top of page

Earthwise Posts


Don’t Rush Spring! Your Yard & Gardens will Thank You.
I’m sitting in my cozy chair, watching a normal mid-March blizzard, and catch myself wishing: “When this snow melts, I’ll start doing some yardwork.” But I know it’s much too early to be doing any kind of cleanup, lawn work, or planting, but I have the bug to do something! Here are some things you can do, and more that you shouldn’t do this early in the season. Collecting sap and making syrup is an excellent activity for gardeners at this time of year. Right now, the soil

Bob Dahm
7 days ago4 min read


Winter Sowing for Native Plants and Natural Habitat
Winter sowing is a method of plant reproduction, especially for native plants that need an extended amount of time with temperatures below freezing. These plants evolved in harsh northern climates and developed a precise method to ensure successful germination.

Bob Dahm
Feb 283 min read


Sustainable Gift Giving
It's a challenge to be sustainable in a holiday season that is too often a cause for over consumption, but it can be done! In fact, there are many ways to heal the Earth’s climate while still showering friends and family with love and gifts. Go Paperless! Digital gift cards are a great way to give the gift of experiences like fun activities, e-books, massages, sustainable products, dining or music, especially if you support small local businesses. If you want to create the “u

Bob Dahm
Dec 23, 20253 min read


Sustainable and Pollinator Friendly Fall Cleanup
Pollinators can be hurt if you’re overachieving with your fall lawn and yard care.

Bob Dahm
Nov 14, 20254 min read


The Danger of Synthetic Herbicides and Safer Alternatives
The primary danger of synthetic herbicides is how they affect the health of people, soil, food, water, air, pollinators, and birds. In fact, the entire ecosystem suffers from the repeated and prolonged use of these products.

Bob Dahm
Sep 22, 20255 min read


How Weeds Heal Our Soil
WEEDS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM. They are the band-aid or medicine that Nature uses to heal sick, damaged soil.

Bob Dahm
Sep 9, 20257 min read


Landscape Drainage Issues
Clogged gutters, hardscapes next to your foundation, a poorly graded yard, and neighboring yards are common reasons and potential for water issues around homes. Following, I'll review potential solutions for each of these problems.

Bob Dahm
Jul 28, 20254 min read


Soil and Water: A Complicated Relationship
Every gardener knows that you need water for healthy plants in your garden. Did you know soil needs water to be healthy, too? But it’s a complicated realtionship and there needs to be some helpers to make sure they get along. Protect Soil from Run Off Rain can be friend or foe. Rain on bare soil compacts it and forms a crust that is hard for seeds to push through. The soil that isn’t compacted will erode and wash away and it forms channels and gullies that focus runoff, creat

Bob Dahm
Jun 25, 20253 min read
Capture carbon right in your own backyard!
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere warms the planet, causing climate change. According to NASA , human activities have raised the atmosphere's carbon dioxide content by 50% in less than 200 years. But we can help reverse this trend – right in our own backyards! The easiest solution to remove these gases from the atmosphere is to store them in the soil through the roots of plants. This is called a carbon sink. Plants consist of about 90% carbon pulled from the atmosphere. The mo

Bob Dahm
Jun 11, 20254 min read


Spring 2026 Lawns To Legumes Grant Program – Applications Open June, 2025
Lawns to Legumes is a planting for pollinators grant program that Blue Thumb facilitates with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources . Any Minnesotan can apply to receive reimbursement for native planting projects and support at-risk pollinators like the monarch butterfly and rusty patched bumble bee. Each spring and fall, a new cohort of participants gets selected to take part in the program. The Lawns to Legumes individual grant program for Fall 2025 closed on M

Bob Dahm
May 23, 20253 min read
bottom of page
