Are you still ripening on the vine, or are you ready to be stored away for winter? | |
Summer may not be over yet (at least according to the thermometer), but with October nearly here, many of us are reflecting on the season that was. Here, that means gratefulness to all of our volunteers at recent events like the State Fair and Garden Gathering Donor Appreciation Event for helping us run smoothly and reach all of our ambitious goals.
To everyone who helped us reach new gardeners at our Minnesota State Fair booth and Potted Plant Show, we can't say 'thank you' enough! And to those of you who helped us share in a beautiful native garden space off Lake Minnetonka with our most generous of givers, we remain indebted.
Whether you're brand new to Northern Gardener™ E-news or you're a longtime reader, we cannot wait to share in the bounty to come. Thank you all for being a part of this journey with us. Now read on for our latest bites of wisdom and community happenings, pluck a few final raspberries or cherry tomatoes off your overgrown plants and enjoy all that our northern autumns have to offer.
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Support Us While You Plant!
Fall is the perfect time to plant spring-flowering bulbs—and now your garden can grow and give back! When you order from Brent and Becky’s Bulbs through their Bloomin’ Bucks program, 25% of your purchase goes directly to MSHS.
LEARN MORE & ORDER >
Need a refresher on fall bulb planting? Check out some of our resources on The Tool Shed!
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Bringing Soil to Life, Method 1: No-Dig Gardening
Read the first page of our larger soil feature in the Fall issue of Northern Gardener and learn why not digging could provide you with more nutrient-rich garden beds for next year.
READ THE ARTICLE PREVIEW >
Want to build your own? Take our latest class in the Northern Gardener School: ENROLL TODAY >
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A Closer Look at No Dig Gardening with Charles Dowding
To see more no-dig gardening principles in action, check out this spotlight from one year ago featuring longtime champion of the practice, Charles Dowding. Interested in diving deeper? Visit our Bookshop.org affiliate site for some of our favorites of Charles' books.
READ MORE >
VISIT THE BOOKSHOP >
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Heidi's GrowHaus
Fall planting season is here! 🍁 Visit GrowHaus in Corcoran for vibrant mums, cool-weather veggies, pumpkins, gourds, and seasonal décor—plus mulch and compost to keep your gardens thriving into next season. It’s also the best time of year to plant trees! Whether you’re refreshing containers or reimagining your garden, GrowHaus has the color and inspiration you need. Stop in today and bring the beauty of fall home!
LEARN MORE >
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Ragweed vs. Goldenrod: Determining Friend from Foe
Are you a victim of the autumn sniffles? No, it's not from all those beautiful golden blooms you're seeing in prairies and ditches around the Midwest. Get our side-by-side breakdown of goldenrod vs. ragweed and learn the differences behind the flower that's "solid gold" and one that's "the cause of your woes".
READ MORE >
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Suståne Natural Fertilizer
Suståne Flourish 8-2-4 WDF (Water Dispersible Fertilizer) Simply Measure, Mix, and Feed with a simple to use organic powder concentrate. Suståne Flourish 8-2-4 provides complete and immediate nutrition. Builds healthy soil microbiology, and contains humic materials to help plants flourish to produce incredible fruits, flowers, and vegetables! OMRI listed, and made in Minnesota!
Sustainable | Rich in Beneficial Microbiology | Safe for Kids, Pets, and Pollinators
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Resources for Emerging Farmers Now Available on The Tool Shed
From local resources with tailored specialties to event calendars and crop profiles, we're aiming to give new urban farmers a one-stop hub for everything you need to get growing. Explore our newest collection of resources from The Tool Shed and let us know what you'd like to see included.
ACCESS RESOURCES >
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Dakota Prairie Composting
Whether you’re growing lush lawns, juicy vegetables, or beautiful blooms, the secret lies in the soil you use. Get the most out of your garden and landscaping projects this fall with our premium soil amendments—perfectly made to improve soil structure, increase nutrient content, and help ward off plant diseases. Visit our site to learn more.
LEARN MORE >
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More Late September Gardening To-Dos
We like to think of September as a "reverse May"—in other words, a great month to plant, plant, plant! From trees and shrubs to perennials and bulbs, our planting list will keep you busy. Get access to the full rundown, along with a handful of other September garden chores, over at the Tool Shed.
