@GardenatHoverflyMeadow Yes. It is a lovely list of native plants. These names are familiar friends. We are growing native plants for the planet in southern Minnesota. #nativeplants, #pollinator, #minnesota, #Zone4b

@handmade_ghost This is a wonderful cedar waxwing portrait and description. The cedar waxwings are here off and on foraging ripe berries. It is fun to observe them. Their boisterous foraging transitions our walking into birdwatching. #minnesota, #Zone4b

A November 28, 2025 milestone. The shredded carrot fermentation is jarred after nine days on the countertop. The late November fermentation went well without fruit flies or bits of mold making a scene. The recipe is in the Kirsten Shockey “Fermented Vegetables” cookbook. We use this in baked savory muffins and more. It’s also a substitute for sweet potatoes as we leave sweet potato growing to other gardeners. #fermentation, #minnesota, #growyourown, #nodig, #Carrots, #Zone4b

This pollinator has managed to survive five frosty nights in southern Minnesota. The middle of November is late to be an active Question Mark butterfly. An unripe squash, not pictured, has been gnawed by critters. This is the food source for the solo butterfly. There are habitat benefits to leaving the plants in the nodig garden nearby. #minnesota, #zone4b, #pollinators, #gardening, #compost

It’s another gardening milestone. The last 2025 compost is moving to the garlic rows. And the 2025 to 2026 garlic is all planted. We are raising 17 varieties for home science. For example five large cloves of the Georgia Crystal, Shangdon, and Siberian varieties all weigh 119 grams. It’s a three way tie for heavy. We keep planting the largest cloves and fermenting the rest as home horticulturalists do. #minnesota, #compost, #growyourown, #Zone4b, #garlic, #fermentation

November 14, 2025. Garlic photoshoot, weigh-in, and planting. Garlic planting is an optimistic step as garlic spans the end of this growing season and next season too. It’s exciting. Lots of compost is used. The five heaviest cloves are weighed. Math is used to squeeze more bulbs in. This garlic growing space is on a four year rotation in a nodig garden in southern Minnesota. #minnesota, #garlic, #compost, #Zone4b, #growyourown, #fermentation, #sambal, #gardening

November 10, 2025. The leek harvest is cleaned and dehydrating. The garlic, yellow parma, purple onions, and shallots all did well this growing season. A few of them had tall neighbors, a few of them bolted. #nodig, #minnesota, #zone4b, #gardening, #growyourown, #compost

@anabollocks Offering fermentation as a preservation method for the unripe green tomatoes. The small green tomatoes can be fermented whole in a seasoned brine. These become tomato flavor bombs to be eaten in one bite with your mouth closed. It is similar to an exploding olive. Larger green tomatoes can be sliced and fermented in a seasoned brine. #fermentation, #zone4b, #growyourown

@Vanalope Pepper start stuff you say. Southern Minnesota is Zone 4b at our nodig garden. We plan for planting out in mid May. We adjusted to plant several weeks later as the 2025 spring was cool. It was a good growing season. #minnesota, #Zone4b, #growyourown, #nodig

@tickfoot Thank you for sharing the soil biology information. This is a good reminder of the microscopic life forms helping the soil. #compost, #nodig, #minnesota, #Zone4b

From August 1, 2025. The obedient plant is Physostegia virginiana. The plants are blooming profusely! The long flower spires develop from the bottom upward. The pollinators choose a blossom size to match their body size and climb in and out of each open flower. Therefore a variety of pollinators are present, which is good for diversity. Obedient plant spreads rapidly by rhizomes, it is aggressive that way. #nativeplants, #minnesota, #pollinators, #rewilding, #gardening, #Zone4b

@colo_lee Yes. They are healthy in poor soils too. Ours are about 18” tall at the bloom. And the leaves are like vertical yucca leaves this time of year. They are great companions in the zone 4b rock garden with other shorter native plants. #nativeplants, #Zone4b

@otterX We have harvested rogue burdock and used the root in kimchi. How are you enjoying it? Burdock will try to take over in southern Minnesota. #burdock, #kimchi, #minnesota, #Zone4b, #fermentation.

What is this small angular life form on the Russian Sage stem? Several are visible. The ants are interested in them. June 17, 2025. Southern Minnesota. #nativeplants, #minnesota, #zone4b, #growyourown, #prairiesage, #askfedi

June 6, 2025. The cream wild indigo plants are blooming. The bumblebees love these early blooms. They are lovely. We are growing more from the seeds. These are teenagers. None of the next generation is mature enough to bloom. It is good to have habitat for the predators too. #nativeplants, #minnesota, #pollinators, #zone4b

Rock garden! Pussytoes! Native prairie plants! This is a combination of short native plants. The common blue eyed grass has its tiny blooms. And the pussytoes plant has a flower spire. Everyone is close to the ground in this rock garden. The photograph was taken in the evening sun on May 11, 2025. #nativeplants, #Bloomscrolling, #minnesota, #gardening, #pollinators, #zone4b.

Wednesday April 30, 2025. Drama in the compost! The compost pile haa warmed up to 55 F (13 C). This will be the first flip of the pile since the material was covered with the fall 2024 leaves. #gardening, #compost, #minnesota, #zone4b, #growyourown, #sowbug, #centipedes, #Earthworms, #nematodes, #nodig, #allotment.

April 29, 2025 in the rock garden. The ground plums have blooms! Also known as buffalo plum. These are in a rock garden microclimate. The blooms become seed pods of round plum shapes. That will be fun. #nativeplants, #minnesota, #zone4b, #gardening, #pollinators, #growyourown.

@Rihilism The blue eyed grass is this big. The crumpled dandelion leaf is for shown for scale. We started some from seed in spring 2024. The germination and growth were successful. The older clumps can be split successfully as shown by California Mastodon native plants enthusiasts. #nativeplants, #minnesota, #zone4b, #growyourown.

@Broadfork Yes. The new greens of spring are good for the eyes. The rogue nettles are in the lead here, they shared their top four leaves yesterday for soup. And last week they shared leaves for a fertilizer water. Thank you Mastodon for the nettle enthusiasm. #growyourown, #nettles, #minnesota #zone4b, #gardening.