Insects are among nature’s more industrious workers, ensuring generations of bountiful and useful plants. We can help them do their work by creating a more pollinator-friendly yard. And when we do so, trees and shrubs have a strong role to play. There are already many other benefits of trees. They serve as a carbon sink,… Read More →
The following essay is by environmental educator Nick Voss, Education & Outreach Coordinator at the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization. Photo by Nick Voss. The American Goldfinch is a common neighborhood bird, familiar to many as a cheery visitor who’s happy to munch on an offering of birdseed. When paying a visit, they often… Read More →
For Dana Boyle, a Twin Cities metro resident, a Lawns to Legumes grant was part of a yard transformation which had been percolating over several years, and which she writes about below. We visited Dana and asked her some questions about her project. In the following video links, she talks about how she converted her… Read More →
The following essay is a personal reflection by environmental educator Nick Voss. Voss is the Education & Outreach Coordinator at the Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization Photo of Fort Snelling State Park. This is a story of a day camp at Fort Snelling State Park, but it’s also a story of the cosmos, and of… Read More →
In 2020 many Minnesotans enthusiastically rose to the challenge of protecting pollinators in their yards through Lawns to Legumes, a state Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) program to empower people towards a more sustainable and pollinator-friendly Minnesota. Blue Thumb was selected to help put the program into action. A major goal of L2L… Read More →
A Lawns to Legume Story Another participant project from Lawns to Legumes, a Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources program supporting residents to create pollinator habitat in their yards through cost-share grants and other resources. I had the good fortune to move next door to a landscape architect. Though retired, she was willing to… Read More →
A Lawns to Legumes Story A recipient of a state Lawns to Legumes cost-share grant shares how she came to plant her pollinator garden. Lawns to Legumes, a program through the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, supports residents to create pollinator habitat in their yards. I grew up on a small Minnesota farm… Read More →
Science Daily The rapid conversion of natural lands to cement-dominated urban centers is causing great losses in biodiversity. Yet, according to a new study involving 147 cities worldwide, surprisingly high numbers of plant and animal species persist and even flourish in urban environments — to the tune of hundreds of bird species and thousands of… Read More →
Diane Hrabe Jason and Nancy Rich of Savage like to garden much more than they like to mow. So instead of grass, their yard includes a number of basins of deep-rooted plants native to Minnesota. These plants need little fuss or weeding, are able to withstand both dry and soggy conditions, have very deep roots… Read More →
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has posted the 2014 draft Impaired Waters List on the Impaired Waters List webpage. Updated every two years, Impaired Waters List consists three major components: the 303(d) (TMDL) List, the Inventory of Impaired Waters, and an “Appendix A” (waterbodies part of the Statewide Mercury… Read More →
