City selects 2010 sidewalk poems

St. Paul Public Works officials recently announced the winners of the 2010 Sidewalk Poetry Contest. This year's poems were selected by a panel of poet judges including Saint Paul Poet Laureate Carol Connolly. Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Catfish diaries on the Mississippi River

Catfish po' boy in hand, I've got sauce dripping down my wrist. Zydeco rhythms are dancing around the room and the smell of swamp hangs damply in the air. When Gary and I traveled to Louisiana for our first vacation together, we felt as though we had traveled to a foreign country, rich with sounds and tastes and experiences so different than those in the upper Midwest. Friday, May 21, 2010

A Goldilocks approach to lawn care

If this were a normal Minnesota May, we would just now be emerging from winter hibernation, still living in fear of one last spring snowstorm. This year, however, we may as well be in South Carolina. To look at our lawns, you would think it was June, and most people in my neighborhood have already mowed at least once. Thursday, May 13, 2010

Extreme GREEN kicks off

What could be better to take home from an inspiring landscaping seminar than $500 worth of plants and landscaping supplies to get started? How about a $15,000 professional yard makeover? Friday, March 12, 2010

Tastes like carp

I recently had the opportunity to try carp, and surprisingly it was quite delicious. The Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District and University of Minnesota have a project underway to study common carp living in the Lake Phalen chain of lakes. Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Wild Ones spring conference will focus on life above and below ground

I woke up one morning and found a wet spot on my pillow. Assuming I had been drooling in my sleep, I was unworried until my eye noticed something strange. Lying next to me on my pillow just inches from my face was the biggest, blackest slug I had ever seen. Friday, February 05, 2010

A wise old owl once told me ...

Isn't it funny how an animal encounter can stay with you for years and years? About six years ago, I attended a workshop down at Whitewater State Park in the middle of January. It was one of those weekends with temperatures down to 20 below zero at night and not much warmer during the day. Monday, January 25, 2010

Landscape Ecology Awards Program (LEAP) recognizes innovative water quality projects

Since 2002, the Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District's Landscape Ecology Awards Program (LEAP) awards have recognized innovative approaches to improving water quality and reducing stormwater runoff. Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Specially designed gardens treat parking lot runoff

It's a good thing I don't melt in the rain like the bad witch from the Wizard of Oz. This October has been rough on all of us Minnesotans, but especially so for whiny people like myself. Tuesday, November 10, 2009

From Minnehaha Creek to Lake Superior - Minnesota's great outdoors beckons

What are the odds of finding Minnesota's tiniest orchid? Why take a Breathalyzer test to study frogs? How does ice fishing warm the heart? Who would live in such a cold, lean region? "Our Neck of the Woods" takes on these and other urgent (and sometimes quirky) questions, showcasing writers' own experiences in the best-loved places in Minnesota, including the North Shore, Lake Bemidji, the western prairies and grasslands, the Boundary Waters, and the Mesabi Iron Range. Wednesday, November 04, 2009