By Bev Johnson Master Gardener In the early fall, the soil is still warm so roots will continue to grow. Spring planted shrubs or trees will get off to a slower start as the soil hasn’t warmed up to the optimum temperatures for root growth. Fall planted plants will begin root growth sooner, and leaf out… Read More

By Robert Williams Editor, Frazee-Vergas Forum As of Jan. 1, 2023, Minnesota’s minimum-wage rates will be adjusted for inflation to $10.59 an hour for large employers and $8.63 an hour for other state minimum wages. The current large-employer minimum wage, $10.33, will increase by 26 cents to $10.59. Other state minimum wages, including the small-employer, youth and training… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question 1: I have noticed cars that have a high-mounted center brake light that flashes about 4 times before becoming steadily lit (like other brake lights). I’m seeing car dealers are installing them on some cars. Are these flashing lights legal?  Answer 1: These types of devices and alterations to the brake… Read More

By Bev Johnson Master Gardener This time of year, some gardeners are suffering from “Garden Fatigue.” They are praying for frost so they can stop gardening. Of course, this is not true for the avid gardener. He /she would like at least 2 or 3 more months of gardening weather to be sure that that new… Read More

By Bev Johnson Master Gardener Petunia was complaining to Bunkey about how boring the flowerbeds were looking.  The mums hadn’t started blooming, the phlox were done, some of the lilies hadn’t had their spent blooms cut off and the only thing showing much color were the annuals scattered here and there. She was right, he decided, it… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda As quite a few of you know, I read a lot. Don’t care what. Might be Chinese history; might be the history of British politics. Or about what’s really, really inside an atom’s nucleus.  If it pops up in front of me, I read it. As I’ve consumed various kinds of fiction–novels,… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question: Is it legal for farmers to load hay on a state highway? Our neighbor bales several miles of state highway ditches.  To load the round bales he drives down the highway with a pickup and bale wagon.  His son is in the ditch with a tractor and loader.  The son… Read More

Plan for the future when planting a new shrub By Bev Johnson Master Gardener The last edition of the Northern Gardener magazine had a list of uncommon shrubs for zone 3. If your estate needs a bit of a tune up, perhaps you should look into one of these. Aronia or black chokeberry is a 6X6 foot… Read More

The Prairie Spy Alan “Lindy” Linda It has been one hundred years since a young Swiss patent clerk named Albert Einstein turned the world upside down with his preposterous ideas. His third paper is the one we’re all somewhat familiar with, the theory of relativity. Pretend you’re sitting in a saddle affixed to a light beam tearing through… Read More

Ask A Trooper Sgt. Jesse Grabow Question: A friend recently told me that it’s illegal to honk your car horn in Minnesota (he showed me an internet article).  I find this hard to believe.   So many friends and family members drive by our house, giving their horn a little honk and waving; is this illegal?   What if… Read More