June 10, 2023leslieBiodiversity, Butterflies, Gardening, Insects Butterflies are likely the most beloved and recognizable group of insects because of their striking wing coloring and patterning. Butterflies are a subset of moths in the order Lepidoptera. Because our North American butterflies are active during the day, and no species is a pest to the average person, […]

July 31, 2018leslieInvasive Species, Lawns, Native Plants, Organic, Pesticides, Pollinators, Ponds, Recycling, Soil, Trees, Vegetables, Waste, Water Forty-two ways to green your neighborhood: just plant a new tree Lee, sweep up the salt Walt, pick up your dog’s poo Lu, and set yourself free.Read More

John Coatta, of Green Core Organic Lawn Care, explains how homeowners can have lush lawns that don’t rely on weed killers and synthetic fertilizers. A yard managed by Green Core Organics, three years after being converted from traditional lawn care to organic lawn care. The lawn was aerated and overseeded with a fescue mix to […]

You love your pooch but its waste is an environmental pollutant—so much so that the EPA has put it in the same category as herbicides and insecticides; oil, grease and toxic chemicals. Always bag it up and throw it in the trash (or flush it down the toilet if you have petit pooch poo and […]

February 23, 2023leslieBiodiversity, Community, Native Plants In the spring of 2020, we were in the first stages of the pandemic and religious services at my church had been suspended. Entry to the church was limited, making any effort to do interior maintenance impossible.Read More

As daylight transitions to nighttime “electric daylight,” the cosmos above never fully reveal themselves to most of us. According to the article, The End of Night, in the digital journal, aeon, “More than 60 per cent of the world, and fully 99 per cent of the U.S. and Europe, lives under a yellowy sky polluted […]

Minnesota is the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” and “sky blue waters.” But many of Minnesota’s lakes are struggling. According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 40 percent of Minnesota lakes and streams are impaired for conventional pollutants. And, 50 of these are listed as impaired due to excess chloride from road salt. While lakeshore property […]

January 2, 2025leslieBiodiversity The coyote has long been thought of as an animal of the American West. This was true during the pre-Columbian era when the coyote primarily roamed the Southwest and Great Plains of the United States. Today, however, its ever-expanding range stretches across all of the lower-48 states (and Alaska) and much of […]

Did you know that dirt is dead soil? Dirt is “parent” material: rocks, minerals, silt, clay. Soil is dirt formed by innumerable living micro-organisms, organic matter, and abiotic factors such as wind and water. Soil is a complex, living, breathing ecosystem. Unfortunately, many human actions (such as applying synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, plowing/tilling) transform soil […]

November 18, 2024leslieFlower-Visiting Flies and Bugs Much of the attention given to insect pollinators focuses on bees and butterflies with a passing interest given to moths and perhaps wasps. Flies and beetles are sometimes depicted when a photo to promote bee conservation is mistakenly a syrphid, bee fly or, on the rare occasion, a flower […]

December 26, 2023leslieBiodiversity, Native Plants, Pollinators “Native flowers are absolutely the best food source for native pollinators, and the pollinators know it.Read More Did you miss this year’s annual tour? No problem! Here’s a recap of the day’s event. https://vimeo.com/583497949  Read More August 4, 2021leslieGardening, Insects, Native Plants, Soil The Ephemeral Spring WildflowersAfter a long […]

Sara Nelson: In 2016 I began a series of trips to Costa Rica with the intention of learning rainforest field botany. However, after apprenticing with a brilliant herbalist, chocolate maker, and Scottish Costa Rica transplant named Ancel Mitchell, my focus veered towards understanding the dynamics of the local cacao trade. 1 Though little of the […]

Details Harrison is a community full of growers, and owing to the diverse background of our neighbors in this community, a rich set of culinary traditions. Apart from the abundant Olson Town Homes Gardens and bountiful Redeemer Urban Farm, HNA runs three community gardens, offering over 40 individual and communal growing spaces for Harrison residents. […]

All winter long I dreamed of spring planting. I purchased countless seed packets with big plans to grow organic soybeans to make tempeh, tomatoes to can, blue corn for cornmeal, cabbage for sauerkraut, and dry beans to last our small family throughout the next cold season.Read More