native to Minnesota.  It’s fascinating to learn how varied the bee population is and the amount of work required to collect and sort data to develop a definitive bee list.  Who knew there’s a bee that is a trout lily specialist?  

Read the article  which also has some amazing photos.

Wild Ones Announces 10 New Garden Designs

Wild Ones writes:

We hope you are as excited as we are about the new designs for the ecoregions of Columbia River Basin, Grand Rapids, Greensboro, Lafayette, Las Cruces, Philadelphia, Portland, Princeton, Tucson and Washington, DC!
The designs were created with the premise that using native plants in landscaping can be beautiful, beneficial, and achievable for people of all skill levels and budgets.
We hope these plans will encourage, inspire, and motivate you to talk to others about how they can adopt sustainable landscaping practices that will help heal the Earth!

View the Designs