Hello, Serotonin.

http://www.citypages.com/restaurants/a-plan-to-turn-hiawatha-golf-course-into-minneapolis-first-food-forest/416059773

Imagine a forest filled with edible plants, berries, hazelnuts, and maple trees, bordered by hiking trails. A place where you can learn to forage and harvest while enjoying a beautiful lake and natural wetlands.

Now imagine that the forest is located on the edge of Minneapolis.

This is what Ryan Seibold and Russ Henry are trying to create near Lake Hiawatha.

Parts of the nearby Hiawatha Golf Course have been closed since a 2014 flood, and are expected to reopen this spring. This spurred the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board to explore options for rebuilding the course to make it more flood resistant.

Yet these plans stalled when it was discovered that the board was pumping more groundwater from the course – and into the already-polluted Lake Hiawatha – than allowed by the state. The city was left to decide whether to keep pumping or let the former wetland reclaim its territory.

Henry, a landscape designer who is running for a Park Board seat, says replacing the course with a food forest would turn a big problem into a big benefit.

The restored wetland would act as a natural filter, blocking major pollutants from storm water sewers and bringing back animals and plants displaced by the course, he says.

Put simply, a food forest is a woodland that uses native trees, shrubs, and plants that are both edible and medicinal. The city would plant everything from raspberries and blackberries to maple trees and hazelnut trees, as well as shoreline plants like katniss (also known as duck potato) and medicinal herbs like echinacea.

Intended to be low-maintenance and self-maintaining once established, the plants are designed to not only build soil but to attract pollinators. (Plants like milkweed are especially beneficial for bees and monarch butterflies.)

According to Seibold, the plants would be available for people to forage and harvest as needed. The idea is to teach people to understand the connection between plants and animals, as well as learn when to harvest sustainably.

“You’re growing the food, but you’re also growing the community around the food,” Seibold says.

There would have to be some sort of foraging training to ensure the plants are available for everyone, Henry adds.

When he got his first job in a nursery 20 years ago, Henry says plants were just green things he couldn’t begin to tell apart. Since then, nature has opened up to him, and he would love for the kids of Minneapolis to have the same opportunity.

By learning more about what they’re able to take from nature, Henry says that people might feel more empowered to grow food in their own yards, to embrace nature and sustainable development, and to encourage friends and neighbors to do the same.

Seibold and Henry say they’ve been getting positive feedback. The park board has until July to decide what to do with the land, but Henry says it may have already decided to reconstruct the golf course.

Either way, the men will continue their work.

{no pronouns, keep it simple!} my name is Hannibal, this is a damned old pic of me, and i’m a transmasc + nonbinary biracial Jew. i’m a pretty rad lil creature, i like to think. and now, my biggest dream has finally come true:

I GOT MY TOP SURGERY DATE– DECEMBER 19!!!

from my acting job and freelancing online, i’ve managed to save up most of what i need for the bill. a lovely, elderly relative had given me the full amount for Yule last year– but i had to spend all of it on severe medical issues and therapy. i’m mentally ill and physically disabled, so i can only work this part-time currently (it’s wearing me ragged and then some) and all of my wages have gone into this. i’m so so so so close to where i need to be.

i need to make another $1,500 by November 25!!!

i’m accepting donations at paypal.me/HannibalGrimm (please ignore my old auxiliary name, it’s about to be changed) but i’m also doing commissions of all sorts– writing (fanfics, poetry, school papers if you’re in a pinch, etc), doing divination and other psychic stuff (click here for more info), various NSFW things (sorry not sorry), and offering just about ANYTHING else i can think of. pretty please hit me up for details if you’re interested in any of that or have something in mind (within reason) that i could do for you!!!

London-based student Lewis Hornby is a grandson on a mission. When he noticed that his dementia-afflicted grandmother was having trouble staying hydrated, he came up with Jelly Drops—bite-sized pods of edible water that look just like tasty treats.

Each of these colorful “candies” is made up of mostly water, with gelling agents and electrolytes making up just 10% of their composition. Available in a rainbow of colors and presented in packaging reminiscent of a box of chocolates, Jelly Drops are an easy and engaging way to avoid dehydration—a common problem for those suffering from degenerative neurological diseases.

“It is very easy for people with dementia to become dehydrated,” he explains. “Many no longer feel thirst, don’t know how to quench thirst, or don’t have the dexterity to drink.” With this in mind, Hornby set out to find a solution. In addition to seeking advice from psychologists and doctors, he opted to “experience” life with dementia himself through the use of virtual reality tools and a week in a care home.

Once he was familiar with what dementia patients need, he brainstormed what they want. “From my observations, people with dementia find eating much easier than drinking. Even still, it can be difficult to engage and encourage them to eat. I found the best way to overcome this is to offer them a treat! This format excites people with dementia, they instantly recognize it and know how to interact with it.”

Someone: For what?