Spring Home & Garden 2015

A passion for planting Couple has enjoyed a lifetime of gardening

By Jason Schoonover

jason.schoonover@austindailyherald.com

Mother Nature recently quashed Austin’s hopes of an early, uninterrupted spring, but some Austin leaders know a sure sign of warm weather is taking root about 20 miles away.

That’s because the flowers for Austin’s downtown flower basket program are growing at Hilltop Greenhouse in rural Freeborn County a few miles north of Hollandale.

“The people who live here in Austin look forward to seeing those flower baskets downtown,” said Bonnie Rietz, a former Austin mayor who helps run the program.

The 21st year of the drive has raised about $39,115 toward the drive, thanks to $10,000 donations from the city and Hormel Foods Corp., about $4,180 in carry over funds and about $24,935 in donations.

But program leaders are still looking to raise about $884 more to get closer to or even beyond $40,000.

By Jenae Hackensmith newsroom@austsindailyherald.com

L

ouise Barnes has been a gardener all her life.

Her mother always had a vegetable garden during Louise’s childhood days in northwest Kansas. Through that, she learned to care for a garden, along with how to can, freeze and store food to keep it during the winter.

“Mother had flowers too, but mostly it was a necessity, and we just learned to love it over the years,” Louise said.

Her husband, Don, also grew up with a garden.

See PLANTING, Page 3

Baskets budding for downtown

Don and Louise Barnes have been gardening for years, turning their yard into paradise each spring and summer. Eric Johnson/eric.johnson@austindailyherald.com

See BASKETS, Page 4

Organizing ideas for every room in your house Story by Hannah Dillon, Photos by Colleen Harrison newsroom@austindailyherald.com

S

taying organized isn’t always easy, but there are some simple steps you can take to make life more efficient and orderly.

Mandy Grzybowski, an Albert Lea resident, has a handful of tips she employs throughout her household to keep things organized.

“I’m always organizing,” she said.

Grzybowski lives with her husband, John, and their three children: 18-year-old Scott, 14-year-old Keith and 12-year-old Elise. The family also has two friendly cats, Reese and Pippi.

Kitchen Grzybowski said the biggest organization change she’s implemented in her house is starting a binder.

She keeps the binder in the kitchen and has everything going on for the week inside. She also keeps her shopping list and weekly menu there so she can make one trip to the grocery store, which she does on Friday.

The binder also has all of the family’s emergency numbers in case something goes wrong.

“It makes it easy for everyone,” Grzybowski said.

She keeps a stack of recipe cards out for the week so she knows what’s on the menu. After she finishes with a recipe, she puts it away.

In the pantry, Grzybowski rotates her food so the newer items are in the back and the older items are in the front.

Den In the desk, Grzybowski keeps a file of all of her children’s papers and grades. She has three bins — one for each child — full of their school papers. Once the file gets too full, she transfers the papers to the respective bins.

Grzybowski said her children will be able to take their bins with them when they’re finished with school, so they can always have their papers, even back to when they were in preschool.

The den closet is where Grzybowski keeps the family games. She keeps the most-used games in the front and the lesser-used games in the back.

For items the family isn’t using anymore, Grzybowski said she sells or gives them away, to not create clutter. There is a space in the den closet as well for her children to put clothes, shoes and other items they don’t use anymore. When the space gets full, Grzybowski bags everything up and takes it to the Salvation Army.

Living room Grzybowski’s house is full of Longaberger baskets — she’s been collecting them since 1996 — but the living room features many baskets that are used for different purposes.

There are two baskets in between the kitchen and the living room — one for Grzybowski and one for her husband — that hold items for them. She said if she

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needs to make sure something gets to her husband, she puts it in his basket.

In the living room, there are baskets that hold toys.

Even though her children are older now, Grzybowski said her nieces and nephews come over from time to time and can use the toys in the baskets.

Grzybowski suggests using baskets because they can easily hide things like toys in a living space.

“Baskets are a huge way to organize,” she said.

Mandy Grzybowski has many simple tops for keeping a clean, orderly house.

She lives in Albert Lea with her husband, John, and their children Scott, Keith and Elise.

Utility room A large shelf on one side of the utility room, which houses the washer and dryer, holds baskets that are used to keep laundry sorted.

There is also a large cabinet that holds different items. Grzybowski said she keeps the things she uses more — like lightbulbs — on the lower shelves while items that are mostly for emergency — such as power outage supplies like flashlights — are kept on the top shelves.

A closet directly outside the utility room uses that same principle: things her children use are kept at the bottom while things used less often are kept near the top.

Bedroom and reading room In her children’s bedrooms, Grzybowski keeps toys in clear bins in the closets. While her children don’t use the toys as much anymore, Grzybowski said her nieces and nephews can easily come and find the toys, because of the clear sides of the bins she keeps them in.

