Stefanie Hollmichel

I used to have the same problem with mint! Then a few years ago I planted some on the south side of my house where it is semi-shaded by my neighbor's fence and moderately dry. It seemed the plant had gone the way of all the others and I forgot about it. But apparently it was just in hiding amongst the daylilies in the same bed and the last couple years it has been getting bigger and even spreading a little. Only thing I can figure is that it likes the warmer semi-shade and my utter neglect of it

Heather Staas wrote:
I've been gardening for a long time, and I cannot grow a BEET to save my life.  

Me too! I've tried early sowing, later sowing, different areas of my garden, different varieties, lots of water, whatever falls from the sky, different companion plantings, soaking the seeds before sowing. No luck!

I do feel like I came close to a breakthrough this year. I had a freebie seed packet of Detroit Red from a neighborhood event I attended the previous year. I direct sowed about 3 weeks before last frost in a garden bed I hadn't tried them in before. We had a cool, wet spring. I had more beets sprouts than I have ever had and they were growing and I was excited and then a couple weeks later we went from 60F one day to 95 the next two days and they all got scorched and died. I'm going to try one more time next spring and be prepared to create some sort of shade in case we have an early blast of heat.

Because my urban space is limited, I'm really interested in zone4 fruit and nuts I can grow that are self-fertile. I don't have room to plant two of everything!

I also am in a constant battle with urban critters--rabbits, birds, very aggressive squirrels--and I often lose. I have never gotten a single nut from my hazelnut because the squirrels strip them before the nuts are al the way ripe. And this year my one grapevine that has never been bothered by anyone was stripped of grapes in a day by a swarm of sparrows. So I'm always interested in how to deter the critters!

And as Heather said, also interested in season extension and succession planting in a polyculture. Everything in my garden is interplanted so I don't have a single bed I can dedicate to overwintering. Or maybe that's something I can plan for but don't know how?

Alexia Allen wrote:I stopped dreaming of living in an intentional community, and just decoded to be more intentional about community.

Love this Alexia!

As a fellow introvert Rachel, I feel you. And as someone who lives in a city on a block where everyone has jobs and works all day so that I rarely see people, it's hard. But I have found that joining neighborhood groups, associations, and activities, while outside my comfort zone, is helping me get to know people. My backyard chickens have also turned out to be a great neighborhood outreach, especially when I give away eggs :) Be careful though that you don't bring an agenda with you when you join groups or meet people. Do it because you want to know your neighbors and be part of the community not because you have ulterior motives. People will pick up on your hidden agenda and keep their distance. Also, know that it takes time. Good luck!

Welcome to chickening!

I have a small urban flock of 5 in Minneapolis and it was -17 here last week. We have increasingly hotter and humid summers. Australorps are great, like the others have said. Also good are barred rock, Rhode Island Red, and Easter egger. My girls are aging to I added a Salmon Faverolle and a White Crested Polish to the flock over the summer and they are handling the cold really well. The main thing like a few have said is the comb. You want to choose breeds with small combs to avoid frostbite. My RI red and barred rock have small combs but they are just big enough that I have to keep an eye on them. When it's going to be zero or colder for a string of days, a nice coating of vaseline on their combs will keep them from frostbite.

I have a 6-month old Salmon Faverolle and live in MN. Mine is a small backyard urban flock. The coop is elevated off the ground and the run is partially under the coop, the rest of the run is roofed. The whole thing is surrounded with plastic sheeting to keep wind and snow out so the run stays really dry. I've got straw on the ground in the run and add more each week, and yeah, they dig through the straw. I don't have trouble with the ground being damp, the soil beneath the straw is really sandy. So far both her beard and feet seem to be staying dry. Not sure if any of this information will help. Good luck!

I know in Minneapolis, Minnesota where I live there are sections of the city with arsenic contaminated soil that came from various industrial manufacturers that are no longer around.

Lead is also a common contaminate here from paint and other sources.

Thank you for the video, this looks fantastic! I am just learning how to spin on a drop spindle but this looks much more comfortable. I think I am going to need to try it! It looks like there are a number of different kinds of supported spindles, can you recommend a good choice for a beginner?

My chickens like to inspect our work in the garden, especially if there is a hole being dug.