Straw Bales in Saint Paul

Here in St. Paul, people love their gardens. In morning walks, we've seen prairie patches, vegetable patches, arrangements with chairs, Buddhas, bed frames. And I've seen straw bale gardens. These photos come from a straw bale "farm" I saw yesterday. The gardener told me they had just moved to this house this year and the soil was bad, so they decided to do straw bales. She said they weren't yielding as well as her garden last summer at a different house. But I saw tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, greens, and squash.

I really want to write about the Hamline MFAC (Masters in Writing for Children and Young Adults) Residency, but it's not over yet and I don't want to miss out on what's going on by leaving the scene to write about what has already happened. Soon.

In the meantime, here are some vegetables growing out of a bale of straw.  We are hard-wired to nourish ourselves, no matter where we live. We do that by putting seeds and plants in the ground, or in a bale of straw. And we do it with stories.

More later.