Work Day, Amir’s Garden

Saturday morning, April 21

839 Blair Avenue, Saint Paul

Help volunteer gardener Ryan Horton transform a sad little vacant lot into a beautiful permaculture oasis! Bring a shovel, any time between 8 and 11 AM.

Inauguration, Pop-Up Tree Park

Saturday, May 5, 9:30 to noon

630 Dale Street (corner Dale and Lafond), Saint Paul

Watch as Seitu Jones and friends transform a vacant lot into a grove of fruit and shade trees, complete with seating area for classes on tree care and maintenance!

Frogtown Does May Day!

Sunday, May 6, noon

Site to be determined

We’ll be all-green block hosts in our new 2012 t-shirts, bringing Frogtown pride to the other side of the river, during the fabulous May Day parade. Join us—call Patricia, 651-757-5970 to find out what block we’ve been assigned.

Frogtown Village Community Garden Build

Saturday mornings starting at 9:30, May 12 and May 19

Corner, Pierce Butler Route and Milton Streer

Thirty intrepid gardeners led by volunteer coordinator Andrea Eger will create a new community green space where once there was only a parking lot. Join them to build raised beds and make plans for bounteous harvests.

A Successful Bid!

March 5, 2012

The Wilder Foundation has accepted the bid submitted on behalf of Frogtown Gardens by the Trust for Public Land! We’ll be fundraising and planning shortly!

Frogtown Cooks!

January 26, 2012

This winter we created "Frogtown Cooks!", a series of videos, to share ideas for turning backyard harvests into delicious meals. Explore Frogtown's rich and diverse food traditions through recipes cooked by Frogtown residents:  120 folks showed up to see what's cooking in Frogtown and munch on snacks prepared by local chefs. We  also shared our big news about the bid that Trust for Public Land made for the Frogtown Farm site!

Tree Frogs Tree Training and Planting

October 20 and 22

We plated 18 new boulevard trees, after receiving training in tree care and maintenance from our pals at the St Paul Parks and Rec  Department’s Forestry  Unit. Coming up: plans for a community tree nursery on Dale Street, spring 2012

Frogtown Gardens’ Magic Bean Party!

Friday, August 26

A harvest festival for little sprouts, attended by upwards of 300 residents and friends. Animals to pet, a delicious meal prepared by Youth Farm and Market Project, craft tables, music and entertainment from the Walker West Music Academy, Tou Saik Lee and the Half Pintz drill team....and more. Lots of photos here.

The Great Green Beaning Project   

All summer long..Frogtown-wide

Our Green Beaning of Frogtown project required a cast of hundreds of volunteers to package, distribute, plant and tend green bean seedlings throughout the neighborhood. We reached out goal: Hundreds of Frogtown fences draped with fragrant and edible bean vines later this summer. Check out photographic evidence in the “Pictures” section, above.

Unify University Parade

Saturday, August 20

We carried a Frogtown Gardens banner and cheered for gardening throughout the community. Oh yes, and we were dressed as green beans. Fun! See the pictures, here.

Summer Community Events

We tabled with our neighbors and gardening pals at the Frogtown Neighborhood Association Annual Party on June 14, at the 15th Annual Peace Celebration June 17th, and at Rondo Days in July.

Compost & Swap

Greenhouse Garden at GFCDC

Saturday, June 4

We combined forces with the folks at the CDC Greenhouse Garden, with a visit from the Compostadoras and a swap of perennials.

Plant Early and Often

Saturday, May 7

Greenhouse Garden at GFCDC

Early crops planting work session and info session on preparing your garden, sponsored by/at Greenhouse Garden, 10 AM to 1 PM

Community Bean Feed and Celebration

West Minnehaha Recreation Center

Saturday, April 30

We kicked off our Green Beaning of Frogtown project with a Community Feed, along with our partners-in-gardening, Youth Farm and Market Project.

Frogtown Gardens Keynote: A Green Vision

Gardening Matters Resource Fair

Saturday, April 2

Over 400 people showed up for an entire day full of fun, information and resources for urban farming. We were honored to deliver the keynote address. For full details visit the Gardening Matters website.

Spring Equinox Brunch    

Saturday, March 19, 10 AM to noon

We had a great potluck brunch and seed exchange at the home of neighborhood hosts Emily and Davu Seru. with seeds to give away, treats, and news to share.

Facebook Friends Ask Wilder: Why Not? 

early March, 2011

We didn’t have a meeting, we staged a “write-in” in early March. A couple dozen Facebook friends wrote to Wilder Foundation CEO Maykao Hang, asking for the Foundation’s leadership to sit down at the table with city and other public officials, as well as representatives of Frogtown Gardens. Will it happen? Stay tuned...

