Category: Local

Contents

• 1. New Growing Methods
• 2. Lengthening The Growing Season
• 3. For a Beneficial Habitat
• Final thoughts
• MEG’s Edible Landscapes

Grow Your Own Food Part 3: Experiment

1. New Growing Methods

Have you ever driven by a farm and wondered what the caterpillar looking tunnel was? Maybe you saw an interesting container and thought about trying to grow your favorite tomato variety in it next season. Experimenting with new growing methods is a fantastic way to broaden your skill base and gain confidence in growing food.

Examples of growing methods to experiment with:

1. Container gardening with grow bags
2. Raised beds
3. Aquaponic and Hydroponic growing

2. Lengthening The Growing Season

The running joke in Minnesota is “There are two seasons—winter and road construction”. All jokes aside, the opportunity to grow food during the Minnesota summer can be ridiculously short. We’re in zone 4b which means there are roughly 150-ish frost-free days during the growing season. This means, most heat-loving plants have to be started indoors and transplanted outdoors like hot peppers which sometimes require 120+ days to mature fully. There are ways to extend the season here in Minnesota. Starting seeds indoors is one method. By experimenting with this method or others, you can lengthen your growing season even in a colder environment like Minnesota.

Examples of season-lengthening methods:

1. Cold Frame (insulated wood box with glass on top)
2. Hoop house ( caterpillar tunnel)
3. Green house or hot house

3. Controls for pests and diseases

Growing food can feel liberating but can also feel gut wrenching. All the hard work put into a garden can be undone quickly by little insects who seem to think they deserve to eat your plants more than you. Heard of aphids or Japanese beetles? These are just a couple of insect species that can cause major damage in an edible garden if left unchecked.

There is hope though! Insects like these can motivate you to experiment with different methods for controlling these pesky insects. We are partial to mechanical barriers for controlling insects at our plant nursery. Floating row covers are one such barrier that masks and maintains a physical barrier denying access by many insects and pests.

Examples of pest controls to experiment with:

1. floating row covers for insects
2. chicken wire for dogs and bunnies
3. sticky traps and galvanized steel hardware cloth for mice

Final Thoughts

Experimenting is one of the best parts of growing food. What will your try experimenting with this growing season?

MEG’s Edible Landscapes

MEG is continuing to add new and exciting products to the lineup every year. This year, we’re adding more than half a dozen new hot and mild pepper varieties alone plus special projects like Operation Cup of Joe!

Have you checked MEG’s new CSA starting this Spring? We had requests for CSA memberships last year and thought “why not”? It’s a brilliant idea coupled with MEG’s tried and true method using grow bags. Our automated watering system is complimentary to each CSA package this year too! No more worrying about watering plants. We’re taking that chore off your plate. Check out the premium membership here and the basic membership here. Don’t delay, we only have 20 CSA memberships available for 2023!

Keep growing!

Andy

MEG’s Dad and Founder

Contents

• 1. For Peace of Mind
• 2. For Tranquility
• 3. For a Beneficial Habitat
• Final thoughts
• MEG’s Edible Landscapes

Grow Your Own Food Part 2: Own Your Growing Environment

1. For Peace of Mind

Owning your own growing environment can give you peace of mind by knowing exactly where your food is and how its being handled. Concerned about pesticide and herbicide use? We are too!

2. For Tranquility

Owning your own growing environment allows you a unique opportunity to experience mother nature’s beauty and tranquility. Each day is different than the last because plants, like children, are growing and changing frequently. We love early morning walks through the plant nursery. This is when flowers are opening for the day to greet the sun. The bees wake up and head out to gather nectar. Birds start singing. It’s an experience that can be spiritual at many times too.

3. For a Beneficial Habitat

Butterflies, lady bugs, bumble bees oh my. If you own your growing environment, you either deliberately or inadvertently create a beautiful and attractive environment for other living organisms to thrive. Some of these other organisms help protect your growing space against those that might want to destroy or cause problems. For example, ladybugs which are attracted to edible plants like dill and corriander will also eat pest insects such as aphids. If left unchecked aphids can do significant damage to your leafy greens.

Final Thoughts

We’re going to continue on this quest to give you the 101 Greatest Reasons For Growing Your Own Food in future posts. Peace of mind, tranquility and beneficial habitats are three reasons we reviewed. Can you think of any others? If you have grown food where you’re at, what was your experience?

MEG’s Edible Landscapes

MEG is continuing to add new and exciting products to the lineup every year. This year, we’re adding more than half a dozen new hot and mild pepper varieties alone plus special projects like Operation Cup of Joe!