Grzybowski said her family reads a lot, and the family does its reading in the reading room.

In the reading room, Grzybowski keeps the books her children are presently reading in a drawer while other books are kept on the shelves.

If her children end up not liking the book they read, she said she donates that as well.

Other tips Grzybowski said she likes to have a routine. For example, she cleans the house on Monday and does all of her grocery shopping on Friday. She said if she doesn’t have a routine, things don’t get done as quickly.

She said if something isn’t being used, it doesn’t have to be kept. She said she routinely goes through her closet and has her children go through theirs to take out things that don’t fit or that they don’t like.

She donates the things she or her family doesn’t want to keep.

AUSTIN DAILY HERALD

Planting: ‘It’s great fun and it’s great work’ From Page 1 The couple had a farm south of Austin for many years, and when they moved to town they converted part of the backyard to keep their growing habit.

“Gardening is great,” Louise said.

“It’s great fun and it’s great work.”

The couple has been active in the Mower County Horticultural Society and exhibits at the Mower County Fair, which makes them experts at gardening. After all, Louise has about 73 years of experience under her belt.

The couple continue to garden every year, growing spinach, rhubarb, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, cucumbers and zucchini. They also grow flowers such as clematis, roses. lilies and hydrangeas, both perennials and annuals.

Louise, 77, and Don, 88, haven’t slowed down much in the garden, as each of them continue to share the work each spring and fall.

This story previously appeared in Austin Living magazine In the springtime — toward the end of May — Louise said people should start planting flowers, vegetables, perennial plants, trees and shrubs. This way, the plants have all summer to grow and produce. Annual flowers and vegetables will die with the first heavy frost. On the other hand, the early spring and fall are ideal for planting bulbs, nursery stock and perennials, so they can bloom in the spring and summer.

Either way, Louise said preparing the soil is the key to gardening, no matter when the plants go in the ground.

“You have to spend time prepping the soil so that you have something that the plants can grow on,” she said.

Louise advised digging and loosening the dirt about eight to 10 inches AUSTIN DAILY HERALD

A cucumber hangs in the Barnes’ garden at their Austin home one summer. The garden produces a variety of vegetables, including spinach, rhubarb, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, cucumbers and zucchini. Photo provided. deep. She said there should be a third mix of soil, sand and mulch — or organic material. Once it’s soft and easy to use and work in, it’s time to start planting.

Would-be gardeners should be careful of planting too early in May. Because of Minnesota’s late freezes, the plants can freeze. While some plants and vegetables can be put in early, she advised new gardeners to be careful and watch what they plant during which kind of weather.

“You can plant the stuff if you’ve got a way to cover them up,” she said. “You have to be careful though.”

Another obstacle gardeners can face is insects and animals.

Louise has a few quick tricks to keep out rabbits, deer and birds, such as placing plastic forks, tongs up, in the dirt. For deer specifically, she advised putting up a small tape-like fence with special deer deterrent on it. She said rabbits can be live-trapped, and gar-

deners may be able to get rid of some of them. She also said letting a dog run around the yard a few times can also be a good deterrent for animals that want to get at the garden.

Regardless, gardening can be a fun hobby to try. Just ask Louise and Don. “It’s a great way to play and relax and enjoy, and eat well,” Louise said.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2015

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Baskets: A coming sign of winters’ end From Page 1 “It would be great if people haven’t donated yet and enjoy the flowers,” Rietz said.

The 240 flower baskets planned for downtown Austin this year are up by 40 after the program scaled back for work on North Main Street and the flood wall. Rietz and others are excited to see the newly renovated street decked out in flowers for the first time.

“We’re looking forward to doing that this summer,” she said.

The flower baskets are typically hung downtown in mid- to late May, depending on the weather. They are typically hung once there’s no longer any chance of freezing.

“We do like to get them up for the Memorial Day weekend,” she said.

The baskets, Rietz said, are a great sign for visitors and local residents alike.

“It’s such a fun day to drive downtown Austin, and there are those beautiful baskets,” Rietz said, adding its a time when people can think, “Ah, we made it through another winter.”

Residents can send a tax-deductible check made out to the city of Austin with “Flowers 2015” written in the memo to Tom Dankert at City Hall, 500 Fourth Ave. NE. Each flower basket costs about $100.

By the numbers 164

Number of baskets in the flower program’s first year, 1995.

240

Number of baskets planned for 2015.

410

Peak number of baskets in Austin in 2002.

21

This year will be the flower program’s 21st year.

$40,000

Cost of the 2015 flower program.

The city contributes $10,000, Hormel Foods Corp. donated $10,000, and the remaining $20,000 is raised by the community.

The downtown Austin flower baskets are growing in at Hilltop Greenhouse in rural Freeborn County. Photo provided by Gretchen Boldt

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AUSTIN DAILY HERALD