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Where once rainwater pooled on a patio, now a series of gardens flourish at the T. Rex Coffee and Cookie Café on University Ave. in St. Paul. A 1,150-gallon cistern — a giant green rainbarrel — sits outside the airy “Art and Architecture” building, redirecting the water flow and snowmelt off the roof to vertical and horizontal gardens. All this is the brainchild of two ambitious friends who met during a water stewardship class at their watershed district.

BCWMC partnered with Metro Blooms, the Metropolitan Council, and the Harrison Neighborhood Association. The project gave local youth summer jobs and Hennepin County Green Partners trained the youth workers. Other local contractors that worked on the project included the Northside Economic Opportunity Network, Wilderness Inquiry, Minneapolis STEP-UP, and the Conservation Corps of Minnesota. Nearby Utepils Brewing organized planting drives through its volunteering club.

Poet. Biologist. Organizer. Advocate. Water quality steward. Blogger. Beginner. Meet Cole Williams, Mississippi River neighbor and fan.

Organic lawn care does more than resuscitate yards; it also brings business partners together. What started as a client/business relationship, grew into a joint Twin Cities-based enterprise. Read more...

Poet/activist Michael Chaney may best be known for the greening of North Minneapolis through Project Sweetie Pie, the urban agriculture and advocacy nonprofit he founded and runs. But his vision goes far beyond gardening.

Shoreline restoration may not be a top concern for most congregations, but for members of Colonial Church in Edina, it is a priority in maintaining the extensive grounds that include ponds, raised gardens, and fruit trees—all cultivated on land that was once a bog.

The West Metro Water Alliance is urging the public to Pledge to Plant for Pollinators and Clean Water. Adding native (wildflower) plantings, raingardens, and shoreline plantings to landscapes increases pollinator corridors/habitat and protects lakes and streams by capturing and filtering runoff. The project’s goal is to persuade landowners to plant 10,000 native plantings—of any size—to protect pollinators and our 10,000 lakes by 2020.

For the Reckingers of Woodbury, rain barrels are a family affair. Parents Jim and Mary are the local boosters, but credit their environmental educator daughter with encouraging them to install the pair that sits on the side of their house, April through September.

Interested persons are invited to attend Thursday, May 18, 2017 at 8:30 a.m. at Golden Valley City Hall, 7800 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, Minnesota.

Adult students learning English at Harmony Learning Center in Maplewood, Minn. are becoming water stewards as they learn idioms and conjugate verbs. Rain Gardens Provide Initial Lesson for New Water Stewards