START A EDIBLE BOULEVARD GARDEN
What are the benefits of having a boulevard garden?
It's a fantastic source that allows yourself and neighbors access to fresh fruits, veggies, and herbs whenever it's wanted. This way you can grow organic food that will nourish your (and your community's) mind and bodies. In addition to those benefits, there are a variety of plants that are wonderful pollinators for all our bee friends!
Who is eligible?
Anyone in a Green Zone (Hawthorne, McKinley, Near North, Bottineau, Marshall Terrace, Sheridan, St. Anthony West, Cedar Riverside, the Phillips’ neighborhoods, and Ventura Village) capable and willing to put in the work to help your garden flourish!
What help will my neighbors and I get from MEB?
MEB provides the following to approved applicants: boulevard soil testing, seeds and/or seedlings, a few bags of soil and compost, a trowel, a pair of gloves, and education on how to transform your grass into an edible boulevard garden if needed. We also offer free monthly cooking classes, so if you're new to cooking, it's okay. These classes are meant for you! A few things the youth community leaders have created with us, whom we've been fortunate to hire through two Green Zone grants, are the Minneapolis Green Zones' Plant-Based Directory, the Minneapolis Edible Boulevards Soil Test Data Map, and the Green Zones' Community Garden Map.
Soil Testing
We test everyone's soil before planting to make sure it's safe to do so. The only red flag across the board was lead in amounts of 25 parts per million (ppm) through 135 ppm. The state of Minnesota says that 100 ppm of lead is acceptable while the federal government says that levels up to 400 ppm of lead is acceptable, and those stats are looking at bare soil of a children's play area. Multiple researchers at different institutions have been asked about the safety of growing food in small amounts of lead, in addition to the reading of research. Everyone has concluded that it's safe to garden in these small amounts of lead that are naturally occurring in the soil. However, in my opinion, we still want to be extra careful with children, and in our Green Zone communities, lead poisoning in children is a big concern. So our Macalester College soil Professor Anna Lindquist had her 2020 fall class do research on how we can garden safely with lead, and we have brochures we can distribute to the community on how to do this. Huge shout out to Professor Lindquist's class for working on that for us! In this photo, you can see one of those ways: cover your soil with mulch so that the soil isn't exposed.
How do I apply?
To apply to have an Edible Boulevard garden created for you and you're community please fill out this form, and we will look it over and get back to you as soon as possible!