We caught up with Ayolande Mack, an Early Childhood Navigator with the Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) to capture her insights into her passion GARDENING!
QL : When is a good time of year to start a garden?
It’s best to wait until after the last frost. A Minnesota Spring can be unpredictable with unexpected frost that can damage your young plants. I usually wait until the third week of May to get my plants in the ground.
QL : What are the easiest things to grow?
For beginners, tomatoes, herbs-such as basil- green beans, and various greens, like collards and kale. Raspberries are also easy to grow!
QL : How long before I see a harvest?
Each plant has a different harvest time. For most vegetable plants, you can expect to see a harvest sometime after 60 days.
QL : What do I need to start?
In the very least, a pair of garden gloves, a shovel, hand towel, a rake, wheelbarrow, a hoe, and access to water and a water hose. When I started our family garden, I began with a bag of compost manure and bought a few raspberry plants from a yard sale. This was less than $10.
Here are additional resources for gardeners:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/
https://www.gardeningmatters.org/
http://appetiteforchangemn.org/
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/sustainability/ homegrown
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