| Author to speak at Waseca County Historical Society
Lynn Steiner will speak at the Waseca County Historical Society Spring Luncheon Lecture Series on Thursday, April 26, from noon to 1 p.m. at the Waseca County Museum, 315 Second Ave. N.E., Waseca.Steiner, horticulturalist/author/photographer, will present "Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota."Steiner is well known to Minnesota gardeners as the editor of Northern Gardener magazine for 15 years. Slides from her new book "Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota" will be featured.Steiner has crafted Minnesota native plant lists for all soils and situations. The book addresses many questions and misconceptions about introducing native plants into our non-native gardens and landscapes. Most importantly the book provides us with the practical information needed to do our part in restoring and preserving the natural ecosystem of our region, community and backyards.A book-signing will follow the luncheon at 1 pm.Call (507) 835-7700 to reserve for the luncheon, or to order "Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota" by Monday, April 23.
The Ashes of Phoenix
In the current edition of High Country News, writer Craig Childs explores the ancient civilization of the Hohokam, who disappeared from the desert landscape before the first Anglo settlers arrived. Even their name, a Pima word meaning "all used up," gives a hint to the fate of a culture that disappeared. It left behind empty adobe ruins, Childs writes, and a new city to rise from its ashes. "Growing faster than any other population center in the nation, Phoenix is balanced on an environmental tightrope," he writes. "Thirty new skyscrapers are proposed for downtown alone, while metastatic sprawl carves up surrounding desert. At the moment, there is a robust water supply — for greater Phoenix alone — but the city's water-wealth has created a growing inequity in the state.
Gardening Masters
Gardening Masters Twenty-four Lincoln County residents recently completed the 10-week comprehensive Master Gardener(tm) Program course offered by the Oregon State University Extension Service. The Master Gardener apprentices will be working with veteran Master Gardeners on community projects, the May Spring Garden Sale, answering client gardening questions, 9 a.m. to noon, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, at the Extension Office, and working on their demonstration gardens at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds in Newport. For information about the program, stop by the office at 29 SE Second Street, in Newport, or call 574-6534. (Courtesy photo) .
Inland gardeners making the most of smaller plots
Shelley Wardrop balances her passion for vegetable gardening with her husband's love of lawn by finding unexpected homes for her produce plants. She tucks peppers into front-porch pots with ornamentals, crams tomatoes and cucumbers into tight rows in a raised bed, and mixes artichokes into flowerbeds at her Riverside home. "It's so doable," Wardrop said of her intensive gardening method, which produces just enough of the foods she likes without the waste or work of a sprawling plot. "It doesn't have to be huge." More people are opting for mini veggie plots as they downsize their homes, said Charlie Nardozzi of the National Gardening Association. Innovations in containers and plant breeding have made small-space gardening easier than ever, he said.
New facility helps those with terminal illness
Nestled in the rolling hills down a country road with a picturesque mountain view just east of Okotoks, lies a new facility that will comfort those who are nearing the end of their life from a terminal illness. This new facility is called the Foothills Country Hospice. The approximate 12,000 square foot building located on eight acres donated by Dr. Jim Hansen and family in memory of his late wife, Catherine, who passed away from terminal cancer is slated to be open for those requiring hospice services in the Foothills area by the fall of this year. The Foothills Country Hospice is a state-of-the-art facility that will be one of the first rural, purpose-built, free standing hospice homes for adults in Canada, said Jean Quigley, board member and chairman of the Foothills Country Hospice Society fundraising committee, during a press conference at the hospice on Friday.
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