New gardener in Minnesota, USA (zone 4b)

Hi! I’m a new homeowner in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I read “Gaia’s Garden” a few months ago and I’m getting excited about bringing some permaculture ideas to my house in the city! We (me, my wife, and 2 dogs) have a house on a shady 40 x 150 foot lot in the city.

My first goal has been to get shrubs established. This fall I have planted saskatoons, american hazelnut, black and red currants, raspberries, wild plum (prunus americana), and red osier dogwood. I want to add honeyberry, grapes, and gooseberries in the spring. There were a lot of plants already established when we moved in - ostrich ferns, joe pye weed, goldenrod. There’s a line of 20’ arborvitaes, a big yew hedge, a paper birch and a norway maple. The lawn is mostly creeping charlie which seems to do the job fine.

We have one sunny patch which is conveniently right next to the back door on the south side. I built a hugelkultur mound there, about 4’ tall x 5 x 10 feet. The wood is mostly arborvitae which i know will take a long time to break down, so I’m not expecting the hugel to really take off for awhile. Also it’s not pretty - I welcome any suggestions for beautification! But soon it will be under snow for 4-5 months. Planning to plant squash, bush beans, and sweet potatoes on it and see what happens.

Next to the hugel, I have another 5 x 10 foot area where I plan to put in a trellis for cucumbers and beans. Not sure what will go underneath.

I have started adding in paths and edging beds, and plan to scatter some native seeds for now (alliums, sedges, hyssop, monarda, asters, random shade-tolerant pollinator-friendly stuff).

Anyways, I have a ton to learn but i’m looking forward to trying things out and seeing what happens. I’ve already found some great information on this forum. Looking forward to learning more!

Welcome.  You're off to a good start.  My advice is to try everything.  You'll learn more from mistakes than successes.

Nate, welcome to Permies! What a nice yard you have, so much potential. Sounds like you started off on the right foot. Trace is definitely right about experimenting, also about learning from problems and mistakes! And Permies is a wonderfully supportive place, perfect for asking questions, discussing plans, and sharing projects.

Minnesota, beginning mid-November.  Sheez!

If you can wait five months to slide shovel into soil, I'll send you come comfrey roots to get that 'not pretty' (not my words!) Hugel started.  

Until then, you can ... ummm ... read stuff.  

G

Nate, I agree with Trace and Leigh.

The only thing I would add is keep a journal of everything.  What, where when and how you do it all.  Plant, fix the soil, time of year, etc.  It can be a bit of a pain at first, but it will help you tremendously in the next few years.

Enjoy Permies!  I have learned so much here it is amazing!!

I welcome any suggestions for beautification!

Hostas are normally grown as ornamentals & grow very well around there. The young leaves are also edible. Rhubarb, apples, brassicas, & yellow squash generally thrive there too. I think your hugel is beautiful, not ugly at all. Good luck.

Thanks for the welcome! I like the suggestion to keep a journal. I have been taking lots of pictures, but I imagine I'll eventually forget what all the pictures are supposed to be showing.

I had no idea you could eat hostas! There were tons of hostas growing here, but I dug them all up and gave them away to make space for a strawberry patch.

Gary, thanks for offering to send comfrey roots! I see such effusive praise for the plant -- I'd love to try it out. I'll follow up in the spring

I realize zoning is a concern, but I would look into a smaller high tunnel.  It will buy you a couple of months.  I am still getting fresh tomatoes.  BTW I used to live south of Walker.

Many people grow hostas there but very few know they're edible. Quite tasty too. I second the motion for a cold frame. If the hugel is facing south I think a sheet of clear plastic (ugh) against the house wall would be easy to do. Strawberries grow rather well in the twin cities area. So do raspberries! Same with many Asian veggies. Bok chois & such.

Would a greenhouse like this be worth it (link)? 5 x 10', 7' high, covered in PE film.

Thanks for the cold frame suggestion, Mike and John. While searching craigslist, etc. for free windows to build a cold frame, I found someone selling their home-built cold frame for cheap. They’re moving to Florida so they don’t need it any more. They graciously also gave me a yellow raspberry plant, a red currant plant, and a bunch of garlic starts!

I have ordered seeds of mache, orach, tatsoi, and spinach to plant out in the cold frame. I’m getting a pretty late start, but according to Elliot Coleman, the mache at least might work out!

I set up the frame facing east since that’s how it fit best. The whole thing is see-through so i’m hoping the direction won’t matter that much.

Hi Permies! I wanted to give an update on my first growing season. Not the best year to try to get a bunch of perennial plants established -- we've had drought conditions most of the summer here in the Twin Cities. My rain barrels have been empty for weeks. I could have leaned more heavily on the city water, but was interested in seeing how things did without it. Thankfully we have a lot of shade.

