Maple Grove Citizens for Sustainability - MGC4S

Plants, pollinators and pints: Native plant gardening with nature educator Angie Hong Join FMR at Dual Citizen Brewing to learn about gardening with native plants for better water quality and pollinator habitat!

See you there!

Metro Blooms is excited to be tabling at Wakan Tipi Awanyankapi’s Pollinator Festival this Sunday! 🐛🌱💚

Join us on August 11th from 10am to 4:30pm for a day of celebrating environmental education and Indigenous cultures. The Pollinator Festival will feature live music, Native vendors, educational activities, plant walks, bird walks, canoe rides, food trucks, and more! This festival is free to attend and all ages and backgrounds are welcome.

Learn more at https://www.wakantipi.org/. We look forward to seeing you there! 🌼

Metro Blooms Design + Build has an opening for a seasonal installation crew member! 🌱

Installation crew members work to implement the landscape plans that our designers have created. Designs are typically naturalistic, and plant-focused. Projects range in size from a single front yard rain garden to a multi-family or community-based project that includes large plantings as well as hardscapes. Our crew members take pride in installing beautiful and thoughtful landscapes that provide resilient outdoor spaces for both humans and urban wildlife. We are dedicated to safety and thoroughness in all our work.

Ideal candidates have a minimum of 1 year of landscape experience and/or a strong willingness to learn. The position will remain open until filled.

Learn more and apply at https://metroblooms.org/employment/

Applications for Spring 2025 Lawns to Legumes pollinator habitat grants are open! 🌱

Lawns to Legumes is a planting for pollinators grant program that Blue Thumb facilitates with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources. Any Minnesotan can apply to receive reimbursement for native planting projects and support at-risk pollinators like the monarch butterfly and rusty patched bumble bee. 🦋🐝

Each spring and fall, a new cohort of participants gets selected to take part in the Lawns to Legumes program. (If you applied for a Fall 2024 grant, check your email! Award notifications were sent out by the MN Board of Water and Soil Resources today).

Lawns to Legumes Spring 2025 applications will be accepted through November 30, 2024. If you previously applied for the program, you will need to reapply to be considered for Spring 2025 funding.

Apply online at https://bluethumb.org/lawns-to-legumes/apply/

Get involved: collect data on urban heat July 27

This summer, Hennepin and Ramsey counties will partner with volunteer community scientists to gather data as part of NOAA’s 2024 Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign to better understand urban heat islands.
https://www.hennepin.us/climate-action/what-hennepin-is-doing/urban-heat-island-mapping

Using heat sensors mounted on their cars, volunteer community scientists will traverse their neighborhoods in the morning, afternoon, and evening on one of the hottest days of the year. The sensors will record temperature, humidity, time, and location.
The mapping project is planned for Saturday, July 27, though the date is subject to change based on weather conditions.

Fill out the urban heat island mapping volunteer interest form to get updates on the project and how to get involved. https://hennepinco.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_51O0vrV3jF7zVJA

For more information, contact [email protected].

This spring, leave some w**ds for the pollinators! 🌼🐝

➡️ Yes, w**ds can be… w**dy. They become a problem when competing with other plants for space and nutrients. But in early spring, leaving a few dandelions alone helps sustain early-emerging pollinators before other flowering plants are in bloom.

➡️ Start removing w**ds before seed heads form to prevent them from spreading. Try to w**d at least 3 times over the growing season—around Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day—to capture early, mid, and late-season w**ds. Since the w**ds are a bit ahead this year, now is a great time to start if you haven't already.

Check out the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization’s recent blog post for more actions you can take to protect pollinators at home this spring: https://www.mwmo.org/news/pollinator-friendly-spring-tips/

We are looking for a passionate Seed Scout to join our Forestry Team in Minnesota! This is your opportunity to help address a nationwide seed shortage and contribute to an initiative with many partners to plant trees on a million acres in Minnesota. At TNC, you will work with talented and passionate colleagues to make a meaningful impact. The Seed Scout will have the opportunity to promote seed literacy while working with seeds each day!

