Happy Summer! Is it ever not a challenging growing season? In classic upper midwest fashion, we’ve swung from one extreme to the other. I’ve got a different variety of weeds this year—bigger! Faster-growing! I’ve also noticed an abundance of bugs, birds, and bunnies in my yard. I suspect all of these things are connected and…

The debate over whether to display a real or an artificial Christmas tree dates back to the 1930s. That was when a toilet brush manufacturer-Addis Brush Company-discovered it could create an artificial tree using the same bristles it used in its brush. (Before that, many artificial trees were made of feathers dyed green.) At the…

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2018 issue of Northern Gardener magazine. The Minnesota Food Association (MFA) operates Big River Farms in Marine on St. Croix where it teaches sustainable farming methods to new farmers, many from diverse backgrounds, who grow certified organic produce. Operating a community-supported agriculture farm and participating in farmers markets,…