Time to Organize your Garage

This time of the year may be a good time to organize your garage. The first step of garage organization is to look through the space and determine what items should or can be stored together, such as:

Gardening supplies and tools

Sports and hobby gear

Seasonal items, such as holiday decorations

Household tools and hardware

Automotive tools and supplies

Paints and combustibles (paint should not freeze)

Garbage and recycling 

For items that you’re getting rid of, sort into three piles: recycle, toss and donate. Once you have your plan and you’ve selected your storage options, it’s time to start getting things back in order. Here are some ideas.

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Gardening Learning Curve

I remembered long ago in high school when I went to actually test my hand at gardening, all I needed to do was scrape the sod off of the area where I wanted a garden and plant, right? Never mind that we had clay for soil, that I had never read a gardening magazine or book, and that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I was pretty sure it couldn’t be that difficult. I chose a spot, roto-tilled the sod, and transplanted some purple irises which were growing out in the shelterbelt, which, of course, grew quite well, because the old irises grow anywhere along with yucca, coneflower, and asters.

I’m victorious! Now I order from every garden catalog I got, taking little note of zones or water needs or growing conditions. I’m not going to mention how much money I lost on testing the hardiness zone for trees and perennials. And that’s just the plants!

Every spin-ny, flower-y, bug-gy, sil-ly garden ornament the stores sold showed up in my gardens. It looked like a dollar store had thrown up in my yard. But I persisted. I started reading gardening magazines and books. I learned about amending the soil, compost, zones, and growing needs—all the important things a successful gardener needs to know. As the garden grows, so does the gardener, they say. I’m here to say the reverse is equally true.

Many years later, the cheap tacky stuff is all gone (some people may have a different opinion), and I am slowly finding my voice in the gardens that surround my house. Each year, I get rid of more grass and replace it with more color and vegetables. I subscribe to the wabi-sabi Japanese theory that there is beauty in imperfection. I like rustic, handmade, repurposed garden art (maybe I am too lazy to throw it away). If something breaks or rots, that’s fine. Nothing lasts forever, nor is it meant to. My gardens are not perfect by any means. Perfect is perfectly boring.

Growing Hemp the New Agricultural Hemp

Farmers will soon be growing hemp legally in Minnesota thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill, but challenges remain on how the state will implement industrial hemp as an insurance crop.

The state must submit a plan on how it will regulate hemp growth, which needs to include how the state will keep tabs on where hemp is grown, tested and disposed of to insure farmers aren’t growing point strains of marijuana for recreational use.

There are many different varieties of the cannabis plant. Industrial hemp — refers to the non-psychoactive (less than 1% THC) varieties of Cannabis sativa L. Both hemp and marijuana come from the same cannabis species, however, are genetically distinct and are further distinguished by use, chemical makeup, and cultivation methods.

Hemp can be grown as a renewable source for raw materials that can be incorporated into thousands of products. Its seeds and flowers are used in health foods, organic body care, and other nutraceuticals. The fibers and stalks are used in hemp clothing, construction materials, paper, biofuel, plastic composites, and more. Hemp is found commonly in twine and cord, sisal is from ground Agave leaves (that is why sisal baling twine is becoming expensive, because it is control by a few large farming operations in Bazil).

Sadly, all of the raw hemp materials were imported from other countries. Hemp is an attractive rotation crop for farmers. As it grows, hemp breathes in CO2, detoxifies the soil, and prevents soil erosion.

Hemp requires much less water to grow — and no pesticides — so it is much more environmentally friendly than traditional crops.