📸 Derek Montgomery

https://nature.ly/3vWwNPu

The application period for the Fall Lawns to Legume Grant is now open through May 15th.

Apply for a chance to receive up to $400 in reimbursement to create a pollinator habitat in your yard.

Adding native plants to our outdoor spaces supports wildlife, builds soil health, and protects clean water. Plus, fall can be a great time to plant. Cooler temperatures and wetter conditions put less stress on new perennials and encourage root growth before winter.

Learn more about Lawns to Legumes and apply by May 15: https://bluethumb.org/lawns-to-legumes/apply/

Metro Blooms Blue Thumb - Planting for Clean Water

This May, join Metro Blooms and Monarch Joint Venture for one of our favorite topics: creating pollinator habitat! 🦋🌱

Whether you're a homeowner, renter or are just plain curious, you'll learn more about pollinators and what you can do to help them thrive. You'll meet:

🟠 Laura Scholl, President + Executive Director, Metro Blooms
🟠 Katie-Lyn Puffer, Education Manager, Monarch Joint Venture
🟠 Jennifer Ehlert, Vice President, Metro Blooms Design+Build

You can join us in the morning or evening. Register at https://metroblooms.org/community-coffee-chat/

Join Blue Thumb and Eden Prairie - City Government on April 25 at 6pm for an in-person Resilient Shorelines workshop!

Geared for folks who live on or near shoreline, this workshop gives step-by-step guidance for installing a native planting project that can help reduce erosion and protect clean water. Topics include:

🌾 How to conduct a shoreline site assessment
🌱 Pro tips for plant selection
💧 Regulatory reminders and local resources

…and more! Attendees will have time to ask specific site questions and get expert advice. Learn more and register at https://bluethumb.org/event/resilient-shorelines-city-of-eden-prairie/

This workshop is hosted by the City of Eden Prairie, in partnership with the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District and Nine Mile Creek Watershed District.

Mark your calendars for Earth Day on April 22.

This Earth Day, award-winning documentary film ‘Common Ground’ (follow-up to Kiss the Ground) is coming to select AMC and independent theaters in 75+ cities for a one-day-only super screening, to galvanize the movement of healthy farms and food systems.

On April 22, 2024, watch the extended Earth Day edition of the film, including a special Q&A featuring filmmakers, narrators, producers, and other guests. Experience the hard truths about our modern food and agricultural system challenges, and the profound and hopeful stories of heroes amongst us that are defying the odds to heal the planet, one acre at a time.


The film is scheduled to be shown at AMC Southdale 16 Theater on Monday, April 22. For additional information see https://commongroundfilm.org/earth-day-2024. A promo for the film can be found at: https://youtu.be/A4KmEa9fXsA

Are you seeking an organic garden space in a relaxing and nurturing setting?

We have raised box gardens, trellising, mature perennial patches, a greenhouse, and MORE!

Reserve your spot now before they are gone: https://mgc4s.club/ola/services/field-to-table-incubator-program-2024

Application periods are now open for two programs that strive to create and enhance pollinator habitat throughout Minnesota.

The Habitat Enhancement Landscape Program (HELP) aims to establish and improve habitat on existing conservation areas.

Pollinator Pathways grants — part of BWSR’s Lawns to Legumes program — fund community efforts that help residents create smaller-scale pollinator habitat projects in residential and community spaces such as yards, schools and community centers.

If you are a local government or other applicant eligible for the HELP or Pollinator Pathways programs, apply here: https://buff.ly/3bTJ2C9

If you are a Minnesota resident interested in applying Lawns to Legumes individual support grants, apply here: https://bluethumb.org/lawns-to-legumes/apply/

NEWS RELEASE: https://buff.ly/3VJ1qCm

Photo contributed by a Lawns to Legumes gardener.