Free plants from Buchanan Street Farms! | phenoMNal twin cities.
Posts Tagged ‘Free Stuff’
15 Jun
Chipotle Giving Away Free Tomato Plants
On an unrelated note, I’m not sure what these flowers are in my yard, but they’re adorable.
After getting a pack of seeds from me at the West End Garden Tour, head to the Chipotle Edible Garden at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. Chipotle will be giving away Roma Tomato Plants to people age 16 and under.
15 Jun
St. Paul West-End Garden Tour Tomorrow!
One thing that’s super-awesome about my neighborhood is that there are a ton of gorgeous gardens. When I go on runs I find that exercise is secondary to examining all the cool gardening spaces that I smell and see. Hence the beer-belly. I’m pretty proud of my garden, but it is a tiny little piece of poo compared to some of the other ones. 
I feel that my place is the tour is to show people that edible gardening is accessible to normal people who don’t really know anything.
The garden tour is free, and they have a plant sale from donations by the gardeners. They’ll also have master gardeners on-site answer all my questions – and maybe they’ll even have time to answer your questions, too! Here is a map of the event.
If you stop by my garden (#3) on the tour and mention that you read this, I’ll give you a pack of seeds that it’s not too late to plant (while supplies last!).
15 Jun
I love this website
They updated the website to allow people in North Minneapolis affected by the tornado to ask for help, and allow those willing to help to give it!
9 May
Saint Paul Free Compost is like Christmas All Over Again
A present for me
So one of the risks of gathering compost for free from your city is that you don’t necessarily know what has been put in the pile, how long the constituents have been breaking down, and whether seeds and rhizomes have been broken down enough so as not to weed your garden. I didn’t realize until this weekend that this risk can also be a benefit. I had been keeping my free Saint Paul compost covered with a plastic sheet so it wouldn’t be washed away with the rain, and when I uncovered it this weekend, I found surprise peonies extending up to greet me!
I must admit, and remind you, that I am a newcomer when it comes to gardening, and had no idea whether these upcoming plants were a friend or foe, so I removed them with the rhizomes (they were in the planned location for my newly acquired colonnade apple tree) and set them aside to research them later. My mom came over the next morning for Mother’s Day and, as mothers tend to do, taught me something. I’ve since replanted them and am hoping that I didn’t kill them. I would love too see what it looks (and smells) like! Thanks, mommy!
12 Apr
Recycling Association of MN is Sweet.
Go to the Recycling Association of Minnesota to pre-order deeply discounted rain barrels and compost bins. I just ordered THE EARTH MACHINE, which sounds pretty bad-ass when you say it with the same inflection that I do.
Also, I just noticed on RAM’s website that you can recycle your lap-top for FREE, just click on their link to e-mail them your mailing address, and they’ll send you a postage-paid recycling kit. Electronic waste is a big problem for people and the environment when we dispose of them incorrectly. So take this free opportunity to do it right!
I also noticed that they also sell and teach about composting worms, which is an approach that creeps me out, but I could probably grow to love.
5 Apr
Saint Paul Compost Sites Now Open!
So this house was built in the late 1800′s, and I can tell the soil in the front lawn is going to need a lot of help. Although I have the sad beginnings of a compost pile, it’s nowhere near a usable state to incorporate it in the garden. And I definitely don’t want to drop a lot of money on compost because…well…it’s garbage. So, it’s perfect timing that the Saint Paul compost sites opened yesterday. This is awesome news because, if you’re a resident of Ramsey County, you can stop by and pick up free compost. They tend to run out early in the springtime, so you want to make it over to one of the locations as soon as you can. Through November you can drop off your compost-ables, too.
Of course I made it down to the one by my house and loaded up a bin of delicious goodness, and there was already a decent dent in the hill. I might go back in the next couple days for one more bin.
I haven’t been able to find a similar program in Minneapolis. Does anyone know? They do provide free wood chips, though.
