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Artisan Environments | Landscape Design

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Enjoying an extended growing season can be achieved with the smallest of garden settings, on up to covered raised beds, small greenhouses and other space-saving, productive ways to keep warm and cold season veggies growing further into the Autumn and early Winter, respectively. A northern life can be vibrant even when the trees are losing their leaves!

Now booking Fall consults to help you strategize the "low hanging fruit" in your landscape, and hit the ground running come Spring.

Enjoy the tail end of Harvest season, and Happy Halloween! 🍂🎃

#minnesotaseasons #mngardening #wigardens #growyourownveggies #midwestpermaculture by @artisanenvironments

Cheers from the Silver Maple taps! Nothing like ice cold sap to quench a winter’s worth of thirst.

#springtimevibes #mapletapping #healthhacks #backyardgarden #treelove by @artisanenvironments

A walk along the river has myriad stories to tell, layers to uncover, and peace to soak in.

#stcroixriver #stillwatermn #twincitiesblogger #wildones #mngardening by @artisanenvironments

Thistles abound on the prairie edges this time of year!

#Pollinators #weeds #bees #savethebees #wildflowers by @artisanenvironments

The marks of Spring have come
Now is the time for pruning berries
The blue ones in the field
Still in red blush of dormant months
Before leaves burst in spades
And flowers follow suit

Carefully assessing each plant
Their individual states and needs
Stems broken, aged out, dead
Removing the brittleness of decay
Taking care to protect eyes and arms
From the whippy, prickly growth
So dense it needs annual thinning

Keeping the shrubs in tip top shape
To perform their miraculous feat
Each year, providing in abundance
Generous, sweet and delicious gifts
For the community to appreciate
A harvest for the masses
Humans, birds, bunnies and kind

There is truly nothing goes to waste
Here in the open expanse
Along a rich wildlife corridor
With so much gratitude for blueberries
Even the worms and grubs feed
Soil is replenished
Though always hungry for more

Saddled here between two wetlands
Rich bodies of water in their own right
Fringes of Cherry, Serviceberry, Pine and Maple
Understanding their worthwhile role
To provide beauty, and protect the fields
From otherwise punishing winds

This is the seventh year
I’ve been here at hand to witness
Hearing the grating song of cranes
And echoing trumpet of swans
As we snip away at the pruning rows
It is a rite of passage into Spring
Offering to the gods of Summer

And the berry plants speak
In patterns and waves
I see their branches overlapping
When I close my eyes at day’s end
I feel their rich, syrupy song
At the core of my belly

Calling sweetly from deep slumbers
Waking up from within damp Earth
Stretching toward the tender Spring sun
Shaking stiff shackles of hibernation
Beginning the grand rounds of creation
Allowing us to take part in such joy

#farmlife #organicfarming #berries #growyourown #seasonalliving by @artisanenvironments

In the learning of anything
Take your time
Take it in slowly
Savoring those moments
Of uncertainty
Breathing space into them
Allowing yourself to unfold
In the understanding
That it takes a while
To become comfortable
With new things

Down the line
You’ll notice a peculiar change
That topic or activity
Once new and foreign
Has become second nature
Making sourdough bread
Writing a song
Learning to embrace
One’s mistakes
And shortcomings
For we all have them

To learn is to be humble
Letting others lead us
For a stumbling time
Leaning on their experience
To absorb our own
Relationship to the task at hand
And in so doing
Becoming more flexible
Nimbly able to see through
Our frustrations
Or at least to be patient
With ourselves

And one day
In the teaching of some thing
Recalling our own novice
At the same task
When it was spotlessly new
To our knowing
Bringing a sense of grace
And warm presence
To allow another
To learn and grow
At their own pace

#instapoets #unfold #patienceisavirtue #relaxintolife #selfcompassion by @artisanenvironments

Moody maroon and greens
Of red oak and white pine
Dabbed into the pond shore
And anchoring prairie edges
Dark and brooding morning
Yet there is a warmth to the colors
Of dried grasses and smartweed
Down in marshy pasture

Feeling rooted and able footed
Swiftly striding as the dog
Points and slides along
Scents driving her inner gears
I’m proud of the sureness
Of our winter life
Food in the freezer
Cocoa for the kiddo
When we’re out on the trails
Maybe those small touches
Will keep him out hiking
Throughout his life

Strident maple
Surrounded by a battalion
Of mixed Aspen and Birch
Holding off the western wind
Gnawing at their feet
Incessant and unrelenting
All winter long
Their stark white bark
Seeming to flag down the snow
“Land here, we need you”

The blankets of white flakes
Insulating everything
Flora and fauna
From sharp ravages of winter
Hushing the landscape
In sound batting
Greasing the skids
Of winter life
With something to look at
And more options
For outdoor adventure

Call me crazy
But I love snow
I also know
It’s supposed to be white here
In the hinterland
Each winter
There are many ways
To hygge the off days away
Make time and space
To appreciate and savor
Each quiet moment in winter

#hygge #getoutside #catman #embraceyourself #walker by @artisanenvironments

If your yard is lacking in fall beauty, check out Stiff Goldenrod (Solidago Rigida) and our plethora of fall blooming Asters such as Smooth Blue and New England Aster (Aster/Symphyotrichum species)

The buzz of activity on these blooms is remarkable on these breezy, cool evenings.

Plant it and they will find it!

Also check out the Pollinator Park Garden Day next Thursday morning the 19th with @pollinator_friendly here in town! Link in bio

#pollinatorfriendly #savethebees #pollinators #backyardhabitat by @artisanenvironments

It’s producing peas, onions, calendula blooms, cherry tomatoes and more. Hanging on by a thread in some cases with early tomato blight from all the rain, but it’s alive!!

#growyourown #twincitiesfood #ediblelandscapes #veggiegarden #homegrownveggies by @artisanenvironments

This living portrait of the native prairie is a frenzy of color and activity this time of year, with new species blooming and contrasting through September, offering Goldenrod and Asters, giving way to structural interest and songbird forage in late Fall and Winter.

The prairie is so much more than a butterfly haven. It’s the center of visual interest and intrigue here at the farm for most of the year!

#nativelandscape #pollinators #backyardhabitat #mngrown #wildflowersofinstagram by @artisanenvironments

Mason bees and bumblebees are the pollinators we rely on at the blueberry farm. Honeybees can’t access the pollen in blueberry flowers efficiently, so these native helpers are the main workforce ensuring that there will be delicious berries come July!

#pollinators #bees #blueberries #growfruit #twincitiesfood by @artisanenvironments

Happy Spring!
I hope you’ve been enjoying some pockets of time outside between the refreshing rains. ☔️🌸

Sarah and I are excited to continue planting the veggie garden, and also for the Pollinator Friendly Alliance planting at Lake Elmo Park Reserve this Saturday, May 4th. 💪

If you have some time to spare May 4th between 11am-2pm, we’d love to have some extra help planting bare root shrubs along Eagle Point Trail at this beloved county park. Just drop by @pollinator_friendly for more event info (website link in their bio). 🦋🤘

Wishing you a vibrant Spring, and brilliant Summer to come. 🙏

P.S. - I have some space in the calendar still for May site visits to consult on native and edible landscaping, woodland and prairie restoration, hardscape and drainage needs, etc. Feel free to reach out! 🌸

Photo: red admiral butterfly on Joe Pye Weed by @artisanenvironments