Have you checked MEG’s new CSA starting this Spring? We had requests for CSA memberships last year and thought “why not”? It’s a brilliant idea coupled with MEG’s tried and true method using grow bags. Our automated watering system is complimentary to each CSA package this year too! No more worrying about watering plants. We’re taking that chore off your plate. Check out the premium membership here and the basic membership here. Don’t delay, we only have 20 CSA memberships available for 2023!

Keep growing!

Andy

MEG’s Dad and Founder

Contents

• 1. Flavor is unparalleled with store-bought produce
• 2. You get access to new varieties with better flavor
• 3. Bottomless well with available varieties
• Final thoughts
• MEG’s Edible Landscapes

1. Flavor is unparalleled with store-bought produce

Flavor is one of the biggest advantages to growing your own food when you have the opportunity. Tastebuds don’t lie. Store-bought produce is always going to lag behind in flavor and taste due to the simple fact the produce was harvested long before it made it to the super market aisle! One of the best compliments I ever received was from my youngest daughter after trying her first homegrown strawberry. She said “this is better than the strawberries from the grocery store”! You can’t get a fresher taste and flavor than from your own backyard.

2. You get access to new varieties with better flavor

An often overlooked aspect of growing your own food is the access to new varieties that are not offered for sale at grocery stores or even farmers markets. The food you see at the store is a compromise of flavor and taste for shelf stability and travel characteristics. For example, melon varieties with thicker skins travel better although they may have less sugar and a bland flavor.

3. Bottomless well with available varieties

Speaking of varieties to choose from, this is practically a bottomless well of opportunities. There are countless number of seed catalogs and companies to choose from all the way from the hottest peppers in the world to the largest pumpkins. Research and Development universities continue to improve old standard varieties and add to the already large selection of plant varieties on the market.

Final Thoughts

We’re going to continue on this quest to give you the 101 Greatest Reasons For Growing Your Own Food in future posts. There’s so many different options out there for seed varieties that it can sometimes be overwhelming. Our advice is to start slow and try a couple or few new varieties of plants each year.

MEG’s Edible Landscapes

MEG is continuing to add new and exciting products to the lineup every year. This year, we’re adding more than half a dozen new hot and mild pepper varieties alone plus special projects like Operation Cup of Joe!

Have you checked MEG’s new CSA starting this Spring? We had requests for CSA memberships last year and thought “why not”? It’s a brilliant idea coupled with MEG’s tried and true method using grow bags. Our automated watering system is complimentary to each CSA package this year too! No more worrying about watering plants. We’re taking that chore off your plate. Check out the premium membership here and the basic membership here. Don’t delay, we only have 20 CSA memberships available for 2023!

Keep growing!

Andy

MEG’s Dad and Founder

Contents

• Mice and Grow Bags Don’t Mix
• 3 Hot Tips To Deal With Mice and Grow Bags
• MEG’s Edible Landscapes
• Final thoughts

Mice and Grow Bags Don’t Mix

Mice and Grow Bags don’t mix!

I used to think mice were cute…

I don’t hold that viewpoint anymore. If you do hold my former viewpoint, it’s ok. Nature will run its course, and then your viewpoint will most likely change to reflect reality—as mine did. Mice are not our friends even though they seem to desire sharing our home with us. It’s an odd paradigm really.

Here’s the brutal reality.

Mice want to reproduce just like all living beings. However, the rate at which they can reproduce is insane. Newborn female mice can start making babies after only a couple of months. A typical female mouse can produce 25-60 babies in a year!

When a female mouse is pregnant and wants to start building a home for her little pups, she looks for suitable materials to build a nest. This is where the mice and grow bags come into the picture. Since grow bags are made of soft fabric, it makes an attractive looking material for a nest. Grow bags are also easy to chew through and will not put up any type of fight with a mouse. The result is destruction of a grow bag which is no longer suitable for holding soil.

3 Hot Tips To Deal With Mice

Sure, it’s not great when a mouse eats away the container growing your favorite peppers. There are strategies and ways of preparing to defend your fabric grow bags against these pests.

1. Elevate your Grow Bags

This is a fairly straightforward strategy. We recommend elevating the grow bag at least 12 inches off the ground. Mice can jump. If they’re motivated enough, they’ll find a way to your grow bags and plants. 12 inches is high enough to where even the most motivated mice won’t be able to access your grow bags.

