Home & Garden | Midway Como Frogtown Monitor

These small lightboxes made by Longfellow artist Chris Miller can brighten tables and shelves. Other larger ones function as furniture. (Photo submitted)

Longfellow mosaic artist Chris Miller believes that art is like jewelry for your home. “I made this piece in glass a few years ago and I display it each September during LoLa Art Crawl. It … more

By Tesha M. Christensen | 10/12/23

Wendell O Ward, a first time gardener, was “wowed” by his harvest. (Photo submitted)

A harvest of happiness

Wendell O Ward (a longtime Frogtowner known to his fans as “WOW”) is generally a happy guy. But this year a little patch of dirt, just about 40 feet square, has made him even happier. … more

By Patricia Ohmans, Frogtown Green | 9/15/23

Chat with local gardener, plant sale organizer

The 4th Annual Plant Sale to Benefit the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center Food Shelf wil be held on Saturday, June 3, 2023, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1138 Churchill St. Veggies, annuals and perennial … more

5/10/23

Gita Ghei, a longtime volunteer in both Hamline-Midway and Frogtown, holds up a tree that has just been extracted from a gravel-filled nursery bed. Gravel bed-grown trees form dense clumps of roots that aid in transplantation. (Photo courtesy of Frogtown Green)

Free trees for Frogtown, Hamline-Midway residents

Frogtown GreenSince 2011, volunteers in the Frogtown neighborhood have been planting free trees in residents’ homes. Inspired by those efforts, and alarmed by recent declines in urban tree … more

By Mae Macfarlane | 12/12/22

What happens when you stop mowing and start planting native flowers around the edges of West Minnehaha Recreation Center in Frogtown? The bees return, including this endangered Rusty-Patched bumblebee (Minnesota’s state bee), spotted and photographed last July. (Photo by Kathy Sidles)

NO MOW MAY

Let’s face it – your lawn, with all the mowing, raking, fertilizing, weeding, chemical treatment and watering it requires – is pretty much useless. At least that’s what a lot … more

By PATRICIA OHMANS | 6/8/22

Dave Crawford and Diane Peterson stand in front of their entryway.

The clown colored house on the hill

Perched on a hill overlooking the Como Park Golf Course is a two-story vivid spruce green and fuchsia pink cube made of steel and glass. Situated on a bend in Lexington Ave, it’s impossible to … more

5/11/22

Elevator in lower level of home also showing mechanical working in adjacent closet

Home renovations to age in place

At age 69, I was a “silver sneaker” poster child – fit and healthy, living on my own, fiercely independent and proud of it. Ironically, my main fitness exercise, avid fast walking … more

By SUSAN SCHAEFER | 5/11/22

At 576 square feet, this office space at 996 Front Ave. is considered a small working space. “I just believe, whether it’s for business or personal, you don’t need as much space,” said building owner Stephen Filing of Realty Group.

Tiny spaces live large

Stephen Filing of Realty Group was looking to start a real estate business in 2014. He and his wife recently had a child and wanted to start something in the area. When Filing found the tiny office … more

By CHLOE PETER | 4/14/22

Anna Lovat, Como Park Senior High School student

Why you should care about bugs

When I say I love insects, I’m normally met with a blank stare. Or worst case – a shudder. It’s not a very popular take, but with insect populations drastically declining across the … more

By Anna Lovat | 4/14/22

Why wait for warm weather? Plant seeds in the snow now. All it takes to make a mini-greenhouse is a milk jug, soil and seeds. Photo by Rudy Hernandez, Frogtown Green.

Outdoor Gardening in February? You Betcha.

It’s early February: time to start planting garden seeds! That’s right, no need to wait until Memorial Day to get started gardening. But forget the grow lights, heat mats and inevitable … more

By Patricia Ohmans, Frogtown Green | 2/10/22

Diane Dodge was roasted and toasted by several dozen friends and admirers at a recent picnic at Newell Park. Best known for her relentless community activism and cheerful, flower-covered hats, Dodge is moving to rural Wisconsin to be closer to family. (Photo by John Pavlica)

Gardening activist moves on

After many years as a Hamline-Midway resident, longtime neighborhood activist Diane Dodge moved to rural Wisconsin at the end of July. Dodge was active in racial equity and social justice work … more

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN | 8/12/21

Volunteers assist staff at the ReStore locations. (Photo submitted)