Plants that have done well: tomatoes, arugula, lettuce (amish deer tongue and forellenschluss), sweet alyssum, purslane (a nice upright variety called Mithra from the Experimental Farm Network), and the amazing perennials that have fruited the first year: currants, juneberries, strawberries, raspberries, highbush cranberry (haven't eaten yet)

Plants that haven't done well: squash (vine borers, drooping leaves, squirrels taking bites), pole beans (lower leaves yellowing and dropping off), peas (all plants got eaten at ground level), corn (almost total loss to critters at the seedling stage), and all of the native plants I seeded in the fall (no sign of bee balm, butterfly weed, columbine, echinacea, anise hyssop, etc.).

Overall I'm super happy with everything that has grown, but I'm really look forward to things filling in a bit more! I have pre-ordered a 4 fruit trees for the spring (2 pears, 2 hybrid plums) and 5 hybrid hazelnuts. Those will fill out the small tree/tall shrub layer along with the evans bali cherry, american plum, liberty and goldrush apples, and 3 pawpaws (probably a stretch for here in zone 4b but really wanted to try). In the lower shrub layer I've got nanking cherries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, jostaberry, gooseberry, juneberries, haskaps, blueberries, and raspberries (yellow, red, and black).

I haven't quite figured out how to deal with:
- Our 2 dogs trampling and digging (makes herb layer difficult to establish. They are highly motivated to bust through any fencing I put up, because of the next point...)
- Small mammal pressure (Squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits. I feel like here in the middle of the city, habitat and predators are lacking)
- Have not had good luck with most of the seeds I've sown (probably mostly because of the drought. animal disturbance contributed as well)
- Pretty heavy shade (large silver maple on the southeast corner in the neighbors' yard). There's also a variegated norway maple on the south side of our house. Shade is all it provides so I have half a mind to cut it down and replace with something more multi-functional, but the shade is very nice.
- Don't know what to do with the back "lawn". So compacted and dry that even creeping charlie won't grow. The maple roots sucking up moisture definitely contribute. I have put down clover and fescue seed and covered with straw but might need to just wood mulch everything. I tried to get a Chip Drop but there wasn't enough room in the alley for them turn the truck around and dump. But I would prefer a softer ground cover since it's the dog play area.

Pictures

Can I just say how much I LOVE what you've done. It looks like a little European cottage, filled will all sorts of hidden treasures. I appreciate all the work you've done on such a shady property. Beautiful!!

Thanks for your nice comments, Stacie!

Hi, Nate! I don't know how I missed your post when I was looking for other Minnesotans in intros. I just moved from uptown Minneapolis to Clearwater; lot more land to play with but I'm a beginner as well so it gets overwhelming. I like what you've done and the fact that you're sharing it all! Thanks for giving me some ideas!

Hi C. Lee Greentree, nice to meet you! I’d love to see pictures of what you’ve got going on up in Clearwater.

Nate, this looks great!  So inspiring and congrats on a very successful first growing season.  I'm having someone come to remove a bunch of buckthorn and honeysuckle next week so that I can start my food forest in Roseville.  Where did you get your bare root trees?  I'm planning to work on the soil this fall and have trees ordered for the Spring.  I've seen good things mentioned about companies that aren't in our chilly 4b zone, and I'm worried that trees from other regions will be shocked by our winters.  Did you buy them locally?

Hi Nicole,

Nice to meet you -- I'd love to hear more about the food forest you're getting started in Roseville!

I ordered trees/shrubs mostly from Oikos Tree Crops, but they unfortunately closed down their nursery this Spring. I have also ordered from Honeyberry USA in northern MN (zone 3) and One Green World in Portland, OR and have been happy with them. I have also ordered a bunch of seed from Experimental Farm Network. They have a retail store in Minneapolis called Agrarian Seed and Garden. I ordered some hybrid hazelnut shrubs from them that I'm picking up next week (they still have some available if you're interested -- they are from the Badgersett breeding project in southern MN). Other than that, I bought a few things at Egg|Plant in St Paul. I think most of their stock comes from Bailey Nurseries.

A couple nurseries I haven't ordered from yet but look promising for cold hardy stock are Perfect Circle Farm in zone 4 Vermont, and St. Lawrence Nurseries in zone 3 New York.

What a wonderful list!  Thank you.  I hadn't heard of the Experimental Farm Network before and it looks like a great place to get a lot of what I hope to grow.

I will just be prepping the site this fall.  I hope to smother out grass and some other wild and wiley things, then check contours and dig a swale if I'm brave enough.  I definitely have some decision paralysis, but getting the bigger trees removed this Wednesday will force me to do something!  

I'm very excited to spend the winter planning and ordering plants and seeds.  Thank you for the resources!

Nate,

You’ve done a fantastic job changing your yard into an edible oasis!

We have problems with our dogs trying to get into the compost pile down south of you in Dennison, MN. I have a 6’ tall welded wire fence which is wrapped around the whole garden including compost. Our dogs are motivated too, but are unable to get through this fence. Chicken wire works well for rabbits. Electrified chicken wire would probably take care of the other animal pest problems you're experiencing. Floating row covers may work for the sown seeds. Consistent and frequent watering is the solution to a uniform stand of newly sown seeds. I started a Knowledge Base of helpful information for Minnesota gardeners. New information is added frequently. Keep up the great work!

Andy