Examples of elevating grow bags: tables, chairs, stumps, railings, elevated deck.

2. Fencing

Fencing is another effective method to prevent mice access to your grow bags. Be careful about the type of fencing you select. We prefer wire mesh or hardware cloth. The smaller the squares the better. If you use this method, be sure to bury the bottom or somehow secure it so mice can’t burrow under the fence. The top of the fence should be bent out away from the plants. Chicken wire and chain link will not be suitable since mice can easily slip through the links and openings.

3. Sticky Traps

Sticky traps are a great method of controlling mice if you only have a few plants. These work especially well for places like shops, greenhouses and hoop houses where mice will be the only real threat in those areas.

Final Thoughts

If you’re just starting out with using grow bags, congratulations! Grow bags are some of the best containers you can use for plant performance. However, take care and plan now for protecting your fabric containers against mice. It’s better to be proactive on this subject rather than reactive.

MEG’s Edible Landscapes

MEG is continuing to add new and exciting products to the lineup every year. This year, we’re adding more than half a dozen new hot and mild pepper varieties alone plus special projects like Operation Cup of Joe!

Have you checked MEG’s new CSA starting this Spring? We had requests for CSA memberships last year and thought “why not”? It’s a brilliant idea coupled with MEG’s tried and true method using grow bags. Our automated watering system is complimentary to each CSA package this year too! No more worrying about watering plants. We’re taking that chore off your plate. Check out the premium membership here and the basic membership here. Don’t delay, we only have 20 CSA memberships available for 2023!

Keep growing!

Andy

MEG’s Dad and Founder

Contents

• Special Minnesota Growing Project: Operation Cup of Joe Part 1
• Mighty Fine Coffee
• MEG’s Edible Landscapes
• Final thoughts

Special Minnesota Growing Project: Operation Cup of Joe Part 1

Growing up in the Seattle area almost requires humans to consume inordinate amounts of caffeine to counteract the lack of sunshine. I still remember my grandma warning about the old wive’s tale concerning coffee stunting my growth. Fortunately, I kept on growing. Wait! Am I supposed to be 7′ tall now instead of 6’2″? I digress.

Like many others in the Pacific Northwest, I started consuming coffee at an early age—13 for me. This was at the same time Seattle was experiencing a gourmet coffee boom throughout the late 80’s and 90’s. Who could miss Starbucks? They seemed like they, or some other knock-off shop, were springing up on every corner in town.

Fast-forward to the end of my high school years, I left Washington state for the U.S. Army (to chase sunshine :)! Needless to say, there’s a special spot in my heart for Soldiers and veterans as well as coffee!

Mighty Fine Coffee

If you haven’t stopped by Mighty Fine Coffee in Faribault, MN, make a point to stop by next Saturday between 7am-1pm where owners Nathaniel Cunningham and Jordan Brennan will welcome you with the best coffee you’ve ever tasted! Nate is a former intelligence operator with the Army and has a love for supporting veterans too.

Now for the backstory on the Cup of Joe project:

MEG over the past three years has been at the Faribault Farmers Market on Saturday mornings between 7am-noon. After the market wraps up, I’d swing by Mighty Fine to hang out with Nate, Jordan and other caffeine-consuming patrons. One of those weekends, I noticed a little coffee plant in a little white coffee cup and thought it would be awesome to setup a coffee plant in an automated fashion to showcase Mighty Fine

…and the birth of the project commenced thereafter.

Look for regular updates on Operation Cup of Joe in the coming months!

MEG’s Edible Landscapes

MEG is continuing to add new and exciting products to the lineup every year. This year, we’re adding more than half a dozen new hot and mild pepper varieties alone plus special projects like Operation Cup of Joe in this post!

Besides adding awesome new pepper varieties to the lineup this year (and coffee!), have you checked our new CSA starting this Spring? We had requests for CSA memberships last year and thought “why not”? It’s a brilliant idea coupled with MEG’s tried and true method using grow bags. Our automated watering system is complimentary to each CSA package this year too! No more worrying about watering plants. We’re taking that chore off your plate. Check out the premium membership here and the basic membership here. Don’t delay, we only have 20 CSA memberships available for 2023!

Final Thoughts

If you’re a diehard coffee drinker like some of us here at MEG’s Edible Landscapes, consider growing your own coffea plant. Even though we’re in Minnesota, it’s still possible to grow tropical plants albeit indoors. Cheers to a Mighty Fine Cup of Joe.

Keep growing!

Andy

MEG’s Dad and Founder