volunteers management projects our citizens contributed more than twenty five hundred hours and twenty fourteen working on natural resources education and science friday let's take a lot of minnesota not you can only see like the destruction here on the cities because it is such a beautiful say but if you get anywhere where there's like bigger cities around the united states you don't really see any wildlife or i like any of the natural beauty of their states because they have just there is better i destruction around there and so it's really cool that we're able to get out here and preserve it and keep it for the generations to come being out in nature is important to me because it is so renewing and refreshing to me modern life is so busy and hectic and focused on getting so many things done that when i go into nature i just totally relax and have a different awareness than i have the rest of my life and it really restores and renews me nature's kind of part of life and we need nature so we can live well it's fun and enjoyable experience in the in the nature center so right now we have garlic mustard and things rocket that i'm moving i think it's very important in this community because of the homes are very close together and people don't get a very big yard so they can come here and enjoy nature as well as get gardening tips we do like green gardening clinics and stuff and then you can integrate that into your own yard well i came here first for a master naturalist training that was my first training here but then after that i come here to walk on the board walk around to see the ducks out in the pond and check on the birds to be out in nature again and enjoy the people around me like people like minded people i've been thinking about older adults who don't get outside nature anymore and how important i think is for their mental health to get outside in nature i think for all the people their mental health is really important  only nothing here for us to do except live like there will be anything anywhere to do tricks like hike on trails or anything for people to do pictures like photographic sceneries and stuff like that so i think it brings awareness to everybody as far as things to do to take care of our environment and to to keep everything looking nice and i really like the junior volunteer program that they run here all my kids have been involved in it and besides the obvious aspects  as volunteering where they get to meet a group of new people that they might not interactive before they also learn how to work as a team but they also i think get some hands on education as far as taking care of our area and that i think is good for them as they get older to an adult and taking care of property and i'm around the local community and i tell volunteer here so the people come and see all the trails on the nature here so people can come and see the nature around them just wanna walk around and see everything and not while we're there anymore a while make them feel more outdoors it's relaxing i think it's good for people to get out in nature because number one nature sustains us and to be out in nature you get connected and you notice things about the life that we all lead to it's all connected and we realize our connection to life within our for for people and for you to be able to get out and really get our hands on understanding of the natural world around spirit and gives me good exercise just watching the dancing leaves in the fall coming down as i'm driving here even that is part of it i grew up with nature all around me even growing up in the cit so it's always been a part of my life is truly a gem for the community i think it's important for us to care for our environment because of how much our environment cares for us i mean we are all in this together without nature without fresh air without fresh water without wild open spaces none of us will survive and i think the more or we work cooperatively together to preserve and honor those things the more healthy all of us will be forward thinking leaders of our city planned for parks open spaces and our nature center he's all right a high quality of life for our citizens and make maplewood attractive for new businesses one reason addition to the business community is garden fresh farms and akko focused urban farming business let's visit their remarkable operation garden first farms we started two years ago in that time we have developed  traditional farming can but we are in our operation and if you see our products in the store you'll see a little message on the back that shows exactly how this process works what we do is we actually start with fish and we said we have to be here in tanks and we feed the fish and they make our pirtle ice or we then pump that water to the plants and the plants then work hard to clean their water they take out all the fertilizer and we send clean water break back to the fish again so it's a very natural process of of how we grow the product so our customers are assured of getting a product that is grown indoors without pesticides is naturally fertilized and then we do have to balance out nature here a little bit as the fish get a little bit too big we do we do so fish what we'll do is we'll have a fish market day and we sold directly to the community hi i'm dave rose or i'm the founder of garden fresh farms around the twin cities and soon to be in other cities as well we have a great sustainable business model here and it works well for the community and i have to say out of all the the different businesses in different cities that we have been expanding into a network of farms and in two thousand and thirteen we won the minnesota cup and then the next month we we in november we won the cleantech open and we won the midwest the division went out to california and competed at the global competition and and have our little oscar here for our winning the national sustainability award and all of that has to do with our business model if you see our business here in you'll notice that it doesn't look quite the corporate setting that you may think we are front hill is planted in raspberry and cherry trees and and we do grow products in the front that are then used packages as well so we make all of the land here very productive we also have a solar component to our business we have forty four solar panels on the roof and from my understanding we were or the first solar installation in the city of doing a lot of research and some of their researchers were doing jointly with three m another maplewood resident we go to their facilities they often come here we're currently doing some testing here in the in the reflect film and in lighting technology and also talking about some further clever ration of airflow and other filtering things that they do so it works great to have a wonderful company like three m near by close by and we can do some joint research together in advance as their product and advances are our competitiveness in in the arena we're in indoor every culture in  thirteen we won the national sustainability award at the cleantech open and that was at a global forum and what that means is that our business is focuses on the triple bottom line may sound interesting to different people but the three p s it's the planet people and profits we have to make a profit to keep the doors open we we are making sure that we're we are mindful of what we do to the planet and that we do things that are very positive for people and i'll just give you some examples that very quickly one is the we provide jobs in the community good jobs that are your round we also have the excess who healthy food which is  also a very big plus and if we have any own overages we do donate those fresh foods to the the food shelves second harvest which is actually right across the street here in maplewood as well as far as the planet what we do is we use less water ninety five percent less water than it your gaited field in california would use we use less space basically a one acre bolian equals about one hundred acres of farmland and we use less energy than other indoor farming techniques that are out there and of course you have to make a profit and so we we generate a profit for investors and also we also make a buildings have maybe one filled before we fill them with a farm and make of that building much more valuable in the future as well so the three pieces it's the people planet and profits and you have to have all three that's why we won the sustainable national sustainability award across the street is the second harvest food shows we don't need overages that we have over to that group and put make usefulness of  overages of products we have we're doing research with three m that's been very positive it's very nice to have mall close by to do shopping to go for launch banking operations and things like that so that's all close by and we have this beautiful regional park right next door there's an eagle nesting right across the highway from us and so it was in a very natural setting  garden for farms plans to expand in the future and all of us in maplewood are pleased to have them as a part of our biber business community to round out our program we will look at some clips from a promotional video for the nature cent we all want to pass on a livable and sustainable community to our kids let's meet sebastian a youngster who knows all about the maplewood nature  over birds and other wildlife so it is not a place to buy a walk your dog in the maplewood nature center of nature play are you can build something with the rocks  branches kids can run around and climb research shows that when sold and play outdoors it helps to fill up creativity and problem solving skills it increases visitor's center there are gardens that show how true attracts butterflies in your yard there are rain gardens that show how you can manage storm water in your yard the visitor center is free to explore to come on inside there are things to touch and use there are a lot of books to read there are live animals which help take care of you can ride that energy right get support from maintaining your brain garden you can borrow a train track to help walk far from your yard and the city also does some neighborhoods pick up of  you can apply for a tree rebate so that you can get reimbursed for planting native deciduous tree use in your yard besides attending one of our public programs and you can also through the nature center rent a garden plot  gerton community garden in addition we have wonderful displays educational this plays at the nature center for people to do touch below and come on out to the nature cent