Growing Green By Robin Trott, Extension Educator Protecting your Minnesota garden goes beyond the usual watering and pruning routine. In our unpredictable winters, there’s a simple yet crucial solution: Mulch. Whether it’s wood chips, leaves or straw, this layer plays a vital role in safeguarding your plants. Mulch has year-round benefits. In summer it conserves moisture,… Read More

View From a Prairie Home by Hege Hernfindahl, Columnist I wake up suddenly, my heart beating wildly in my shaking body which is soaked with sweat. My breath comes in gasps. Outside the bare branches of the trees sway violently in the wind while the dark spruce trees seem to lean in, forcing me to hold my… Read More

From Where I Sit By Pat Spilseth, Columnist Years ago, Russell Baker wrote a column for The New York Times asking, “Do you ever wish you had it to do over again?” Baker wondered if folks missed porches and rocking chairs where people sat and reflected on life. He doubted if many still have rocking chairs or… Read More

Publisher’s Perspective By Tim Douglass, Publisher of the Pope County Tribune My family lost my Dad to cancer just over a decade ago.  He was a recipient of Hospice services at the end of his life and our family was grateful for Hospice and will always remember the loving dedication of Hospice workers and volunteers in… Read More

Stoneage Ramblings By John R. Stone What do you think about turning right at a red light? Or what do you think about those left turn signals in larger cities where everybody waits while the left turners do their thing? A couple of recent things made me think about these actions. The right turn on red… Read More

The Outdoors By Scott Rall, Outdoors Columnist I totally live in the land of dogs. I had more than a few Heinz 57 pets growing up but did not land my first bonafide Retriever until 1996 when I was 35. I was sitting at an AKC hunt test with many of the judges and participants and… Read More

View From The Cab By David Tollefson, Columnist It is pretty rare to have a sitting president of the United States visit a Minnesota farm. In fact, it has never happened before. The event happened on Nov. 1, 2023, on the Dutch Creek family farm near Northfield, Minn., owned by Robert (Rusty) Kluver and his family. Rusty… Read More

Growing Green By Robin Trott, Extension Educator Each growing season, the University of Minnesota West Central Research and Outreach Center in Morris conducts trials of hundreds of annual flower cultivars sourced from global plant breeding companies. These cultivars are either grown from seed or vegetatively propagated in the greenhouse. The flowers undergo rigorous evaluation, with their… Read More

View From a Prairie Home by Hege Hernfindahl, Columnist When our daughter Ingvild’s husband Patrick died of a sudden heart attack on June 6, 2020, her college roommate, Joslyn flew in from San Francisco right away. And her brother, Erland, came immediately with his family from Brussels. Joslyn became part of our family then, coming to Ingvild’s… Read More

From Where I Sit By Pat Spilseth, Columnist It’s been a lovely Indian Summer, though Halloween was cold and only a few trick & treaters came to my house. Thanksgiving is a few short weeks away; Christmas arrives in less than two months. While Boy Scouts are canvassing the neighborhood selling wreaths and pine boughs, some folks… Read More