Unveiling of the design drawing and other updates

On Monday April 13 at noon (sharp) in the Schibel conference room, the drawing of our design will be revealed.  It looks pretty cool.  Many thanks to permaculture landscape designer Kate Plachetka.  We will also be meeting with the water design team from IRE that same day at 11:00.  Seeds have been started.  Potting mix donations are being accepted in C168.  Materials have been gathered.  We have a tentative work day set for June 5/6.  Once it becomes official, I will post it here.  We are hoping for a crew of 7-15 with assigned jobs so that everyone's time is used efficiently.  The Earthfest presentation talks about permaculture in general and some of the specifics of our garden.  Please go if you can.  It is at 10:30 on April 18.  Thanks to Earthfest for inviting us and to Alex Crum for being the presenter.

PRESENTATION

We have been invited to speak at Earthfest on April 18 at 10:30. 

I am unavailable but we have a volunteer, Alexandra Crum, willing to represent the project.  She is a past Mesabi student who has been involved with the project since the beginning.  She will be on campus at noon on April 6 in the Schibel conference room to practice her presentation and receive input.  In her talk she will explain permaculture in general as well as what we are doing.  Please come if you can. 

Spring plans

Preparations have begun for the upcoming gardening season.  At the last meeting we decided to go light on planting since we are still working on a water system.  A student from IRE is leading a team to design us a system.  Also a student from the welding program is designing us some furniture.  It is very exciting to have student involvement.  This spring, the goals are to add a few raised beds, finish the trail, start some plants, get furniture, and plant some trees.  We are planning a work day as soon as the frost is out of the ground.  We are hoping for a crew of volunteers.  We will have a sign up sheet with specific jobs to make the day as efficient as possible.  Starting plants from seed will begin in March. We will be presenting at Earthfest in April.

Our next meeting is Thursday, Jan 29 at 2:00 in C156.  It's time to do our ordering and do some planning for spring. If you have any ideas or requests please bring them to the meeting, e-mail me (k.giermann@mesabirange.edu), or post to this blog.  That would actually be nice to see someone else post besides myself.  I do however know that our blog is being read and has influenced home gardeners.  I was very excited to hear that from a community member.  We have also been invited to present at Earthfest this April.  I will be unavailable due to my master herbalism studies but if someone else in our group would like to present, I could help with the preparation.  Since we have grant money that needs to be spent we are going to have to order some benches unless we suddenly get a welder or carpenter who came through the Mesabi program, or is currently in a program, who is willing and able to do it. I was really hoping to showcase a Mesabi student but we need to secure our benches by May.  If you know someone who may be interested, please connect them with me ASAP. 

Being the end of October in Northern MN, our permaculture garden season is winding down.  So now we begin another phase.  We are reflecting on our progress and planning for the spring season.  The big update is that Kim and Monica have decided to be strippers.  Sod strippers that is.  We are going to rent a sod stripper as early as possible in the spring.  By using a sod stripper we will not have to use as much rock and the ground disruption will be reduced.  Overall it should save both time and money with a nicer result. The trail will be about 1/4 mile loop with the possibility of expansion.  Brad Scott has agreed to haul the rock for the trail base with the bobcat.  Seppi Bros Concrete has generously donated some of the rock.  Craig  has agreed to haul sod.  We could use 2-3 more people on that big work day which will be announced in April or May-hoping for April of course.  We also need some digging, mostly grass removal for a new planting area by the fence, which can be done anytime.  We will even provide a shovel,  just let us know you are willing and we will show you the area.

Also in this phase we will be deciding on plants and ordering as needed.  We also need to secure furniture before our grant expires.  The carpentry and welding programs have said they will get some students involved, and we can buy materials and they will do the labor.  That will be so cool to have benches, or maybe something else, made by our own Mesabi students.

It's still nice out, at least as I write this, so try to take a moment to enjoy outdoor Mesabi on the pad overlooking the pond.  If you would like to donate a tree, perennial, or "furniture",  you could even do it as a dedication or memorial, let Kim know by January so we can include it in our ordering plan.  Thanks again for your support.

Update, Meeting, Permaculture in Action #2

On September 3rd we planted trees and shrubs which is the beginning of a guild and a forest garden.  We also planted a few perennials in the raised beds, finished the spiral herb garden, and mulched some of the path.  We are almost done with what we are going to do this year except for any donated perennials that come forward.  We will move into another planning and plant ordering phase.  We will buy local as much as possible form vendors like Cherry Greenhouse and Seppi Bros. Concrete that support our project but there are some less common items that we will need to order. 

We will have a short meeting in C157 on Monday, Sept 15 to give an update, share the harvest and walk the trail.  We are hoping to move the meeting out to the garden so bring your walking shoes.  If you can't make the meeting but are interested send Kim an e-mail.  I sent out a list of topics to those who have expressed interest.

I have updated the blog and plan to add a few more permaculture in action posts in the coming weeks.  Each time I add one, I will also put it in the tab across the top so that they are all on one place.  Please check out the lists under the ways to get involved on the right hand side, the thank yous and dedications, both across the top and please add your e-mail at the bottom of the blog so that you get an automatic message when I post.

Permaculture In Action #2

Spiral Herb Garden

Permaculture principles say to put what you need to access, closest to you.  If our garden were at home, we would want to access our herbs often.  We can simulate that by having our spiral herb garden close to the entrance of our garden.  A spiral folds up the garden into a smaller space keeping the herbs yet closer.  In our garden instead of using 25  linear feet, we have a mound that is about 5 feet across and about three feet high. In addition, the spiral creates microclimates because it has slopes that face all directions.  The sunny south will be hotter than the north, the east side with morning sun will dry out faster than the west.  We can plant accordingly to take advantage of the miroclimates for each plant.  Examples would be plants that thrive in hot, dry climates like oregano, rosemary, and thyme would prefer the south side while parsley and chive may prefer the north side because they grow in cooler, moister conditions.  In nature spirals are a repeating pattern, often the result of growth or expansion.  My source for this information is Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway.  I recommend this book to anyone interested in permaculture.  The Mesabi library has the book.  I will return it next week so it will be available.

Planting trees

On Wednesday, September 3rd we are planning to plant trees.  We will need about 11 holes.  It is tough digging out there so if anyone can help dig it would be much appreciated.  It is rocky so each hole takes several attempts.  We have pears, plums, chokeberry, chokecherry, currant, Siberian pea shrubs, and a few perennials all purchased from Cherry Greenhouse. We also have a few donated transplants.  Notice the thank you heading on this blog.  I try to acknowledge people who have been helpful in moving this project forward.  Please let me know if I have accidentally missed you.  Also please subscribe to the blog so that you get automatic updates when I post.