Celebrating Minnesota Harvests

Minnesota’s most well-known food product is probably wild rice. I have to confess that it took me a while to get used to the dark, crunchy fare, but now eat it on a regular basis. One of my favorite ways to have Wild Rice is in creamy soup with chicken. Mmmmmm. Last night, however, I was at an event that celebrated other Minnesota grown goodies and raised money for a great cause!

The Minnesota Horticultural Society hosted a wine, cheese, and apple tasting at one of the local garden centers. Over 100 of us attended! The proceeds support the Hort Society’s “Garden in a Box” program, which helps low income families grow their own produce at home. Considering there is a waiting list for the boxes, I’m thrilled with the turnout!

The wines were from St. Croix Vineyard in Stillwater, MN. (I had sampled some of these wines at “the Fair” this year and was glad to have the chance to sample a few others.) It’s still amazing to me that we can grow wine grapes in our climate!

The apples were from Pine Tree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake (a suburb of St. Paul). I’m a really fussy apple person -- kind of a “find one you like and stick with it gal” but I tried every apple they brought with them and liked every one! Not one mushy mealy flat bite in the bunch! We got to try HoneyCrisp, Honey Gold, Cortland (my fave of the evening), SweeTango, and Keepsake, which was described as the kind of apple you could break a tooth on! It was, indeed, a hard, crisp apple.

And, the cheese was from Shepherd’s Way Farm in Northfield. The couple who owns/runs the farm has sheep and all the cheese is made from sheep’s milk. I didn’t try the “Big Woods Blue” because it’s my single most reliable migraine trigger, but I did try the Friesago, which seemed a lot like a cheddar to me, and the Hidden Falls, a brie-like delicacy made from both sheep and cow milk.

I thought this was a creative way to showcase some Minnesota Grown produce and to raise money for a great cause. I’m glad I had the chance to participate!

Oh, and, I found out that my favorite apple, the Regent, will be at the stands on Saturday! Woo Hoo! I see a trip to the orchard in my future!

Gardening “Go To” Resource(s)

A friend and I were having dinner the last week and ended up talking about our gardens. (Surprise, surprise, right?!) She is a much more organized gardener than I am – having a master list of plants, with purchase dates and growth success. (I make a map at the end of the season – partly so I can see what I want to move around next year, and partly so I can see if everything comes up again in the spring. But, I don’t have a master list of plants. Maybe that needs to go on my list to do this winter!)

Later in the conversation, my friend mentioned that she has a gardening Go To guy – Don Engebretson. He has a web site and does a column for the Minnesota Horticultural Society magazine “Northern Gardener.” On the way home, I tried to think of just one person or book or website I’d consider my “Go To” resource and couldn’t. I have, instead, an assortment of resources. I like to sort of compare and contrast and see what they all say, and then I throw in my own experience.

Do you have one “Go To” resource – be it a human, book, web site? I’d love to know!

MN State Fair Garden Tour – Part Two

It hardly seems possible that The Fair is over for another year. In my four trips to the Fair this year, I’m sure I covered most of the 320 acres of the grounds. During yesterday’s visit, I did get to all of the 32 gardens on the grounds. Here are a few of the gardens I didn’t show you the other day:


Friends School of Minnesota. Since I go to their plant sale every Mother’s Day weekend, I thought I should include them. There’s a begonia in this garden named “Raquel Wood,” for the founding director of the Friends School in Minnesota. This garden also includes one of the Tree Sculptures, carved from stumps of Elm trees that had Dutch Elm disease.


There’s a wildflower garden by the Creative Activities building and the butterflies were loving it! I was lucky to get a couple shots of the butterflies.




This garden is provided by a local landscaping firm. It’s one of several gardens with a water feature. People love to come and sit on the ledge or up in the gazebo.





These galloping horse topiaries aren’t on the map, but I saw them as I was wandering from garden to garden, and I liked them! They are lighted and have straw manes.





This is one of the more vibrant gardens on the grounds. It’s by the Administration building and is chock full of annuals and perennials, surrounding a boulder that bubbles water.




The blurb in the brochure for this garden (with Snoopy and Elvis) says it’s a favorite spot for napping. And, I did see a dozen or so folks taking a snooze, either on the shady lawn or on the benches in this very shady and tranquil garden spot. I could hardly believe over 100,000 people were roaming the grounds when I was in this garden.




I’ve walked by this “garden” at the bandshell hundreds of times and not even noticed it. The brochure says that the garden Is “overlooked by a rake imitating the rising sun and hopeful semi-finalists competing for a chance to perform on the big stage.” (The bandshell is where the preliminary talent competitions occur. Finalists get to perform at the grandstand the last Sunday of the Fair.)




These next snapshots are at the garden sponsored by the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association. This shot is of an annual (here in MN anyhow) called Indian Kale. It has these wonderful leaves and wine colored stems.

Here’s a little garden angel that surprised me on the path in the MNLA garden.




This gazebo with green roof and goat is part of the garden sponsored by the Minnesota Horticultural Society! I loved this idea. It reminded me of traveling through Norway where I’ve seen live goats grazing on roofs.


A colorful wading bird sculpture is perched at the edge of a pond in the Hort Society garden.



The last garden on today’s tour is the garden at the entrance to the International Bazaar. Even though it’s in full sun, people sit on the ledge to rest their feet while enjoying a cool beverage. This garden is filled with tropical plants.




I took a guided tour of the JV Bailey house yesterday and learned that the Canna Lily is the “signature” flower of the State Fair! No wonder I always associate the two! That’s it for the Fair this year. Tomorrow, it’s back to the gardens at Auntie Ks, and planning for the neighborhood Plant Swap on Saturday. Yikes!

Horticultural Society versus That Master Gardener Thing

When I was volunteering for the Minnesota State Horticultural Society the other day at the Fair, a man asked me about the benefits of becoming a member. After I told him, he said, “No thanks, I’ll just do that Master Gardener thing instead.” I explained to him that they were two separate things and that the Master Gardener “thing” was more involved than paying your membership fee each year. He waved as he walked away, saying, “I audited part of the class one year, it’s not that hard.”

It may not be that hard. But, it is work. Maybe I’m sensitive about his cavalier response because I’m in the process of applying to be part of the Master Gardener program for my county. I’ve put more time and thought into completing the on the 5-page application than I have spent hours in my three shifts at the Hort booth at the Fair this year. The “Horticultural Dilemmas” page asks you to show your work in that you need to list the source for your answer, which could be a book, the internet, or “other” resources.

The Horticultural Society encourages its members to volunteer – the Master Gardener program requires 50 volunteer hours the first year and 25 hours each subsequent year. The Horticultural Society offers classes, the MG program requires 12 hours of continuing education every year – plus the core course the first year. A blogger I read frequently responded to the Master Gardener question earlier this year.

That he didn’t see his comparison as apples to oranges astounds me. I would have taken his rejection of the Hort Society much less hard if he had said, “No thanks, I’ll become a member of the Arboretum instead,” since the Arboretum is another member supported organization that offers benefits to members without requiring service in return.

What are your thoughts? Am I being too sensitive about the man’s cavalier response? Is becoming/being a Master Gardener a piece of cake? Post a comment and let me know!