LEARN MORE >
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Register to Become a Master Gardener Before October 1st
The University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program is accepting applications statewide now through Oct. 1, 2025. The Horticulture Core Course for the program is offered online beginning in January 2026, including optional weekly live Zoom Q&A sessions on Tuesday nights January through May with University of Minnesota and Extension educators and faculty. Fees are $340-$399; some financial assistance is available.
LEARN MORE >
| | COMMUNITY EVENTS CALENDAR | |
Blue Thumb Fall Native Plant Sale (Sep. 20, 10 AM - 1:00 PM) Golden Valley, MN
Fall is one of the best times to plant native perennials, and Blue Thumb is here to help you do it right. Join us at our first Blue Thumb Fall Native Plant Sale to stock up on native flowers, grasses, and shrubs from native plant nurseries. To make carrying your new plants easier, bring your own trays or flats (cardboard boxes work great!) Got a big haul in mind? Bring a cart or wagon.
LEARN MORE >
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Seed Collection with MN SEED (Sep. 21 OR Sep. 30, FREE) Saint Paul, MN
Enjoy two in-person opportunities to collect native seeds with MN SEED this month. Sign up for the Minnehaha Recreation Center event on September 21st (1 - 3 PM) or the Capitol Region Watershed District event on September 30th (5:30 - 7:30 PM). Activities will contribute to the Bee Line and MN SEED Projects and you will be able to take home seeds for yourself too!
SIGN UP FOR SEPT. 21ST >
SIGN UP FOR SEPT. 30TH >
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How Monarch Habitat and Ag Can Coexist (Sep. 23, 1 - 2 PM, FREE) Virtual Event
Join the Monarch Joint Venture for Farming for Monarchs: How Monarch Habitat and Ag Can Coexist, presented by MJV Habitat Staff Brittany Smith and Jacob Koenig. Participants will leave with practical strategies and real-world examples of how to balance agricultural goals with pollinator-friendly habitat creation.
LEARN MORE >
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Kitchen Herb Garden Workshop (Sep. 27, 3 - 5 PM, $30 - $45) Minnesota Tool Library (NE Mpls Branch), Minneapolis, MN
Bring some green to your kitchen, and always have fresh herbs on hand! In this workshop, participants will plant a small indoor herb garden in terracotta pots to take home. We’ll cover tips on how to plant and harvest herbs, along with a discussion of indoor plant care and the benefits of organic gardening practices. Herb options will be basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage and cilantro.
LEARN MORE >
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A Chance to Learn No Dig + Hügelkultur Gardening Live!
Course instructor Michelle Bruhn is holding her popular No Dig + Hügelkultur Gardening course live at the White Bear Center of the Arts on Tuesday, September 23rd from 6:30 - 8:00 PM. Get a chance to see the inspiration behind the latest class at our Northern Gardener School live with special Q& A time afterward.
LEARN MORE >
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Take a Virtual Seed School Course with Seed Savers Exchange
Seed Savers Exchange’s virtual seed school is a six-week course (1.5-2 hour sessions per week) in which gardeners from all over the world learn practical knowledge on how to harvest, process, store, and save seeds. Zoom webinars will be presented live each Monday at 6:00 p.m. Central Time from September 29 to November 3.
LEARN MORE >
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Turning a Former Landfill into a Thriving Prairie
Check out this inspiring case study we found featuring the Friends of the Mississippi River and their work in a 17-acre City of Hasting Park, the "Southwest Park Ponding Basin". The FMR's work on restoring sites is providing a critical habitat for pollinators, birds and wildlife near the junction of the Mississippi and Vermillion Rivers. For more sites to visit, check out their guide on local prairie wonderlands.
LEARN MORE >
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Summer's Over Tomato Soup Recipe from Dirt Road Cottage
The only thing better than this year's bumper tomato crop is a brand new recipe from the Dirt Road Cottage Substack featuring fresh herbs, edible flowers and a variety of freshly harvested vegetables. Bon appétit!
GET THE RECIPE >
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