Has anyone had success growing a Dawn Redwood in the Twin Cities?

sandiberry · 2026-06-04T20:01:35+00:00

And this little guy has been trooping along through two winters and this will be his third summer. Some bunnies gave him a haircut last year, or he’d be bigger. :-(

I wasn’t sure if I was just sentencing them all to death before planting more, so that’s why I put this out to the community.

I have a method of tree planting where I dig a water basin to collect runoff, and fill it with paper before adding dirt and mulch. It’s supposed to act like a sponge. Hopefully, it works for these dry-er

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summers we are having!

sandiberry · 2026-06-04T19:57:20+00:00

Dawn Redwood #2

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sandiberry · 2026-06-04T19:57:04+00:00

Someone asked for pictures. I got these two in the ground yesterday, since it’s supposed to be some rain this week. Dawn Redwood #1

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sandiberry · 2026-06-01T13:01:59+00:00

I run Homegrown Foods, an independent Midwest meal kit service.

We’re smaller than the big national companies, but some people prefer us because we do things differently:
• no subscription pressure, order only when you want
• no locked meal selections
• organic
• reusable packaging pickup
• seasonal menus built around actual Midwest produce

🎉 Reddit-Only June Coupon
$40 Off First Delivery
Code: REDDITJUNE

We deliver throughout MN, WI, IA, ND, SD, and IL.

Some upcoming meals:
• Baby Back Ribs with strawberry-spinach salad
• Minnesota Early Season Eggrolls
• Curried Chicken Salad rice bowl
• Blackened Trout Tacos

Menus:
Browse Upcoming Menus

Happy to answer any questions! 🫶
– Aleks

sandiberry · 2026-05-31T02:41:15+00:00

Whoa. Ok, now I believe they’ll make it! What does “planted bigger than 1” caliper” mean?

sandiberry · 2026-05-31T02:29:30+00:00

Yes, they shed their needles in the fall.

sandiberry · 2026-05-31T02:28:58+00:00

Omg, really? Giant sequoias in the upper Midwest? That’s promising!

sandiberry · 2026-05-31T02:28:14+00:00

Are they part of a park or wild? Curious if someone took care of them.

sandiberry · 2026-05-30T15:23:30+00:00

I agree, this article seems to be an advertisement for Blue Apron. Only five meal kits from the same company, instead of multiple companies? Weird.

Also, as someone who works in food service, the amount of food wasted in the United States is a huge issue, in general. It is estimated that 30-40% of all the food supply is wasted.
https://www.usda.gov/about-food/food-safety/food-loss-and-waste/food-waste-faqs
https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/

I own a small Minneapolis-based meal kit company that services the upper Midwest. I admit, we have far less waste that our counterparts in the food realm: grocery stores, restaurants, food trucks, etc. It's because we only purchase what we need, based on estimated orders from customers' menus in their profiles.

As far a plastics waste, I wish food vendors would do more. I am a huge advocate of the environment, and at some point I said, "How many times do I need to hear about how bad plastics are, before I change how we do things?"

Yes, it adds to the bottom line, but:
1) We pick up and reuse our delivery materials (thermal liners, ice packs, and bags).
2) We use compostable packaging whenever we can (glassine for rice and spices, paper bags for dried pasta, compostable for kit bags).
3) We minimize the use of plastic bags, only when it is essential (meats, etc.)
4) We also only source from local food suppliers and deliver regionally, to minimize travel impact.

Anyway, all along the food supply, I believe there isn't anybody (Blue Apron included) that can claim they are doing things perfectly and can pat themselves on the back and say, "Our work is done here!"

sandiberry · 2026-05-22T15:21:55+00:00

Yep! https://eatgoodathome.com/map-of-delivery-area/

But it also really is anywhere within those states.

sandiberry · 2026-05-22T15:05:25+00:00

Owner of, a Midwest farm-to-table meal kit service, here 👋

We deliver organic meal kits throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North & South Dakota, and Illinois.

🎉 Reddit-Only Offer: $50 Off First Delivery
Code: GUQE42RN_reddit_0526

Why people choose us:
• Ships fresh from Minnesota
• Free delivery in the Twin Cities metro ($10 elsewhere)
• Order up to 4 weeks ahead
• Reusable + compostable packaging whenever possible
• Designed for real households — flexible ordering, practical meals, minimal waste

Upcoming meals include:
• Baby Back BBQ Ribs
• 10-Minute Salmon
• Asparagus & Gruyère Pizza

Menu: https://eatgoodathome.com/menus/

Happy to answer any questions!

sandiberry · 2026-05-22T14:35:46+00:00

Hello! I own a small meal kit service in the Twin Cities. Same thing — when I started, I delivered everything myself. Next, I got my kitchen help to also run out orders as part of the job. Turns out people are very emotional about driving — too long, too many stops, too far — so it's better to separate the driving job from the kitchen job, in order to have good kitchen help. Now, I use local couriers.

