Urban Roots

10/07/2026

“We’re really excited for community members to be able to grow their own food,” said Hayley Ball, executive director of Urban Roots. “Partnerships like the one we have with Fairview are so important because they allow us to tackle different obstacles and issues within our community from lots of different angles. Together, we are able to leverage resources and relationships our organization may not have to work and solve issues identified by community members.”

https://www.startribune.com/fairview-and-urban-roots-grow-food-access-with-new-st-paul-community-garden/601895870

Fairview Health Services Star Tribune

The community garden at Fairview Rice Street Clinic is the latest effort to address food insecurity and support better health in the community.

10/07/2026

Vote for our Cheer Zone for the Twin Cities Marathon Weekend Diane and Alan Page Community Cheer Challenge! 🐝🥕

🔗 in comments

10/06/2026

Welcome back to the Fall Season with ! 🌱

🍅These past weeks have been very busy for our interns as we harvest a ton of produce for our ongoing markets, as well as take care of the land we nurture. Join us as our interns harvest a ton of apples, sweet potatoes, kale, tomatoes, green beans, beets, and so much more!🥬

🍁It’s much nicer to have shifts during the fall, the weather gets a bit colder and our interns get to see amazing sunsets every shift. Nothing like a nice break outside from school! We were also joined by University of Minnesota to do some testing at our Rivoli site as well! ✏️

🥔Food processing safety is one of the best solutions we come up with as the Market Garden Program. While our potatoes get ready to cure, as well as othe produce, we incorporated a new method of keeping our produce safe and sound by making sure they’re locked nice and tight in a huge container!🔑

🌿Though as the harvest season keeps coming at us we also have to process all of our produce for data, did you know that we grow over 10,000+ lbs or more of produce each year? It’s really crazy what we do as just average gardeners!🪏

🍁As we are just beginning the fall season, please enjoy our post as our interns continue to grow and explore their journeys as farmers. That’s all for this week, see you next time for another update!🍁

10/05/2026

Congratulations to everyone on our Charity Team for the Twin Cities Marathon and TC 10 Mile - you all did great yesterday! We're so thankful for your support. 👏 🏅 💚

We also had an un-bee-lievable Cheer Zone yesterday! 🐝 Please vote for Urban Roots (Mile 20) for the Diane and Alan Page Community Cheer Challenge. We won last year in the Charity Partners category! Carrot to help us do it again? 🥕 See link in comments to vote. Thank you!

Twin Cities In Motion

10/02/2026

🌿 Updates🌿

This past month, we’ve been enjoying the cooler temperatures— a nice break from summer’s heat. Here’s what September has looked like for us:

🌱 Planting time is here! We installed 21 species of native plants in a small area at Lake Phalen and are excited to see this transform over time.

🌳 Tree planting never seems to end in fall 😅 a lot of digging trees out of the gravel bed, and then burying them in the ground. Some at Rivoli, others, in the yards of our neighbors.

🐝 Visited with our honeybees— full gear. Checking to see how they’re hanging in there with the season change, and looking forward to the honey they’ve produced. Thank you bees!

⚒️ Garden rehabilitation in progresss at Sun Ray library. Making space to plant for pollinators.

🟫🌱 Observing, feeling, testing soil for its quality. Hands full of dirt— the way it always should be .🤗

09/28/2026

"Seed" you there! 🌱

Join us Thursday, October 1, at 5 p.m. to learn about local native plants and best practices for sustainably collecting seeds! The 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 and 𝗠𝗻𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗗 will demonstrate seed collecting from the native flowers and grasses found at Rivoli Bluff, a community garden site created by Urban Roots. Participants will leave with seeds and resources for processing and growing plants. This event is free and open to the public!

For complete information please visit:
https://library.metrostate.edu/seed-collecting-workshop-october-1/

If you need disability related accommodations, including parking, to make this event accessible, please contact the Center for Accessibility Resources, 651.793.1549 or 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀@𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲.𝗲𝗱𝘂.

Image Description: Graphic with grasses, flowers and seeds against a pale blue sky. Text reads: Native Plant Seed Collection Workshop. WHEN: Thursday, October 1, 5-6 pm. Also included are logos from Metro State University, Saint Paul Public Library, and Urban Roots.

09/22/2026

🍁Fall season in the garden! Welcome to updates! 🌱

🥕This is the best season for us as farmers, not only does the weather cool down for workers like us, we also get the opportunity to harvest a ton of our produce from our gardens. For example, we spent most of the time on our shift harvesting a bunch of carrots and other produce!🥕

🎉We also did a ton of successful work on our Rivoli Bluff Bash event! All of our staff and interns working or visiting had a ton of fun, doing the many activities we had as well as our free produce markets, which was a huge banger. Also a huge thanks to our Xcel Energy volunteers, who were here to help us out at the market! As well as many other organizations that supported the event as well!🌟

🌻On one of our shifts as well, a few of our interns got to participate in a skit for our Give to the Max day fundraiser! The video will be posted later on, but please look forward to that and support us in our diverse work, especially for our wonderful youth!🌱

🥔Last week, we also harvested a ton of sweet potatoes from our Rivoli garden. It was a huge mess of soil everywhere, but that never bothered us. Instead of digging for gold, we dug for ruby since our sweet potatoes came out so beautifully red and pink!❤

🌸Our interns also got an opportunity to harvest in their Yelbies. Harvesting a ton of greens, tomatoes, flowers, peppers, and so much more. One of our favorite trends in the gardens is to always pose with a flower! Beauty always shines the brightest with another beauty! That’s all for this week’s post, see you all next time!✨

09/21/2026

Did you know that now is a perfect time to plant a tree? 🌳 The weather has cooled and gotten wetter, which makes for a great environment to help a new tree get acclimated in your yard.

If you are interested in planting a tree, check out our September blog for tips on picking the right tree and setting it up for success. See 🔗 in comments.

09/15/2026