Esko: Community garden will welcome bees

Rebekah King

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The Thomson Township community garden is joining the Northeastern Minnesota Bee Friendly Corridor project with the addition of a pollinator garden this summer.

Kathy Rahkola and other community members have been trying to revamp the garden, located behind the Thomson Town Hall. People are trying to create new opportunities at the community garden, Rahkola reported to the Thomson Township board of supervisors at its meeting on June 3.

The pollinator garden will cover four garden plots and will need to be maintained after plantings are put in. They wouldn’t need replanting for about a decade, she said. The “Bee Friendly” project connects gardeners to other communities and pollinator gardens in the area, including those at Cloquet Memorial Hospital and Cloquet Middle School.

Rahkola will provide educational information about the importance of pollinator gardens to second-graders in the area early next spring, through a program provided by the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

“This will help in educating our young and encouraging our second-graders to visit our garden space and hopefully encourage future gardeners to rent a space and try their hand at gardening,” Rahkola said.

There are still ten plots available to be rented this season. Information about the community garden and details on how to rent plots can be found on the township website.

In other news from the June 3 meeting:

• The board heard more from Carlton County engineer JinYeene Neumann on the potential reconstruction of County State Aid Highway 61. She thanked the board for its letter of support for what could be a reduction from four lanes to two, with the addition of a trail alongside the roadway.

Neumann said there will be public information sessions later this fall where community members can share their input on the proposed project. Highway 61 has serious deficiencies in its engineering, as Neumann described last month. The road bed for the highway is crumbling. It was built before drivers had access to Interstate 35 in the 1970s.

• The board is continuing discussion about a potential dog park in the area, as public interest remains high. More discussion about the potential project will be held as community members continue to bring information and possibilities to the board.

• The next board meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. on June 17. A virtual attendance option will still be available on the township website.