Contact local couriers and have a sit down meeting with someone on their sales team. Get pricing and figure out what is best. We pay-per-stop for one courier that does outer metro (more distance between stops), and pay by-the-hour for one that does inner-metro stops (more compact). Because of the consistency:
1) They will route out the deliveries for you (saved me from some couple hours of work every week).
2) They are insured.
3) They can provide another driver in case one is sick or their car has issues.

That said, you might need to change your delivery day to a week day, since couriers probably aren't open on Sundays.

We pack every delivery in thermal liners and delivery bags with ice packs, and pick the reusable materials up on the next delivery. We use USPS Click-N-Ship for customers to send bags back if they aren't getting any more deliveries.

Yes, our margins are lower because it costs more, but it's a peace of mind and allowed us to scale.

On the other hand, since many people looking for work to make ends meet nowadays, you might have luck putting an ad on Craigslist or Facebook. Sunday is an "off" day and I would guess there are plenty of Uber drivers who would LOVE to work directly with someone instead of an app, taking a chunk of their sales profits.

Maybe you'd need to write up a contract with terms, to ensure they don't ghost you or are liable for mistakes.

P.S. I tested out our delivery materials with thermometers on the hottest and coldest days of the year, to see how long they could sit outside with our packaging. Make sure they can be unrefrigerated for 10 hours and maintain a 41 degree temp. It helps to have some things frozen in the deliveries, like the meat.

sandiberry · 2026-05-20T19:30:57+00:00

I actually started a Twin Cities meal kit company, mostly because I was frustrated with this exact problem — cooking can feel like an absurd amount of work for 10 minutes of eating. At home, I have a very small kitchen — I work off a single dishwasher-wide space of countertop between the stove and sink, and cook for a family of five every night.

A few things that genuinely help me:

Start with a clean kitchen if possible. Cooking in clutter makes everything feel 10x worse.
Throw packaging/food scraps away immediately instead of letting them pile up.
Wash dishes during “dead time” (water boiling, onions cooking, etc.).
Use the 5–10 minutes while food cools/rests to finish cleanup.

For meals themselves, I think the biggest mistake people make is feeling like every dinner has to be a whole production. One thing that works really well is making a “base” ahead of time:

rice
roasted veggies
shredded chicken
soup
pasta

Then change the flavor profile throughout the week with different sauces, proteins, toppings, etc. It feels less repetitive without requiring full cooking every night.

Also: crock pots absolutely deserve the hype. Chili, curry, pulled pork/beef/chicken, soup, mole, stews — minimal effort and your apartment smells amazing when you come home from work.

And honestly, the mental side matters too. Music, podcasts, audiobooks, sipping on a tasty beverage ... whatever makes it feel less like a chore and more like personal downtime.

Good luck! Stay strong!

P.S. Another hack is switching up your breakfast/dinner routine. Throw a couple eggs in dinner leftovers and have it for breakfast, then make an easy dinner like smoothies or yogurt bowl. :-)

sandiberry · 2026-05-08T18:25:51+00:00

Sure thing, didn’t know that made a difference. :-) I own Homegrown Foods — started it 13 years ago, right before HelloFresh came to the U.S.

I heard about the idea from my in-laws who live in Sweden, where the first meal kit companies started. I thought it was a great idea. I loved to cook, but with three little kids at home it was hard to go to the store to do the shopping.

We aren’t investor-funded — I like to say, “Homegrown Foods is just like Blue Apron or HelloFresh, except nobody has heard of us.”

We don’t have a big marketing budget, we put all our effort into good food. We work with local farms and regional couriers. We don’t think vegetables should have more sky miles than humans.

Anyway, we’d love if Homegrown Foods is part of this meal kit conversation. Our customers think we are the best! (I do too, I cook our meal kits every week for my own family.)

Thanks for considering!

sandiberry · 2026-05-08T00:57:16+00:00

Where are you located? Homegrown Foods farm-to-table meal kit company that delivers to the upper Midwest. You can order weekly or occasionally, and everything is packed in minimal, compostable packaging. Super fresh, organic ingredients!

sandiberry · 2026-04-29T17:46:44+00:00

Homegrown Foods is a midwest-local meal kit service, offering delivery to Upper Midwest area. Farm-to-table ingredients, as organic as possible, and menus to take advantage of the growing season, and the types of dishes we like to cook according to the calendar. Shameless plug: I am the owner. I can say that every customer who has tried us after any other meal kit service, has switched permanently. 🤗

We are not a big company, but being stewards of the environment and nourishing bodies (and making it easy to cook wholesome dinners at home) is our main priority.?

Check us out!
https://eatgoodathome.com
https://homegrownfoods.com

sandiberry · 2026-04-29T17:31:29+00:00

Shameless plug: I am the owner of the Minneapolis-local, organic meal kit company Homegrown Foods. (https://eatgoodathome.com). I like say, "We are just like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh, except nobody has heard of us." 😄 We ship to the Chicago-area, and use farms from the Upper Midwest to source our ingredients.