A Frogtown Farm

Progress Report      

December 6, 2010

Nearly 200 people packed Rondo Library’s community room for an update on our progress in securing a vacant 13-acre parcel of land in the middle of the neighborhood, for use as a park nature sanctuary, and urban farming demonstration site. We had designs to unveil, plans to detail, video testimonials, some tasty food and a photo petition! Check out the pictures on the “Frogtown Farm” page, above.

Gardening, Cooking and Eating, Asian Style

November 8

The first in an occasional series on veggies grown or sold in our neighborhood, and the delicious foods that can be made from them. In this meeting, a special emphasis on vegetables used in Hmong cooking, with chef Tracy Yue and grower Mhonpaj Lee.

Frogtoberfest!

October 11

Expert beermakers Max and Tim Filter demonstrated how to make home-brewed beer (from home-grown hops, of course!)

More Visitors to Frogtown Gardens and Farm

throughout summer 2010

We’ve enjoyed visits and talks with politicians, college faculty and students, museum staff and urban planners, housing developers, potential funders, congressional staffers, gardeners from other cities and states, with more to come this fall!

Frogtown Festival and Health Fair

August 21

We gave away seeds and gardening encouragement at a table during our neighborhood festival.

Frogtown Goes to Rondo!

July 17

We participated with our Rondo neighbors in their community celebration and staffed a collective gardening table with Afro Eco, U of MN Extension and others.

Backyard Harvest Garden Party

June 21

A Frogtown Gardener hosted members in her Backyard Harvest garden. We ate and drank, admiring her potato bin, strawberry patch and meticulously cultivated beds.

Another Tour de Frogtown!

June 12

A couple dozen interested “tourists” visited the future Frogtown Farm site, as part of a church-sponsored tour of the Frogtown and Rondo neighborhoods.

MPR Visits Frogtown

May 27

Frogtown was the subject of scrutiny for a dozen radio journalists from all over the country, who assembled at the Wilder Child Development Center. First stop: the future Frogtown Farm site!

Designs for Frogtown Farm and Plant Swap

May 24

We unveiled drawings by local designers for Frogtown Farm, and we swapped plants.

Frogtown Gardens Goes to College

May 3

We were guests of Professor Christie Manning’s environmental studies class at Macalester College, where we talked about the sustainability of urban agriculture.

Arbor Day Tree Planting

April 30

Five more fruit trees found a home in Frogtown this Arbor Day, this time at the corner of Dale Street and Van Buren Avenue.

Earth Day Celebration with Frogtown Gardens

April 21

We were guests at Unity Church Unitarian’s Earth Day event. church members showed their support by giving Frogtown Gardens its first official donation!

Gardens and Grapes

March 29

We talked about our 2010 growing season plans, including new  urban demonstration plots, scattered throughout Frogtown. We also learned about cutting, grafting and growing grapes.

Seeding Our Imaginations

February 8

We heard about the explosion of gardening plans in Frogtown, including a communal veggie garden at the CDC; community plots at Rivertown Commons apartments and at the Ober Center, as well as the latest about Frogtown Farm-related  activities. 

A Vision for Frogtown Farm

January 14, 2010

About 150 people showed up to see, hear and weigh in on our vision to create a place of learning, repose, farming and recreation on the old Wilder Foundation campus.

___________________________

2009

“The Garden” A movie about community and gardening

October 5, 2009

We watched a great, horrifying and ultimately uplifting movie about the effort to save a 13 acre community garden in the middle of south central Los Angeles.

Member’s Garden Tour September 21

We had a terrific time touring four members’ gardens, munching, drinking and socializing along the way.

Hmong Gardening (postponed) August 10

Although our speaker couldn’t make it at the last minute due to illness, we had a good time planning September’s Garden Tour (see above).

Happy Hour/Plant Swap: Frogtown Gardens meeting June 6

We drank colorful cocktails and traded surplus plants in a members’ back yard.

Mix and match beds: Frogtown Gardens meeting May 4

Our May 2009 meeting at Rondo Library focused on garden design.

Living Green Expo May 2 and 3: free bus there

Minnesota State Fair Grounds, St. Paul. 250 exhibitors

Plant sale May 1 and 2

Plants donated by Frogtown gardeners benefited stray kitties in a neighborhood rescue program.

Tree planting: Arbor Day April 24

We planted four fruit trees at the CDC/District 7 Gardens.

Is My Soil Safe? Frogtown Gardens meeting April 6

We heard from a public health expert about the possibility of contamination in garden soils in the neighborhood.

Choosing Seeds: Frogtown Gardens meeting March 2

A specialist from the Minnesota Extension Service and a veteran gardener helped us select appropriate seeds for our gardens.