Villa Terra

This level of waste is not sustainable. We can do better. We must.
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A system that creates an unmanageable amount of waste is NOT an efficient system. We need to reward companies for sustainability, not short-term greed that hurts us all in the long run.

Another resource for native plants!
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Propagating the prairie: Couple creates business out of raising native plants For a plant that grows naturally on the Midwest prairies, significant effort goes into starting native grasses and flowers in a greenhouse.

We have a reservation for the upcoming Slate Auto pickup, sharing use with the Benson Community Garden. What a beautiful, simple design for an affordable EV. This will be a BIG difference maker for the organization.

Share your Slate Take a look at my Slate!

Best practice is to simply bring your own bags with you - always.

Plastic bags don't go in the recycling bin. What should you do instead? You may have heard that recycling plastic grocery bags can jam up machinery, but what might not be as well known is that there are other ways to get rid of the stuff.

The first berry of the season has arrived.
Kurt picked the first strawberry from Villa Terra’s new strawberry patch this week, and while it was small enough to disappear in one bite, it represented something worth pausing over. Every harvest starts somewhere. This one started here.
This is the first berry fruit Villa Terra has produced, and if the patch has anything to say about it, it will not be the last. The growing season is just getting started, and between the strawberries, the currant cuttings, the honeyberries, the elderberries, and everything else taking root right now, this is shaping up to be a year worth documenting closely.
Small wins. Real food. Honest work.
Follow along as the Villa Terra harvest unfolds this season.

Embracing the beauty and tolerance of perennial pollinators, grasses, and other native plants is becoming popular. Good for people, wildlife, and the environment! 💚🌎🌱

Once dismissed as w**ds, native plants are now flying off the shelves Gardeners across the country are flocking to climate-resilient native plants as concerns about extreme heat, flooding, and pollinators grow.

My Thursday morning walk with my buddy Chef Nathan turned into a little foraging lesson this week.
We were cutting through Memorial Park when Nathan pointed up at a pine tree and said, ‘Do you know what those are?’
I did not.
Those small, soft, yellowish clusters near the tips of the branches are called male pollen cones. Some people call them candles. Right now, in spring, they are absolutely loaded with fine yellow pollen that the tree releases into the wind to reproduce. Most of us walk right underneath them without a second thought.
Here is the part that made me stop: pine trees are monoecious, meaning a single tree produces both male pollen cones AND separate female seed cones on the same plant. It is a complete reproductive system on one tree. That is quietly remarkable.
And yes, that pollen is edible. Pine pollen has been used in cooking and traditional medicine in Asia for a very long time. James Beard Award-winning chef, author, and forager Alan Bergo has a thorough, honest guide to harvesting, storing, and cooking with it. We will link it in the bio.
A few honest safety notes before you go shake a pine tree:

- Know what you are harvesting. Positive identification matters.
- If you have serious pollen allergies, this one is probably not for you.
- Harvest from trees away from roadsides and areas that may have been treated with pesticides.

Foraging does not require a farm or a forest. Sometimes it just requires a Thursday morning walk and a friend who knows to look up.
What have you noticed lately that most people walk right past?