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gardens
A handful of hope
Eggshell seedlings inspire one family with their promise
Article by Sherri Gragg
For weeks, I collect eggshells. I collect them as the earth freezes hard, the snow falls and the birds struggle to find a thawed place in the fountain for a drink.
I crack them carefully as the children shuffle sleepily from their beds to the kitchen. I slow down in my usual frantic breakfast preparations to delicately remove only the narrow top from the shell. Once the shells are empty, I rinse them carefully, scraping free the membrane that clings to the inside of the shell with my finger. Gently, I shake the water from them and return them to their carton to air dry before hiding them away in the cabinet above the refrigerator.
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body, mind & soul
Tae Kwon Do discipline
Kun Yoo Park, grand master instructor
Article by Simon Zais
It was already a good day. Sixty degrees in March is a pretty sweet deal, and as I walk into the Park Institute in Rochester to meet with Grand Master Park, I am greeted with friendly smiles from a grown man coming in to train, a couple children who looked excited to see me and the gentleman sitting behind the front desk.
“I’m here for an interview with Grand Master Park,” I say quietly, thumbing my phone to silent before looking back at him.
“Follow me.”
We walk to the back room where he instructs me to sit.
“You sit in the comfortable chair. But I can’t promise you’ll want to get up later.”
He is right — the chair is phenomenal.
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eating well
Four rhubarb recipes
Grow with it, cook with it, savor it
Gluten-Free Rhubarb Crisp
Rhubarb crisp is one of the easiest recipes to make gluten-free. Simply substituting the flour with quick-cooking tapioca works to thicken the fruit. The balsamic vinegar adds a bit of pizzazz and mellows the tart. The best part is those who need a gluten-free option can enjoy the same dessert as those who don’t and they will never know it’s any different!
INGREDIENTS:
Butter (for the dish)
1 1/2 quarts fresh strawberries, hulled (halved, if large)
4 to 5 firm stalks strawberry-red rhubarb, trimmed and sliced
(enough to make 4 cups)
1 cup light dark sugar
2 tablespoons gluten-free balsamic vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons quick-cook tapioca
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons orange rind
TOPPING:
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environment
Making a difference
Group explains why water matters
Article by Debi Neville
“Water, water everywhere, and nary a drop to drink.” So goes the old adage. But that is exactly what Water Matters does NOT want to happen.
“We don’t mean to be alarmists,” says Gael Entriken, an activist, volunteer, enthusiastic proponent of education about water, beyond compare. “But people need to pay attention now, stop procrastinating and do something now.”
Water Matters is an organization that includes representatives from a long list that reads like a who’s who of environmental awareness.
This includes:
• Cascade Meadow Wetlands & Environmental Science Center
• Civics League-Rochester Chapter
• Franciscan Community
• Global Action
• Izaack Walton League...More »
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health & fitness
Tips from a pro
How to improve your cardiovascular health
Article by Simon Zais
Jogging to Northgate Health Club from my house is pretty easy. Especially when it’s nice out. Jogging while worrying about a voice recorder falling out of my sweatshirt is a little trickier. By the time I show up to meet with personal fitness trainer Casey Wilson, I am pretty pumped about our interview. After a couple reschedules, we finally set on a time and date for me to come in and take her class as well as do the interview.
When I say class, don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not a lecture or a seminar. It’s an aerobics class called X-PLODE.
If you LOL’ed when you heard that, we were on the same page. Before I tell you why you’re dead wrong (and I was, too), let’s talk about cardiovascular health.
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profile
A better way to live
Making the world healthier one plant at a time
Article by Suzie Stier-Waletzki
Transplanted to a new school in September, Dylen Douangmychit is finding new growth working with verdant vegetables.
Dylen, a Rochester native, is now enrolled in the Area Learning Center at the Educational Service Center in Rochester. He is working in the Golden Hill Garden Project.
“Before I started here I was at Mayo High School,” states Dylen. “I really like it here a lot.”
Dylen joined the gardening team in December when a youth work force ‘put him onto it.’ Since then he has been enjoying his time planting vegetables, herbs and micro greens.
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environment
A history of Earth Day
Earth Day is April 22
Article by Jodeen Wink
It has been 42 years since the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Why do we celebrate Earth Day? What does it mean? How did it originate?
The article, “Earth Day: History of the Movement” (earthday.org) explains that the first Earth Day “marks what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement.” Earth Day springs from “the height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States. 1970 brought the death of Jimi Hendrix, the last Beatles album, and Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge over Troubled Water.’ Protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause. War raged in Vietnam, and students nationwide increasingly opposed it,” the site states.
“Silent Spring”
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profile
Solar youth
Learning to be a leader
Article by Debi Neville
Her name might be synonymous with solar panels on Byron High School but Emily Schick states “there is a lot more to the story.” She explains in her answers below.
What was the project? The big project that put me in the spotlight was for getting solar panels on the roof of my high school but I actually started a club a year and a half before that supported this accomplishment. When I was a sophomore, I founded a Go Green Club in hopes that would make the school more eco-friendly. At that time, the school only recycled white paper and really didn’t push for sustainability. For the most part, the student body was unaware of “green” methods nor were they participating in making the school “green.”
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profile
A visit to Morocco
Jane Hardwick brings leadership and hope to rural life
Article by Brian Todd
Desert oases, street bazaars and orange trees aren’t the kinds of things most rural Minnesotans deal with. So when Jane Hardwick found herself in the middle of Morocco in February, she took notes on the Moroccan economy. After all, Hardwick has dedicated herself to learning about the issues that affect rural life, and her trip to the North African nation presented a chance to learn lessons she had never before encountered.
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