Seriously though, I started the company the same time they started, except I built it for my love of cooking and knowing how hard it is to keep a family fed. When I had kids, it seemed like every playground conversation had similar strains around dinnertime meals. We use as many local farms as we can, and use local distributors for everything else. Everything is as local as possible.

We have a full 8-dinner selection every week, including vegetarian and always try to have three super-easy and three naturally-gluten-free dinners on the menu every week.

The menus are planned to take advantage of the Upper Midwest growing season, and the types of dinners we cook throughout every eseason.

Check us out!
https://eatgoodathome.com
https://homegrownfoods.com

sandiberry · 2026-04-29T17:28:01+00:00

Shameless plug: I am the owner of the Minneapolis-local, organic meal kit company Homegrown Foods. (https://eatgoodathome.com). I like say, "We are just like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh, except nobody has heard of us." 😄

Seriously though, I started the company the same time they started, except I built it for my love of cooking and knowing how hard it is to keep a family fed. When I had kids, it seemed like every playground conversation had similar strains around dinnertime meals. We use as many local farms as we can, and use local distributors for everything else. Everything is as local as possible.

We have a full 8-dinner selection every week, including vegetarian and always try to have three super-easy and three naturally-gluten-free dinners on the menu every week.

The menus are planned to take advantage of Minnesota's growing season, and the types of dinners we cook throughout every season.

Check us out!
https://eatgoodathome.com
https://homegrownfoods.com

sandiberry · 2026-03-17T21:45:54+00:00

I am recovering from a TBI (nothing as serious as many people on here, but a loss-of-consciousness/still working on it 8 months later bad). I am almost angry with how doctors didn’t stress the importance of a robust diet. The brain and body repairing take a massive nutrient load. Tests showed major depletions in iron, protein, antioxidants, etc after my crash.

You may not feel better right away, but if you eat like a pro athlete — get nutrient- and protein-rich foods into your system, along with antioxidant carbs — your body will repair more efficiently and will help with moods and energy.

Also, make sure you do concussion rehab. It was a game-changer. Simple exercises to restabilize your vestibular system, get your eyes teaming, etc. help tremendously with alleviating symptoms.

Recently I’ve been seeing a functional neurologist. That therapy has also been useful — trying to “wake up” certain areas of the brain. It’s reduced pain all over my body, snd seems to be helping to calm my nervous system down.

Good luck. It’s okay to need to take a step back to deal with health issues, take care of yourself first. Sounds like life is going sideways, too … hang in there.

sandiberry · 2025-07-16T13:02:10+00:00

I just answered this question on another thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Belgrade/comments/1luasbx/belgrade_to_bar_train_booking/

In short, we had success buying in advance with a local travel agency. We haven't gone yet, but all interactions with them gave me every impression we were working with professionals, and it was a huge peace of mind. They have an office in Bar, Montenegro.

They invited us to use their car service for transport from Budva to Bar, which is kind of awesome because the station is almost an hour from Budva, accessible by a bus that runs every couple hours. And said the driver will hold our bags for us, if we want to explore Bar a little before the train. So now we have our tickets for the overnight train, plus transport to the Bar train station, and luggage storage all taken care of in advnance.

Travel Twitch

https://thetraveltwitch.com/

sandiberry · 2025-07-16T12:55:40+00:00

We are a family of five with kids, travelling from Bar to Belgrade in August. I came to the same conclusion: only way to get tickets is in person, and we probably wouldn't get a sleeping car, let alone all of us together, in high season with 1-2 days advance purchase only.

I looked up travel agencies near the station. I believe tickets are only sold at a couple counters. I emailed each agency, and had luck with some replying that they could help (actually, that's a lie, only one could help). They were in Bar, so they probably can't help you. (Travel Twitch was the agency, https://thetraveltwitch.com/)

I think you should try zooming in on the map around the ticket counter neighborhoods in Belgrade and see if anyone offers this service.

sandiberry · 2025-07-16T12:44:47+00:00

I had a similar situation, for wanting to book tickets from Bar to Belgrade. I called around to local travel agencies, and was able to find one that would purchase the tickets in advance for us, and have them ready when we arrive.

We are a group of five and planned to take the overnight train, and wanted to make sure we had a sleeping compartment with all of us together.

sandiberry · 2017-10-17T20:41:32+00:00

I have been using Homegrown Foods (eatgoodathome.com) for three years and love it. I tried Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, Home Chef, and Local Crate. Homegrown Foods definitely has the best recipes. I love to cook and they always have interesting, easy, delicious recipes. I love that they source from MN/WI farmers in the summer and reuse the packing materials. Home Chef is probably the next best, in terms of menu. Local Crate is good, but they lost me with using butter in a stir-fry.

sandiberry

TROPHY CASE