Do-It-Yourselfers love ReStore

Local Do-It-Yourselfers head to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore at 510 County Road D West or 2700 Minnehaha Ave. to get inspired.The outlet sells new and like-new furniture, appliances and building … more

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN | 6/9/21

Garden questions welcome

Connect with Ramsey County Master Gardeners online every Wednesday and Saturday from 12-1 p.m. May 26 through Sept. 29. Get advice for your garden problems, identify plants or insects (such as the … more

6/9/21

Watch out for jumping worms

Why be concerned about jumping worms?Jumping worms (Amynthas spp.) are an invasive species native to eastern Asia. In fact, no earthworms are native to Minnesota.Jumping worms contribute to major … more

5/12/21

MEET AUTHOR Tasoulla Hadjiyanni - “I was 10 years old when Turkey invaded the Cyprus and my family joined the thousands of refugees around the world, losing everything we had ever known. Losing my house and home ruptured my way of being. I embarked on a new life as a 10-year old child of war, rootless, fearful, and apprehensive, with a gap in my heart that could not be closed. “To counteract my sense of loss, I turned to my schoolwork – education, my parents told me, is something no one can ever take away from you. Before completing high school, I was awarded an AMIDEAST scholarship to study architecture in the U.S., a diplomatic effort on the part of the U.S. to assist refugees in Cyprus rebuild their lives. Little did I know that I would meet my husband a few months before graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and move to Minnesota. ‘My experiences as a refugee and a member of the Greek diaspora propelled me to connect with others who experienced displacement and injustice as part of my healing process. I was struggling with not knowing how to mend my broken self and worst of all, being pregnant at the time, I did not know how to create a sense of home for my daughter and my family. ‘In collecting the stories of refugees, immigrants and minorities both in Cyprus and Minnesota what struck me was recognizing that the effects of losing one’s cultural connections and sense of continuity carried forward for generations. I, therefore, used my platform to advocate for designs and policies that recognize home as a right and contribute to creating communities in which everyone can thrive.”

Thriving places, thriving lives

How does the design of your house or apartment help you live a healthy and connected life? Minneapolis resident Tasoulla Hadjiyanni has been studying this through her work as Northrop Professor of … more

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN | 4/14/21

Trent Bowman is the president of NAREB, a coalition of Black real estate professionals. He said, “Throughout history, people of color have been left out of the homeownership game. It’s about leaving a legacy. It’s about building wealth in our communities. We have to understand the history of housing discrimination, so we can work in the present to leave something for our kids in the future.” (Photo courtesy of NAREB)

Part II: The Twin Cities housing market

In last month’s article about the Twin Cities housing market during COVID-19, real estate professionals characterized the market as “frenzied.” A picture emerged of Minneapolis and … more

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN | 4/14/21

The mixed use construction project in the NW corner of Dale Street and University Avenue will bring 40 new deeply affordable units of rental housing to Frogtown. Located directly across the street from the Rondo Community Library, the building will be jointly owned and managed by Wellington Management and Neighborhood Development Center. (Photo by Margie O’Loughlin)

St. Paul real estate market in the time of COVID-19

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLINWhile some people refer to the last 11 months as the ‘Big Pause,’ it has been anything but that for real estate broker and business owner Mike Smith. He said, … more

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN | 3/10/21

A bee lawn can be low maintenance and a way to help the bees.

Bee lawns protect pollinators and your precious time

There are better ways to spend your spring and summer than mowing the lawn. The noise, smell of exhaust fumes, heat, and humidity add up to a less than pleasant chore. How many perfect Saturday … more

By Russ Henry, Bee Safe Minneapolis, Minnehaha Landscaping | 3/10/21

Frogtown Green volunteers planted the chestnut seedings around the perimeter of Frogtown Green’s Our Village Community Garden at Pierce Butler and Milton avenues. (Photo submitted)

Chestnut trees planted in Frogtown garden

By Rennie Gaither The legendary chestnut tree, once dominant in the ancient forests from Connecticut to eastern China and Japan, stands firmly among the pantheon of classic American trees. This … more

By Rennie Gaither | 12/9/20

ON THE JOB with Minnehaha Falls Landscaping

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN Groundcover spreads early in the spring, and forsythia offers an early pollen and nectar source for bees. (Photo submitted) Russ Henry started gardening with his mom when he … more

by Tesha M. Christensen | 10/17/20