Waite Park Community Garden waitlist open for 2022 season

The following note is from Samantha Saunders, president of the Waite Park Community Garden for 2021. Contact her at wpccngmember@gmail.com. 

Hello neighbors!

Our 2021 growing season at Waite Park Community Garden has kicked off for the year, and we are excited to welcome 17 new faces to our community. Our season’s registration started about 2 months earlier this year, and we quickly filled up for the season. Many of our new gardeners were on the waiting list last season and waited patiently for almost a year. 

We have 70 plots in our garden, which means that almost 25% of our plots this year are rented by new gardeners. We don’t usually see such a high level of interest, but because of COVID and general unease about food supply issues, many people are looking to get outdoors and learn about sustainable urban gardening. We have a waitlist started already for next season, so if you are interested in renting a plot for 2022, please email us to get on the list!

Also new this year, we have budgeted to add 2 or 3 more plots to a sunnier area of the garden. We are “retiring” 2 of our shadier plots on the east end of the garden. The trees in the boulevard get bigger and leafier every year, and our 2 retired plots are almost completely shaded by mid-June, which makes them poor for growing summer vegetables. If anyone from the Waite Park community has soil or building materials that they would like to donate, we would greatly appreciate it. We plan to begin building these new plots later this season, available for rent next season. 

We are hoping to get back to hosting some outdoor activities when we can safely gather. In the past, our events have been limited to community garden members, but in the future we plan to invite all of our neighbors and friends, regardless of their membership status. We also plan to host some virtual events this season as well, so stay tuned for those announcements. 

Our calendar of upcoming social events will be posted on our website. We also have some great blog posts and resources on our website that can be enjoyed by anyone — our latest posts are a chive oil recipe and squash beetle prevention, both written by our mowing lead, Jessica. Check back often for new content!

Have a beautiful spring!

Get ready for street sweeping

Public Works crews are gearing up to start the City’s comprehensive street sweeping program to clear away what has accumulated in the streets over the winter. The City has scheduled Tuesday, April 20, for the first day of sweeping. Beginning Monday, April 19, drivers should watch for temporary “No Parking” signs to avoid a ticket and tow.

Starting April 20 for approximately four weeks, sweeping crews will take care of more than 1,000 miles of city streets. Alley sweeping will be completed by then. Drivers need to follow street sweeping parking rules or they may have their cars ticketed and towed to the Minneapolis Impound Lot.

Residents, workers and visitors have several ways to find out more about street sweeping:

• “No Parking” signs – Crews will post “No Parking” signs at least 24 hours before sweeping any streets. Parking will be banned from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the day a street is swept. The “No Parking” signs will be removed as soon as possible after a street has been completely swept to allow people to resume parking. Drivers should not park along these streets until these temporary “No Parking” signs are removed.

• Phone calls to residents – The City will make about 3,500 automated phone calls each evening to let residents know their street will be swept the next day.

• Interactive web tool –By the Friday before the first week of the sweep, you can visit the interactive street sweeping map to see when your street is scheduled to be swept.

• Videos – Street sweeping is explained in English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong in short videos on the City’s YouTube channel

Street sweeping is one way we work to protect our environment because it keeps leaves, trash and other pollutants from clogging our storm drains and polluting our lakes, creeks and the Mississippi River. It also helps keep our neighborhoods clean and livable.

Residents should not push leaves, grass clippings, or anything else into City streets. Not only is it bad for our waterways, it’s against the law. Anything that goes down a storm drain flows directly into our lakes, creeks and the Mississippi River, and decomposing plant material in the water encourages the growth of harmful aquatic plants and algae. 

If you are looking to help keep our waterways clean, consider participating in the Minneapolis Adopt-a-Drain Program, where you can commit to clearing leaves and trash regularly from your adopted storm drains.

Spring yard waste collection underway

The 2021 season for Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling collection of leaves, brush and other yard trimmings started this week. Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling customers can set properly prepared yard waste at their alleys or curbs next to their garbage carts by 6 a.m. on garbage day.

The City encourages gardeners and landscapers to leave yard waste untouched until daytime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees (mid-April or early May) to protect pollinators. Bees often nest in broken stems of plants, and butterflies overwinter in leaf piles.

Solid Waste & Recycling customers can set yard waste out in a reusable container, compostable bags (paper or certified compostable plastic – look for the BPI logo) or bundled with string or twine.

• Reusable containers must be 32-38 gallons in size and 26-32 inches high with sturdy handles.

• Each container, bag or bundle must weigh less than 40 pounds.

• Branches must be less than 3 inches in diameter and cut to less than 3 feet or shorter.

Bags marked “biodegradable” or “degradable” don’t meet the State law and are not accepted.

Solid Waste & Recycling crews can’t pick up dirt, soil, sod, branches wider than 3 inches in diameter or longer than 3 feet, stumps or trees.

Nobody should rake leaves into the street. It’s against the law and bad for our lakes, creeks and river.

For questions about leaf and brush pickup, customers can check the website or call Solid Waste & Recycling at 612-673-2917 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.